About ten years ago I decided that it might be nice to own a road bike. But not just any road bike, being a confirmed singlespeeder (Kona excepted...) I decided that one gear would be quite enough for the tough roads of Bedfordshire. I already owned, and loved, an On-One Inbred, original batch Reynalds 853, so the obvious choice was an Il Pompino from the same stable. The Pompi was basically a steel framed road bike designed by and made for mountain bikers, designed as an all-rounder suitable for anything from commuting to cross. The rear wishbone assembly, copied from DeKerf, is carried over from the Inbred, V brakes are fitted and the rear drop-outs suit a 135mm axle rather than the more usual road standard of 130mm. Hubs, saddle and seatpost are standard On-One mtb items, and the freewheel a Shimano BMX unit. Rear drop-outs are horizontal and there's no mech hanger. The fork is also steel.
 |
| On-One Il-Pompino. |
When I lived in Beds. I used it for commuting in the summer (I had a Spesh mtb for winter use), hacking between my home in Ampthill and work in Bedford, about 9 miles each way, riding home involved weaving in and out of the traffic on Ampthill Road (great fun!) and then either doing intervals on the open road or deviating to find the bigger climbs.
Originally it had a 42:16 set-up, fine around Bedfordshire but a bit too steep for Derbyshire, now the freewheel has been swapped for an 18T one.
 |
| 42:18 | | |
Commuting often involved locking it up in odd places, so the frame was part wrapped in old inner tubes for a while, now removed, masking tape and stickers. It also saw a lot of use after redundacy struck, being time rich and cash poor it served me well taking me into Bedford on signing on day, and getting me out and about exploring the lanes around Old Warden and the surrounding area.
Shimano freewheels need a bit of TLC from time to time (they used to last about ten months on the Inbred) so its worth turning the bike on its side, spraying some GT40 style lube into the gap between the body and spocket to flush out any crap then dribbling in chain lube.
 |
| On-One Inbred mtb hub with a screw on Shimano freewheel. Chain tugs take care of tension. |
I do have a fixed wheel to use with it (flip-flop hub), which did see use when I lived down south. One day I'll re-fit it and scare myself all over again on the hills.
Unusually for a bike of mine few changes have been made, in fact apart from the freewheel only the saddle (originally another On-One mtb job) has been replaced. Now perched on the seatpost is a WTB Tr-Lite Titanium, now sadly unavailable, bought cheaply at the time from some on-line retailer. Another one of these sits atop my Inbred, and I honestly wish that I'd bought a few more at the time as they are simply the lightest and most comfortable perch that I've ever sat upon, and probably the best made, the leather covering still looking good after ten years of use.
 |
| The best saddle I've ever used! |
The bikes looking a bit tatty now (saddle excepted), there's a few rust spots around the bottom bracket and the paint is looking tired in places. One day I'll find the money to buy myself a nice light geared job, but the Pompi still rides well, and there's nowt like riding a singlespeed! (If you need to ask you'll never understand).
Paul.
A handsome machine, Paul. That frame geometry looks like it will be responsive, if a little nervous but in the hands of a skilled rider that is all to the good. You make me want to dig out my Harry Quinn now :-)
ReplyDeleteTo be honest Iain, I'm not sure how the handling compares as this is the only road bike that I've owned for many years (I'll disregard the heavy Dawes hybrid that did commuting duty for a few years). I seem to remember reading that the geometry was based on classic Cinelli? It was good at cutting through traffic anyway!
Delete