Surly Steamroller owners...

looks nice.

Wow! I love this roller, that’s a custom color right? Would tour.

Just googled what Dirty Reiver is. what gearing will you be doing it on? fixed or freewheel?

I did the first half of the off-road london to brighton ride years back on my roller running 48x19 fixed with 32c front / 35c rear and got shook to pieces. keeping speed up was a proper slog too with the uneven. 200km of gravel would have killed me.

Standard black, its super tatty so has lost its gloss finish

I rode it fixed, 35c Gravelkings f&b at 60psi and 48x21 ratio. Could have probably got away with a slightly bigger gear but I was very comfortable on the gear I had. Although the downhills were super spinny. I wrote a blog post and bike check about the DR 200km if your interested -> mostlybybike.wordpress.com*

*Link fixed

Link doesn't work unless copied and pasted

Great little read though, well done on the ride!

Props for doing that fixed.

60psi

Ouch.

Last reply, I promise. You also inspired me to write up my ride to the Lake District on Monday, so thanks for that too.

I rode it fixed, 35c Gravelkings f&b at 60psi and 48x21 ratio. Could have probably got away with a slightly bigger gear but I was very comfortable on the gear I had. Although the downhills were super spinny. I wrote a blog post and bike check about the DR 200km if your interested -> mostlybybike.wordpress.com

strong work. 48x21 sounds much more sensible. though sounds like it was plenty tough still. nice write up.

Didnt want punctures, didnt get punctures. Bumpy success.

Thats awesome, you got a link for reading?

will be spending Sunday giving my roller a much needed wash and fitting new chainring , sprocket , chain & pedals.

It's about 5.5 years old so due some tlc probably.

May even splurge and have Brixton Cycles give the BB, Headset and hubs a service for my birthday in a few weeks.

I haven't added the pictures yet!
http://www.strakerwrites.com/cycling/bank-holiday-monday-windermere-in-a-oner

(also followed you on ig, thought i might as well since i follow 2 other scotland steamroller guys)

Just bought a de-badged second hand surly Steamroller in drink more water, took it out today and it's so much damn fun! Just wondered if anyone here had any recommendations for a few components, I want to swap some stuff out straight away and leave some stuff for a later date.

Any recommendations for the following would be really appreciated:

Headset - currently running the stock cane creek and it feels a bit meh, heard CK is the best option? What exact headset of theres would I need and are there any decent cheaper alternatives?

Bars - running some old risers that are chrome and don't fit the look, any small risers or flats that work well on the roller?

Front racks - Any that fit the roller as it doesn't have any info on the Surly page (doesn't seem to fit any of their racks?)

Cheers guys!!

Headset - I just use Cane Creek. Not silly money and work absolutely fine.

Bars - Try any low rise MTB flat and cut them down accordingly. Spesh XC bars are good and cheap!

Rack - I don’t use one so no wisdom here I’m afraid!

The best upgrade I did was a set of carbon forks. Makes a massive difference to the way the bike handles and feels, especially if you do many hillier miles on it!

Cheers mate, appreciated, the stock cane creek that came with it feels really low quality and super stiff, did you replace it with another of theirs? Any Carbon forks you recommend? I love the stock forks, the lug are such a nice addition

Been hitting some trails, fixed off-road is a challenge, wouldn’t want to ride anything too technical but dry hard-pack and gravel it just flies over

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The headset might just be too tight, try resetting it and it should be fine. Cane Creek are headset specialists and I've never had a problem with any of their things before (he says, with a Chris King headset on his Steamroller!)

As for racks, I have a Minoura Gamoh which I like a lot.

I was lucky in that I bought a second hand Steamroller which already had some very nice parts on it, including some Van Nicholas carbon disc forks, which are handy because I don't think the bike could be much heavier as it is. So they would be a very pricey option but a great upgrade.

I would investigate the headset first.
Being secondhand you don't know how it's been treated.
As above, could have way too much preload...... undo stem, reset and adjust preload try again, if still rough then whip out the bearings and check them, might be shagged out and full of water or just need a deep clean and repack with fresh grease.
I use a FSA Orbit XL II on mine, and a Dia Compe on Karate Monkey. Water could get in the head tube on the Monkey and just sit on top of bearing, i found that out after trying to jump a bombhole at speed and a hefty twang, things felt fine, next morning headset seized (broke a bearing)
Cane Creek do good gear.

Bars. Pick a stem size for bars, 31.7/8 and you have loads of choice for riser bars, pick want you like the look of, carbon, Alu or burly steel. 25.4 clamp bars are harder to find as all new gear is oversize, the 25.4 may have a softer feel. 35mm clamp size will look out of place, but whatever rocks your boat....... it is Your bike :)
I have been using old style DMR Wingbars 25.4 clamp but externally butted, rated for Dirt jump and DH racing, teamed up with a DMR Headstock stem, very burly and stiff set up, been ace for commuting but a bit stiff for really long rides. Most likely going to put some old EA50 risers on for a bit more comfort. Also been looking at Deda Streetismo as cheap but looks like a 50mm rise and i fancy a bit of extra rise for off piste riding.

Cheers for the advice mate, I really appreciate it. Grabbed a couple of parts today, got a cinelli pepper rise and a cinelli dinamo stem with a slight angle, going for more of a laid back vibe for commuting so will probably flip the stem. I thought about getting a riser stem but think it'll be a bit too much and read good things about the dinamo. Gonna check out the Orbit as i've heard good things from a couple people now and considerably cheaper than the CK! Feel like this bike is such a do it all it'll be nice to collect a couple different parts and easily swap each of them out for whatever im doing on that day on.

Took the steamboat out for a ride today, such a fun ride, can already tell i'm gonna enjoy riding this for a while!

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no cages?

Get some flats and straps on that bad boy