After much bashing, no problems with the frame or fork. When I used it as a commuter I was throwing it up against all kinds of posts and rails to lock it up. Between Ben (owner of Milltown Cycles) and myself, this bike was ridden off concrete drops, down concrete stairs, over mountains of plowed snow, through snowy trails. The 4130 chromoly steel of the frame and fork proved to be tough as nails. I used it as a campus commuter, urban assaulter, and snowy ski trail invader. I assumed the tires, with narrow knobs, would not hook up so well in the snow. I looked at the tires remembering that it’s a Minnesota winter, and there’s snow on the ground. It’s the perfect design for a simple, no gimmicks mountain bike. I really dig the flat greenish-grey paint job. Some extra weight, however, is to be expected from a 4130 steel frame. I lifted the rear wheel and thought “whoa.” I’m used to race bikes that are a bit lighter. I’ll be honest, my first impression was that this bike was pretty heavy. Mallet pedals Sans pedals, this bike would retail for closer to $600 rather than the $470 retail of the stock Monocog 29er. For some foot connection, I rode Crank Bros. We used WTB Exiwolf 29x2.3 tires which Redline stocks on the production Monocog 29er. Bontrager select bars, Bontrager race lite stem, Thomson seatpost, and WTB seat made up the cockpit. Race Face designed our Deus XC singlespeed crankset. Rather than the tektro linear brakes, our stoppers were Hayes Sole hydraulic disc brakes. I’m only going to review those essentials, but I will explain the parts spec, so you can have a better idea of what I was riding. The wheelset is made up Redline hubs manufactured by formula laced to Alex DH-19 with 32 spokes each. The frame and fork are made from 4130 chromoly steel. Milltown Cycles was able to acquire a 15" demo frame, fork and wheelset from Redline. That is the idea that I will test in this review. Hope this was helpful to someone, I haven't weighed it yet but I think the weight is perfectly acceptable it doesn't feel like a boat anchor.The Redline Monocog 29er is designed as an affordable, tough, and fun 29er mountain bike. I think I made the right decision on sizing. I can stand over it with just a tad of clearance. Either way, I think this bike performs best with the seat slammed forward and I would have had to do the opposite to make the 15" work. I was probably in between sizes for 15" or 17" and chose the 17 - I hate a cramped cockpit. Overall, I would call their re-release a winner. The vee rail tires suck for trail riding - I reversed the rear tire to get some more traction on climbs. Pedals are not even worth mounting on the bike so I used some spares I had. I just wanted something that was minimal to no maintenance. The brakes work great but I'm bummed that they didn't make the lever reach adjustable. The wheels, hubs, and crank all look to be of great quality and I'm glad they went with a euro BB. It's not light and nimble like a friend's Specialized Crave SL I rode a while back but I'm sure that with some better tires and gearing it won't get into anything it can't handle. I guess when Redline reintroduced these they decided to go in the gravel bikes category - the 32:18 gearing isn't going to be able to survive our steep hills in central VA. It's an ocean blue with a hint of green to it - think North Sea green. The paint job looks even better in person than in the pictures. I've always wanted a rigid SS 29er to accompany my Diamondback Release and this has been exactly what I was looking for. I couldn't find much info on the newly updated and reintroduced Redline Monocog so I figured I would post one for you all here.
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