Surly Steamroller owners...

53 @173

theres a ton of wiggle room..56 fits me @173cm w/90mm stem / inline post

I'm 175 cm with an app 82 cm inseam and ride a 53 Steamroller (90 cm stem) and a 52 Straggler (100 cm stem).
Both fit like a glove

You must have really long arms...

Thanks guys, good to know there is wiggle room on either size, will probably try and find somewhere I can try them for fit first or take a chance on either if I get impatient haha.

I'm a standard design 😀

For those with mudguards on their rollers here, how have you gotten around the lack of mounting points?

Have ordered some problem solvers but not sure how best to deal with the axle attachment points — pclips?

yes p clips unfortunately.

I use axle runners on mine. It works well with my Goldtec hubs but they needed drilling to get them to work.

Looks great but quite fiddly to set up initially. Solid once installed.

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I've got PDW fenders on my roller, I had to drill out the axle mounts to fit my Phil rear hub. This was a massive pain in the arse, but mainly because I didn't have a good way of clamping the mounts to drill them. once it was done they've worked fine for a couple of years now.

ne pics?

whats a decent carbon fork w/ steamroller rake? 38mm rake I believe

If you want to keep the tyre clearance then a whiskey no7 RD+ seems to be the best choice but they are expensive and last time I looked hard to get.
https://whiskyparts.co/forks/no7_rd_plus_qr_mid_reach_fork#/

i’ve got the rd+ on mine. currently running 650x42/fenders

Anybody got experience with gears on the steamroller?

planning something for mine to reduce the need for an extra bike for 4-5 rides/year* as my steamroller rides and fits wonderfully
willing to totally ruin the aesthetics and looking for inspo as it will stay fixed the other 360 days

already on my list:

• hubs: sunxcd / grand bois / fyxation 120mm shimano HG compatible hubs, unfortunately either sold out or pita to get on this side of the pond, alternative 1: trying to convert hope hub to 120mm via ssp freehub (fits up to 7 cogs), alternative 2: 5/6 speed screw on freewheel on some classic hub. want to avoid spreading the frame

• attaching the derailleur: problem solvers derailleurhanger

• derailleur: would like wireless etap axs, but no chance to limit cog range atm, so short road derailleur with friction shifting it is

or should i just say fuck it and buy a 3 speed IGH?

*verified by excel and just sold my barely ridden trek checkpoint

Maybe some inspiration in this one:
https://www.lfgss.com/comments/16719002/

Believe it's had a 2x7 on it

Wouldn't it be easier to simply grind your way up and spin your way down on those other 4 rides rather than go to all this trouble for like you said 4 rides a year?

I'd say if you can find a 3speed IGH with 120mm that gives you the range you want then go for it, get it laced up as a second wheel with some sort of fully enclosed externally routed shifter and cable. You might be able to use the same chain so switching to gears is as easy as changing the rear wheel and zip tieing the shifter on.

Seconded. But because I’m a cock I’d run it like this.

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Wouldn't it be easier to simply grind your way up and spin your way down on those other 4 rides rather than go to all this trouble for like you said 4 rides a year?

thats also a very likely solution. im not fully decided yet - if im realistic there is great chance that switching chains is too big of a hurdle. possibly i wont ever put on the gears. Actually i also just sold the 1x10 drivetrain spares i had for my ssp karate monkey. Pushing my bike is way more enjoyable for me than swapping dirty bike parts before a ride.

swaying more towards the IGH solution right now, as i would be totally fine with the gearing resulting with my usual gear as direct drive. so no chain swap needed. i also like the shifter mounting shown by @Chaley

really appreciate the input. main motivation are group rides by the way. for solo riding i can live with nearly everything, but for some routes i know that i'm too far off the rhythm of the geared riders that i'm not able enjoy the group aspect.

Interesting bonus idea:
Get a BMX hub like this Halo MXR.
Space it out to 120mm. Go to velosolo, get a bolt on cog for the disc side, and as many of those 9-speed compatible single speed cogs on the freewheel side.
You might end up with a single flip flop wheel. fixed on one side and 3-4 gears on the other side?
Run that with a cheap 9-speed derailleur with the problem solvers derailleur hanger and a clamp-on friction shifter.

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Yep, that's the Sun xcd 120 mm cassette hub with a 9 speed block without the two smallest ones, so it is a 7 speed 14-32 if I remember correctly. Bar end shifters. Pretty simple, but indeed might still not be worth the trouble for just a few rides.

If you just use a freewheel, chain tensioner, and front derailleur you wouldn’t need a different wheel

thanks again for the input. bmx-flipflop-hub seems tempting. also toyed with the idea of respacing a standard 120mm flipflop hub to accomodate a 5-speed freewheel. always good to have the fixed side as a fallback option. although the fixed-side chainline will be definitely shite with the standard flipflop, but could work out with bmx disc hub.

Only shifting in the front would mean having to alter my Crankset which i want to avoid.

in the meantime i bought an hope RS4 hub and the ssp freehub to convert it. send it back because the new and unused 225€ hub came with a notchy non driveside bearing and a wonky freehub seal. Not willing to go that route for that amount of money.

Got told there is a new version of the sunXCD 120mm hub in the making, but won't be available before anytime in 2023.

Whilst searching for a good classic 5 speed hub I found a nearly-nos steel peugeot with 2x8 105sc and clearance for 28mm tires in my neighborhood. Cheaper than the hope hup or any reliable shifting-conversion i could hack together. couldn't resist, so that has to do for group rides.
Can live with that, as its not >2000€ hanging unused on the wall like the checkpoint. also makes for much better wall art.

so yeah, still tempted by the 3speed igh tho. or i'll use the spare rim i have now for a dynamo wheel.

Or just get a Cross Check :-)

Surly is pretty weird about how they make the bikes bigger. Im 169 cm and ride the 49 cm frame. I went with the 49 cm due to stand over clearance. The head tube/stack is very low, but I run risers and spacers so that is fine. If I wanted drop bars I would have needed a real spacers tower or some fuggly stem. The big difference between the 49cm and the 53 cm in my opinion is the higher head tube/stack and higher standover.