Parts reviews: Eno FW, Cranks, On One Il Pompino and Mary Bars
I’ve spent a while on all of the these parts while riding this season in RI and SE Mass. The following is my take on these “niche” items and how well they performed for me.
White Industries ENO Freewheel and ENO cranks. Let’s start with the FW. It has quickly become known as the cremw de la creme in the world of SS freewheels (and two speed freeewheels actually). Why should you think of shelling out the cash for a White when a Shimano or ACS costs a fraction of the $80 msrp for the ENO? For starters it’s actually round, which is always a nice touch when it comes to tensioning your chain evenly. It also engages quickly. There’s no ghost pedal, or dead spot, before you’re engaged and sending power to the rear wheel. It also lasts a lot longer between rebuilds than a cheaper FW, and besides - it sounds a whole lot like a Chris King hub so that alone makes it worth it! If you’re riding an older FW that’s crunchy and sounds like a clothes dryer full of rocks you might want to condsider the White. You could always rebuild your old freewheel (it works, just don’t use grease) and keep it as a spare. I’ve run my 18t on the road for roughly 2K miles this year in all sorts of nasty weather and it still sounds great and runs smooth.
The ENO Crankset. I wish I could say I loved this crankset as much as I still love my old forged WI cranks (circa ‘95). Unfortunately these beatifully CNC’d cranks were noticeably flexy, and for the first few rides I started to wonder if I was getting weaker when it came to climbing. I only clock in at 170 lbs ( ~ 185 with gear) so I was kind of shocked I wasn’t digging these so much. I did like the spiderless set up and the rings are as nice looking as the cranks themselves. If you’re super strong, and/or really light, you may not care. A guy like me needs the stiffness where it counts, and I eventually settled with some forged Race Face North Shore XS square taper cranks on the Karate Monkey. While they may seem like functional art to some, in my opinion WI went a little heavy on the art in this case. SS cranks should be strong, and extremely stiff. Function triumphs over form when it comes to something that is directly tied to getting me up hills faster (and in less pain).
On One Mary Bars. I picked these up used about six weeks ago and have ridden them ~10 times since. The first few rides were long (4 - 6 hours) slogs exploring the Warner Trail between Foxboro, MA and Cumberland, RI. My first impression while cruising into the woods on flat terrain went something like this….”huh, feels like I’m on old Raleigh 3 speed, this is weird”. That quickly changed as soon as the trail pointed uphill. The positioning is excellent for climbing and does provide nice leverage. For all around riding they are comfortable. I’m not going to tell you they will change your life or alleviate wrist pain, shoulder pain, dry mouth or upset stomach. Proper bike set up will accomplish this, or most of what I listed anyway. There is no need to change stems as the Mary has a nice forward offset to negate this hassle. Your grips will actually end up close to where they were, just at an angle of roughly 40 degrees. The width is tame at 645mm as well. You can get through tight spots just fine with these bars. To sum it up the Mary is a fine bar and may make your day, especially if you’re riding a SS with a lot of climbing. The bar also makes an excellent town bike upgrade and is super comfy while cruising to the store or the bar, or wherever it is you venture out to on your bike.
On One Il Pompino. Aside from the nasty name (I’ll leave it up to you to translate) it’s a nice bike. Come July I was looking for something stiffer than my old Fuji frame, and I wanted horizontal track ends, road geometry and cantilever brakes. Who the hell makes a frame like that, you might ask? On One does, that’s who. Maybe it’s because they’re British. Or maybe it’s because no one was making a bike like it at the time, and hey, who doesn’t want a SS road bike that can fit big knobby tires I’ve managed to ride this bike a lot. I do not have a computer on it (it’s on my Poprad) so I can’t say how many miles exactly - but it’s been ridden 2 or three times a week for at least 20 miles a pop (not counting short trips to the store) since early July. I also commuted on it regularly for two months (46 mi RT, once a week). Commuting with a loaded backpack was when I suddenly saw the light and eased the gearing from 39×16 to 39×18 with the aforementioned ENO freewheel. As it turns out I am decidedly not as tough as those dudes in France from the earlier part of the century, bummer.
Sizing on the Il Pompino is compact so be sure to scope out the specs at their site before diving in head first. Also, the rear spacing on mine is 135mm - but they now are available with 120mm spacing as well. Steel is real as they say, but not really too heavy, and the bike is truly a rocket.You can buy direct from On One (go to XE.com for currency conversion rates and prepare to wonder why the Dollar is worth jack squat - great fun!! While you’re there bemoaning the state of the allmighty Buck cheer yourself up by checking out how many Thai Bhat or Korean Won you’d have if you cashed in all your greenbacks - more fun!!). OR, just find one used like I did and get one on the cheap.
I also just picked up a NR MiNewt and will be checking it out in the woods soon enough (hey, I might actually make it for one of Peter’s rides). The thing is super bright on the road and is teenie tiny. Pretty cool light for the money.
Long term updates -
The Karate Monkey. I still love it. I bumped the gearing to 32×20 and it just keeps getting better. Still fully rigid as well. I did add a 2.3 Exiwolf to the front end for some extra cushy. This bike makes my other MTB jealous (Waltworks HT 1×9).
Surly “New” Hubs (on the KM and the On One). Still rolling strong, even with some seriously neglectful action on my part.
That’s all I’ve got, I hope this wasn’t boring or a complete waste of your time. After all this at least you can go figure out what Il Pompino means! Just don’t go asking for one the next time you’re on Federal Hill……
BDee