Why single-pivots still kick ass - Scotty raves about his new Bullit

I recently decided to pull the trigger on a new Santa Cruz Bullit, why? because my old Bullit was awesome. What I have found interesting is the reaction to my choice of bike. “Oh Scotty, technology has moved on! Why not get a Nomad/Butcher/Driver 8/VPP/APP/blahblahblah?”. 

Which got me thinking... Ladies and gentlemen, this is why single-pivots still kick ass:

TWO bearings. Yup, TWO.
Ride quality is not only about your shock and suspension design, your bearings are really important when it comes to everything doing what it needs to do. Anyone remember what happens to frames when the bearings seize up? That’s right, some quality metal-on-metal abrasion. I worked in the shops when the owners of a certain big-brand ended up having to replace whole swing-arms because they’d worn a hole through the alloy when the pivot seized up.

I’m lazy. I admit it. Despite being blessed with the ability to fix everything on my own bikes, when it comes down to it I’d rather just ride the thing then throw it back in the bike shed. I do not have the time to spend an hour post-ride washing and polishing my bike lovingly. Post-coital cuddling is for your significant other, not your bike. I also have a newborn chickie in the house who is going to take up a lot more of my time these days and if I have to spend my one solitary hour a day of free time on maintaining something I should be riding... well... I might just go postal with a chain whip.

Two bearings are easier to work on and require less maintenance. FACT.

No annoying suspension acronyms.
Virtual-piss-pot? Dr-who-like? Merlin? Fo-sheezy, right?

It’s all a bit silly really. It’s a single pivot, therefore, it has one pivot. Durrrrr.

Added bonus: Propellorheads won’t stop you on the trail to tell you how well your bike works and lecture you on how to set it up (this happened to me on Makara Peak one day) because there’s less to wank on about. To them you’re using the technology of the caveman, you might as well talk about that rock on the side of the trail you’ve been thinking about clocking them over the head with as you make your escape..

Brake Jack/Squat
Mountain Bike Action has a lot to answer for, and this is a biggie. RC, Jimmy-Mac and the rest of the Cali-crew with cool nick-names got all pissy when they couldn’t get their braking points worked out while going over the rough stuff and declared it to be a MAJOR problem with suspension design. In short, they got lazy, and unfortunately bike companies took it to heart and started trying to negate it.

Millions of man-hours have been spent on fixing a problem that isn’t really a problem if you know what you are up to. So many good frame designs have been compromised because the guys who brought you phrases like ‘black-diamond riding’ and ‘wanking your bar-ends’ to mountain-biking couldn’t work out how to ride their bikes properly.

F**k you MBA, f**k you all.
Being the hypocrite I am, however, the Bullit is available with a floating brake kit, and I’m going to add complexity and cost to my bike by adding it, despite the fact it comes with a free “stop being a dumb-ass and work out your braking” system built in. Again, it’s because I’m lazy.

Single Pivots look cool
Beauty is a subjective thing completely in the eye of the beholder, but yes, like the simple lines of a traditional diamond-shaped bike frame the single-pivot has a certain aesthetic appeal to aesthetes like me, but don’t ever lump me in with that form-over-function fixie/hipster crowd, or I’ll be breaking out the chain-whip again.

I’m sure there’s more, but this all I can come up with at the moment... and to be honest, if things get really 'siqq' I'll probably buy myself a driver and recant everything I've just written.