Going the distance, going for SPEED!

Where to begin? There seem to be a few parts to this story, so let’s just jump in …

I met Brendan Collier and his wife/business partner/inspiration Mary last July when they stopped by SRAM just before 24-9. Mary was in the midst of a killer endurance season, her first fully dedicated to racing at that level, and she was making some final tweaks in her bid for the National podium. She was aboard a mixed-wheel Siren “Fifty-Five” hardtail – that is, a 29er front + a 26er rear. (29 + 26 = 55!) I was intrigued, and hung with them while Craig pimped out her ride.

Brendan and Mary had launched Siren at Sea Otter, with a planned focus on the ever-expanding endurance market and a strong background in bike building … not to mention an enormous creative streak. Mary’s Fifty-Five was a work of art, clearly one that was built to go very fast! In the race, Mary achieved her podium aspirations and their friend/sponsored rider Todd just missed doing the same on the men’s side. That’s quite a track record for a first-year outfit!

As 2007 drew to a close, I began to have my own dreams of the podium, and realized that I didn’t have the equipment I needed to get there. I began researching bikes, taking a few minutes here and there at Interbike, at work, and at home to narrow down an enormous field of potential winning machines. Along the way, though, all the signs pointed to Idyllwild, and before long I was emailing Brendan back and forth about his newest creation: a mixed-wheel softail he called the Song. It took a couple of phone calls to convince me, but Brendan patiently answered my questions about two wheel sizes, short-travel suspension, and the desire to go really fast for a very long time … and before long my mind was made up!

The Build
So what makes this bike so special? First off, it’s a purebred endurance machine. Todd rode a hardtail Fifty-Five to personal bests in all his races last year, and the addition of suspension promised to take a bit more of the edge off and make the ride even faster. Although each one is handbuilt, Brendan is committed to R&D – trying out new ideas, modeling them, and putting them to the test. But it’s real-world R&D that really puts him ahead: tweaking and learning and tweaking and learning in order to create the best bikes he can.

To that end, the Song has a similar profile to the Fifty-Five, but with a huge difference: the rear triangle is connected to the front via a Cane Creek AD-5 shock at the seat tube junction, and a custom formed titanium flex plate at the bottom bracket. This gives the Song 1-1/2” of travel, making it (as Brendan described) “a hardtail with the edge taken off.” It’s aluminum throughout, with the tube specs chosen for the specific purpose of being light and fast, but able to withstand hours and hours of constant abuse …
Frame: Siren Bicycles Song
Paint: World Bicycle Relief translucent grey powder coat with red trim. You have to see it in person to believe it – the coloring on the welds is stunning!
Fork: Rock Shox Reba Race
Shock: Cane Creek AD-5 (wink, wink, nudge, nudge – one of the last to have a non-etched air can)
Brakes: Avid Juicy Ultimate with Matchmakers
Shifters: SRAM X.0
Front Derailleur: SRAM X.9 low-clamp
Rear Derailleur: SRAM X.0 medium cage (with a pedigree!)
Handlebar: Salsa Pro Moto Carbon Flat Bar, 11d sweep, cut to 25.5”
Grips: SRAM Super Cork bar tape over SRAM long rubber grips
Stem: Truvativ Team
Headset: Cane Creek 110 with interlocking spacers
Seatpost: Truvativ Carbon Team
Saddle: Fi’zi:k Arione Wing Flex with K:ium rails
Crankset: Truvativ Noir 3.3 with Blackbox Ceramic BB
Pedals: Crank Bros. Candy 2-Ti, white
Chain: SRAM PC-991 Cross-Step
Cassette: SRAM PG-990 11-34
Wheels: Handbuilt DT Swiss X470 front and XR4.2d rear with Supercomp spokes and ProLock nipples (eventually a set built on 190 ceramic hubs; for now, a 340 up front and a WTB LaserDisc Lite in back)
Tires: Kenda Karma 29x2.2 front and Small Block Eight 26x1.95 rear, both Stans conversions to tubeless
Weight: Frame, 4.6lbs; complete, 24.5lbs. (Still a few tweaks to come …)

The Ride
I received the frame on Tuesday and spent the better part of the afternoon building it up. My ride home that night in near-dark conditions included a brief thundershower … don’t they say rain on your wedding day brings good luck?

I rode to work on it twice last week, one day managing to drop off my backpack and ride for 90 glorious minutes unencumbered. Bombing down the Field Museum steps never felt so awesome! Although the first ride felt a bit funny, like I was riding apehangers after 2 years on 26" fronts, and the second ride featured a flattening front tire, I was pretty confident that Brendan had gotten everything right, and committed to racing it on Saturday.

Boy am I glad I did! From the gun, I was off and running, flying up the first hills like they didn’t exist. This bike is FAST with a capital “F!”

The 29er front wheel was confidence-inspiring, chewing up ground chatter and log crossings like they didn’t exist. Especially cool were two parts of the course: one, a fast downhill into a loose right turn into a log crossing into singletrack, which I was able to launch into aggressively even after 11-1/2 hours amidst massive braking bumps thanks to the confidence in the bike; and two, the fast woops at the end of the lap, where I was catching air and shouting out loud for joy on each of my 31 laps. Momentum became my friend, and letting fly soon became second nature.

As a platform, the Song was stable, allowing me to really stomp the pedal sections and gain time on most everyone, even while eating and drinking! Once I got the hang of the front wheel, I was smooth through the rough, twisty pine sections, where each turn meant a ditch you had to avoid or a root that could stop you dead. The 26er rear felt fantastic, with quick accelerations and a firm feel directly up underneath the saddle that inspired me to go faster, seated or standing. Even on my last lap, I was big-ringing short steeps that had me crawling last year!

And in the singletrack? WOW! What a blast! It wasn’t super-technical stuff (aside from the weird pine sections), but even so I could just point-and-shoot and not worry about where I would end up. From the first run, the confidence I felt bombing a certain loose, turny downhill meant putting time on my competitors where last year I was careening off of saplings – what a difference!

It’s definitely its own ride, with a slight forward bias upon standing and a bit of a strange sensation of sitting behind the front wheel rather than over it. (I have the saddle and handlebars basically even.) But the action of the damper is such that the bike firms up when you stand, and rolls over stuff when you’re sitting – a good blend that gives you the best feeling of a hardtail with the smoothness of a dualie. All told, that means you’re looking at 6, 12 or 24 hours in the saddle feeling more refreshed while continuing to go faster! (It’s weird when you think you’re not activating your suspension at all, only to see the travel marked by dust on the barrel. This is a good thing, as the bike just “disappears” beneath you!)

Would I change anything? No way! Because of the top tube bend, I found that running two "normal" water bottles worked better for me than one large, and the reach to the holders is a bit long given my short arms (but provides a lower center of gravity). Also, there were a couple of times I needed to be further back on the rear wheel during climbs while standing, but that is just practice. When you get right down to it, though, Brendan has certainly hit a home run, and I’m happy to be climbing aboard and hanging on!

Thoughts on the future
Saturday was a good reminder of just how hard 12 hours in the saddle can be, and what I need to do over the next 8 weeks to realize my dream. I now truly feel like I have the right weapon to make that happen, and I can’t wait to get out on some familiar trails to really dial in the feel and ratchet up the aggressiveness. A bit less air pressure in the tires, a bit more power to the pedals, a few climbs taken faster and those 10 minutes from Saturday will come down pretty quickly … One thing is for certain – the Song can take it; the rest is up to me!