Surlys at Evans - Might be time to sell mine

MrSmith again the image comes from the product history/location, i don't think you can say that about surly.

well basically true of many of the bike brands from the US apart from ones like.... Schwinn?? :)

I think that Surly seem to be into their product, not just shifting units...

There's no argument a bike made by a small workshop of dedicated craftsmen is better value and a way sweeter ride, but they're not exactly easy of the average person to get hold of. The more people riding bikes, the better

Saying that, ask me in six months, when every motherfucker is riding a steamroller and see how I feel then... ;P

well trek, specialized, klein, bontrager and gary fisher all have a history too based on reliable bikes, technology and 'race wins' as well as their owners personalities
a lot of companies image is just based on technology and race wins unlike rivendel for example which is a heritage brand with no heritage, still nice bikes if a little overdone imho.
you just can't get away from branding, you could import standard frames from taiwan, paint them white or black and call your product 'fixed bike' and have it in helvetica (bold) on the downtube people would think they were kool bikes.
(shit just given away my new bike brand marketing idea)

helvetica neue 75 in either all uppercase or lowercase with at least -50 tracking innit

no deep v(ictims)'s though*

*not my joke somebody elses and i can't remember who you are

that was my joke, incidentally :)

only a matter of time...

BALLS!

All this time fretting about the steamroller and i can't buy one now? Please tell me which frame i'm supposed to buy, for the love of mudguards and ale.

;)

Momentum I'm biased cos I've ordered a cross check, but I couldn't find any other frame that had the same range of verstility.

Damn straight!

MrSmith it's the backstreet image but big marketing reality.
for example brooklyn machine works make badass bikes in a dirty workshop in brooklyn their product is their image. the same could be said for mercian/bob jackson etc they make bikes in grim northern workshops, years of heritage, grey old men smoking woodbines using old tools, old calender on the wall with a big titted bird, dirty tea cups and last weeks racing post lying around but the bikes aren't shipped in by the crate load from taiwan, again the image comes from the product history/location, i don't think you can say that about surly.
as i said i'm not knocking surly it's just an observation about their brand image.

"Grim northern workshops"? Oh please....

I'll tell you what seems grim after watching BBC1 last night, West Hampstead and the City of London.

Pretty sure Alex make the majority of bicycle rims out there

CHUG_IT Pretty sure Alex make the majority of bicycle rims out there

Where? West Hampstead? ;)

I've had a steamroller for just over two years now. The price at the time didn't really concern me, it was a divorce present to myself. It's a solid frame.
I've had her built into a fixed off roader with 26inch wheels, a hack bike and my pretty bike. I'll admit I've stripped all of the decals including the headbadge as I'm not too keen on advertising something that I've paid for. That said, if I had a mercian, Bob J whatever I'd do the same (I suspect this date back to my BMX days).

As to what it means to me that more people will be rolling around on steamrollers? If anyone gets half as much enjoyment out of their evans bought machine as I have out of my custom built/dismantled/rebuilt/rinse/repeat then I think that's a good thing. Fair play to them.

hippy I like their blog and this..

if you have that tool hippy it must be completely redundant now. we know you never use the spanner end and your no alcohol policy must be giving the other end a bit of a break too ;)

my tuppence. i used to have a steamroller. it was a wicked frame to ride. ma3k - yours is still very much a bespoke machine

CHUG_IT Pretty sure Alex make the majority of bicycle rims out there

I'm sure mr mavic and mr dt swiss might have something to say about that

yeah the deep v joke was ed's, i took it and ran with it, being conspicuous shhort of a. originality, or b. a sense of humour.

MrSmith it's the backstreet image but big marketing reality.
for example brooklyn machine works make badass bikes in a dirty workshop in brooklyn their product is their image. the same could be said for mercian/bob jackson etc they make bikes in grim northern workshops, years of heritage, grey old men smoking woodbines using old tools, old calender on the wall with a big titted bird, dirty tea cups and last weeks racing post lying around but the bikes aren't shipped in by the crate load from taiwan, again the image comes from the product history/location, i don't think you can say that about surly.
as i said i'm not knocking surly it's just an observation about their brand image.

I agree that this is all true aboput independent builders and Surly's brand image - the last new frame I bought was a BJ rather than a steamroller for exactly these reasons (esp the big titted birds, hopefully with large nipples). The only thing is that I think some of these heritage brands aren't gonna do much more than build what they're used to, whereas Surly are coming up with genuinely innovative ideas (e.g Dingle cog) that BJ or Mercian wouldn't/couldn't. BMW are also doing interesting, new stuff - especially that crazy full sus bike they have. I wonder how Surly started up originally?

CHUG_IT Pretty sure Alex make the majority of bicycle rims out there

Maybe in sheer numbers cos they are shipped as OEM parts with most cheapish bikes. I don't think there are many people choosing to but Alex rims though.

you'd be surprised how many companies have Alex make their rims which are then branded as the companies.. Alex have that shit on lock.

I'm not bothered either way personally, just thought i'd point it out.

pj yeah the deep v joke was ed's, i took it and ran with it, being conspicuous shhort of a. originality, or b. a sense of humour.

edmundane [quote]pj what, deep V? as in victim?

i'll pass i think. i'm going to go for a cpx 33. or 22. right now i can't afford to eat.

haha

deep Victim[/quote]

ok it's yours :P

i just remember typing it for some reason

I agree with the OP. MA3K, I think it is time to sell your bike. How much do you want? £50?? :)

i'll give you 20GN (whatever GN is)

Guatemalan Quetzal or Guinea Franc?

Ghanaian Nu-buck and I want 30-million for mine.

|³|MA3K This one is my favorite, adjustable stem WTF?
"Iron Horse"