Surly Bike Owners

Just realised I have posted a pic here of my MS with carbon 650Bs and chubby slicks. Still loving it.

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Is there a specific reason the seatstays are bend like this?

How’d you get on with that fork leg mounted light? I had a look at one of those bobbins for mounting my Exposure, but wasn’t sure if the wheel would obstruct the beam (and be annoying) so decided against it .

I’d have thought to keep chainstays short but
¯\(ツ)/¯

Clear the disc calliper on NDS chainstay.

That’s my guess. Short, but still compliant? I think it’s a thing on mtb frames? Also if they went straight to the dropouts they would look really steep.

I’ll be honest and say there’s a bit of a dark spot where the rim and tyre block the beam. And there is quite a lot of sidewall there, but having the light lower down and giving a longer beam pattern far outweighs that. You can tell what’s a damp patch against a pothole etc much easier.

Possibly, but there’s acres of room around it and I’m sure if it was straight there’d still be more than enough space.

They did it for the smaller sizes and carried it over.

Surly likes to make bikes compatible with the parts bin and a post mount brake with an adapter needs a lot more than a flat mount. A mechanical brake can take even more with the cable sticking out. Here's another bike that's not made with the space for a post mount in mind.

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Interesting! Thanks

Apologies for a question that's probably been asked a million million times before, but think I'm on the cusp of scratching an itch I've had for a long time and building up a fixed all road steamroller. But I've never ridden fixed before, so got no idea about gear ratios. I live in West Yorkshire, so some hills around, and some substantial hills if I want to seek them out, so not sure what I'd be looking at?

Also, will be running a front brake, and was wondering if anyone knew what the tyre clearance was like for the Tektro 559 or similar?

On that note, I may soon be after a big steamroller in a bigger size. I'm 6'3 so a 60? And may also be flogging an XL Planet X Tempest to fund the build. So feel free to slip right into my DMs.

Gear ratio I would recommend something like 48-19.
Surly's are long so 58 might a good size for you, just be prepared for a big spacer stack..
I don't know about the tyre clearance

I'm 6.3 and rode a 62cm around the same area. 42x17 was perfect. Regularly rode from Ilkley to Hebden Bridge and on to Ramsbottom to see a lass. Iirc, I ran 32 passella

Think a Steamroller uses medium drop calipers, so Tektro r539, or Trp rg957, that will let you clear 35mm at a push, 32mm with room to spare.
Could use Tektro r559 if you were considering a 650b conversion, depending on the drop from brake mount to rim, a r559 caliper will clear 48mm-50mm tyre with ease.
Hope that's of some help.

Cheers for all your replies, massively useful!

Hey Surlyers

I managed to strip the bb shell on my Crosscheck. I've been riding the bike for 8 years in many guises and I do love it, but wondering if now is the time to switch things up. It's pretty ratty and whilst I could just put in a pressfit bb and carry on, it needs a major overhaul anyway so wondering whether to give it a few fallow years and find something else instead.

My main need right now is something fun for day rides on a mix of terrain around Bristol and beyond, as well as short bikepacking gravel trips. Is there something lighter, funner and more engaging that you would be willing to switch your Crosscheck for?

Tanks

throw up some pics. What size?

Two recent pics and then one from Scotland five years ago (same setup, but in actual working condition). I'm pretty sure it's 58cm.

I have it set up 1x11 with loop bars and non-stock fork which I'm pretty bored of. If I were to keep it I'd look to get flared drops and a different groupset.

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Doesn't look like a 58 to me though.

It's lovely how, out of nowhere, such a banger comes up from time to time. Big thumbs up for the Saint crankset, so out of place but so perfect at the same time

I've a CC and had it now best part of 10 years. It's been through many guises, drops, alts, Bosco plus a triple , 1x and ss/fixed. You can put guards on easily and it takes racks front and rear with no fuss. The traditional geometry is also pleaseing on the eye (imo) . If mine broke, I really couldn't think of an off the peg replacement , I'd go custom with a better tubeset I guess . I love mine.

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Picked up this lovely little thing yesterday - officially achieved my dream bike!

I'm going down to one bike to do-it-all (how many times have I said that now...) so I'm looking at front and rear racks.

Had a tortec ultralite rear to hand, but sadly it won't fit around the disc caliper.

Now looking at options and not looking to spend a ton of £££ - Tortec Transalp Disc seems like a great option (especially given I'll usually be using either my carradice rack pack or panniers when I get a pair of my own, so I'll be able to do both at the same time, if I ever ? need to ?) - anyone had luck getting one on a Straggler?

Front rack wise, most likely going to go for an Omnium, although BLB T rack and Spesh Pizza rack or also contenders.

Gonna keep peepers out on the bay for deals, but saw an M18 go for £111 so f#ck knows if there's even deals to be had anymore on there!

Avoid blb racks, we had loads at work and every single one needed "manipulation" to make work / fit....

Omnium one seems great though I love my pizza rack.

Or I use a chopped rear rack as a front rack and it's also perfect!

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Ooooh rear rack is a shout to be fair... the ultralite doesn't have a bendable strut/mounting for the fork crown but might ponder that.

I reckon though to be fair I'll go for the pizza rack, it's tried and trusted, and could see potential worms about getting the rack to sit flush with the strut design. Will see though, not gonna be a this month purchase :,< will simply cope with the 25l backpack for now

I've been very happy with my Pelago front racks, Tubus racks for the rear have also been faultless