Can't always get what you want

(See attached file: Rockhopper SS.bmp)
When I first started riding a Single Speed the main reasons were because it was cheap and the lack of maintenance. It was cheap because I just used a bunch of old parts that I had lying around. The less maintenance is pretty self explanatory. It didn't take long before I started having allot of fun riding a SS. I'm not sure were I stand on about it being harder or that it's better training. To me it seems like you have allot of harder efforts but you also get more recovery so is it really harder or not? If I had allot of free time and extra cash I'd like to race a 100 miler on a SS with a powertap wheel then race the exact course with a powertap on a geared bike and look at the KJ output. I have a powertap wheel but it doesn't have disc mounts and none of my mountain bikes have rim brake mounts. So until I can do this or someone else does it I'm still up in the air about if it harder. But by riding one you learn how to keep your momentum up so you ride faster. On a side note you can also take crappier lines because you don't have the fear of ripping something off, and the smaller chaining up front clears allot more stuff so in a way you ride sloppier which means slower. So I'm pretty convinced that riding a SS for me a better training but not for the reasons you think. The lack of maintenance and the cost are the two biggest reason why. Less maintenance equal more time riding and low cost equal less time wasted working so just by being able to ride more it's better training. Maybe not the best but still more.
I'm slowly getting to the point of this post. I like to get new stuff and every year I try to get a few new bikes. I justify this by telling myself that I ride allot and deserve a new bikes every year. This year was no different than in the past. What I would like to have is a inexpensive lightweight frame that could be used as a SS or geared bike with little effort to change between the two. Funny thing is there's really not many of them out there and I don't know why. When you have a SS as everyone know you need some way of tensioning the chain. There's several ways to accomplish this feat here's a few with some advantages and disadvantages of each. EBB easy to manufacture, works good, easy to adjust but they add weight, some creak and change your saddle height. Horizontal dropouts easy to manufacture, cheap, but they're a pain in the ass with the brakes, slipping, and some use bolt on axles. Chain tensioners cheap, easy to use but take away that clean look and also chain slap. So out of all of these is any prefect? No but it's just like anything pick the one that best suits your needs and go with it. The one system I've seen and like is the slider dropout. Not many companies do this and I'm not sure why? I've heard from some that they slip, creak and just don't hold up. I've also heard from others that they work great with no problems. So why don't more bike companies use this system? Is it that it because it's not reliable, to heavy, costs to much to make or is it that they want to sell two bikes instead of one? I can't say for sure what the real reason and we may never know. But that's really what I wanted to get and didn't. So then I started looking at SS only frames and decided on the Specialized Stumpjumper SS frameset. That's when I hit my next snag I can't get one until like May and I hate waiting. Back to my point about liking a SS because it's cheap. WTF is the deal with companies making carbon framesets that cost outrageous amounts of money? I'm sure they're light, ride great, and are super nice but it seems crazy to me but whatever. Maybe some day I'll change how I think or maybe it won't seem that expensive to me. After talking to Todd at Pro Bikes he steered me in the direction I should have looked earlier. I've been looking allot of different bikes on the internet but never noticed this one.

http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bc/SBCBkModel.jsp?spid=45808&eid=4340&menuItemId=9253

   
It's not exactly what I wanted but it's allot of want I wanted. Cheap and seems like it will be pretty light after I swap out a few things and the EBB looks promising. So only time will tell if it's what I need.

J