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@M_V
Guess I could/should have been updating this as the 1x1 has been a bit of an ongoing project.
I fitted Time's which were hugely better than the flats.
I changed the brakes around on my polo bike and ended up with an HS33 spare so fitted that to the Surly and changed the bars out for some Humpbert comfort(?) style bars.
Saddle has also been changed by this point to a Turbo bought from here.
I kept drooling over fat bikes but don't have the money (nor do I think fat stuff is actually worth what's currently being charged for it) so I decided to try and fatten the Surly up a bit.
I found a barely used 2.7 Big Earl tyre for sale on Retrobike so bought that but when I fitted it it rubbed the booster on the HS33. I'd already had to buy a wider booster to accommodate the wide rims I'm using so I knew it'd be unlikely I'd find anything that would work with the tyre any better so I put the canti back on the front.
Going back to the canti meant I wasn't limited to flat bar levers and I had a set of Midges I'd been itching to try on the Surly so on they went along with a set of Middleburn cranks and Uno ring from eBay - the Renthal ring was showing signs of wear and I needed cranks for my speedway bike so buying the Middleburns kinda killed two birds with one stone.
I felt that my weight was a bit far forward on the Midges so started looking for a steep stem in 25.4. Not much out there that isn't cheap crap then I stumbled upon the last 25.4 Control Tech DirectConnect stem on CRC. I loved Ordinata's use of this stem so snapped it up.
Thankfully the new stem improved the position and weight distribution tremendously - thankfully as if it hadn't there'd be nothing to detract from how eye bleedingly ugly the stem is!
I'd been spinning the rear wheel a bit in the mud so was thinking again about tyres. I new I could squeeze more in the front and reckoned the 2.7 would just fit in the back (I offered it up fitted to the front wheel when I first got it). I knew of the Duro Leopard 26x3 and while at about £36 it was a lot cheaper than a true 'fat' tyre it'd still be an expensive mistake if it indeed did not fit in the fork.
Then at the weekend I saw a 26 x 3 Gazzalodi on eBay, managed to make it mine for a little over a fiver.
It arrived an hour or so ago.
It does fit in the fork and the 2.7 just fits in the back, I've ordered a ½ link to move the wheel back so the tyre will sit at a point in the stays that's a little wider.
Finished now…?