Surly Bike Owners

Well spotted! The best we did in this part of Sicily was to take a train south along the coast, perhaps 15 to 30 minutes, then there were very nice roads up the hill, back via Noto (lovely).

I hope so. Either way I still will get the rack I think. It's super pricey but I like how it's designed to work well with the Surly forks.

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I have a 24 pack rack that was first on a Troll and is now on my Big Fat Dummy. It's great, and v easy to fit.

If you don't end up with the extra curvy bits then drop me a DM, as I think I may have some in the garage somewhere.

I didn’t know you were allowed to make Preambles look like this.

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Fitted the 8 pack front rack to my cross check and tied on a wald half basket. I was very tempted by a proper basket but the guy in the shop persuaded me that half baskets were a bit more versatile. I'm not 100% sure I made the right choice, but it's nice to get a rucksack off my back in the hot summer.

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Did he say why half baskets were more "versatile"

I own and have used both and think they're both as good as each other.

I too have both and I’ve never thought that I picked the wrong bike to take.

The basket comment sounds like horse shit to me, I mean, big sides hold more shit surely?

Also, nice bars, what are they?

I can hold more loose items in my none 1/2 basket for sure.

That's the only upside.

I probably didn't understand everything he was saying, but the gist was that it could also be used like a platform for oversized things.

Love these bars. VO granola. Feel more solid than their name sounds.

Cannot seem to get my (geared) crosscheck rear wheel in tight enough, first bit of POWARR and it skews the wheel into the stay, derailleur side. I'm tightening the QR to crazy levels but it's still happening. Shall I just buy a Hurdy Gurdy tensioner and be done with it?

Are you using an internal-cam QR skewer?

Yes, they have an internal-cam.

In short, yes. Hurdy Gurdy on the DS of my SS Cross Check with an old Dura-Ace QR and had no issues at all.

I’ve had a cross check for 20+ years and love it.
I have come across this a few times and , without teaching you to suck eggs, worth noting -

As said before, a decent Shimano steel shaft internal cam quick release. Do not accept any other inferior product! Titanium etc can be a problem waste of time

Hurdy gurdy does work. Have found that hubs with a aluminium axle need it, but Shimano steel axle hubs don’t.

Also, many modern hubs seem to be designed for drop outs that are thicker than surly steel ones. I have found that the axle section that protrudes into drop out has been too long and the spring did not have enough room to compress and therefore stopped the quick release from being able to grip drip out securely. Try removing springs just to find out.

Is it a new frame? Is paint interfering? Won’t be long before that’s sorted out by qr eating it up.

Nutted fixed wheel hubs totally fine!

Good luck

Moonlander v2.0 looks wild - I kind of want one...
https://surlybikes.com/bikes/moonlander-v2

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That's the only kind of terrain where I wouldn't be embarrassed riding one

Switch it out for 29x3" tyres and I'd ride it

Somewhere

I’ve just noticed they have gone full roadie with the new Midnight Special complete builds.

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I would call 38c fully roady😜

Hi.....I recently became a Surly Ogre owner. Planning a ride next year to Turkey (maybe beyond) and I've decided this is the bike to do it on but there's a few things I want to change.

New wheelset with dynamo.
Lights
Currently running 1x11. Would prefer a 3x7/8/9.
Swap hydraulic brakes for cable. Looked at BB7s and Spykes?
New racks (rear isn't mine and I'm not keen on the width of the front one). Looked Blackburn Outpost front?

I'm not a great mechanic by any means and I get completely bogged down in looking at stuff online so I'm looking for some recommendations really.

Budget of about £1200 and another £100 for bits I've forgotten, new grips etc

Any advice much appreciated.

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Nice bike!
I would go for a Tubus Tara low rider instead of a front rack to keep the weight low.
Switching these good hydro brakes for mechanical ones seems unnecessary. I would just bleed and adjust them before the trip.
Put some bolts in all the open mounting holes of your fork so water stays out.
And does your saddle nose really needs to be this far up?

Also the rear rack looks like it was meant for rim brakes. There are shorter ones that work better with disc brakes. Or to save money you could get some new longer struts to level it out.

Watch this on x1.5 and see the recos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yf4CcTFvz38

Cheers.

Re: brakes. I've tried with bleeding them at home where I've got everything and bought new stuff but I just can't get the hang of it. The rear is still spongy after trying everything in every video I could find. If anything went wrong on the road I'd have no chance.

Just sorted the saddle, the top part of the clamp was back to front.

As I said, I'm not a great mechanic :D

Rear rack isn't mine I just threw it on to see how it worked. I could probably keep it though. It's steel and seems pretty strong, I'll look into getting some some longer struts.