You are reading a single comment by @amey and its replies.
Click here to read the full conversation.
London Fixed Gear and Single-Speed is a community of predominantly fixed gear and single-speed cyclists in and around London, UK.
This site is supported almost exclusively by donations. Please consider donating a small amount regularly.
amey
hugo7
My Straggler has been my commuter and tourer for almost 10 years but the time has come for a reshuffle and a new bike.
When I bought the Straggler 40mm clearances seemed massive and the ‘fatties fit fine’ decal gave filled me with confidence that my horizons for wide, plush rubber were endless. Now it’s 2024 and 700x40mm isn’t cutting it anymore.
Even though the Surly marketing blurb suggests the Straggler is good for "credit card touring rather than full-blown touring" I rode it 24,000km across the Americas and even as we moved away from riding roads and took to more gravel and off-road the bike kept on trucking. It was good enough on double track and put in an honourable effort on sand and occasional rocky descents. It wasn’t all plain sailing though and after one too many pinch flats and a few sketchy moments on the rough stuff I was dreaming of a new ATT (All Terrain Tourer) dressed with rubber far beyond the Stragglers meagre clearances.
The Crust Evasion seemed like a match for my desired blend of retro-grouch aesthetics but with massive tyre clearances and somewhat modern standards but the price of getting one in the UK is silly money. No amount of day-dreaming would allow me to justify £1500+ on a Maxway frame.
An All-City Gorilla Monsoon was next on the list but the idea of one wasn't sparking joy. The current paint schemes are terrible and I think I'd always think of it as a poor imitation of the Evasion.
Then I landed on the Stooge Rambler - suitabley different to the Crust that I wouldn't be forever comparing them to each other, all the tyre clearance I could ever want and more importantly for a price that a steel frame should be from a brand who seem to care about what they are doing. I'm not the biggest fan of the split top tube but you can't have it all and this frame was ticking more boxes than anything else I could find.
The Rambler frame just arrived and I've almost got all the parts to build it up over the next few weeks.