Surly Bike Owners

Took longer than expected to get the trucker out for a proper ride but the weekend before Christmas I took a ~45km ride up Marriott’s way to Reepham and onwards to Holt to camp out for the night. Freezing cold but a great ride and camp out and learnt plenty from the trip. I also did another 40km to my parents on Christmas Day too.

The bike rides fantastically, super satisfied with it and had very few qualms at all. Feels super solid and really planted, especially while loaded up (wizard works Shazam on a bagman at the rear and a rack/basket up front). Marriotts way is a pretty established path so no crazy off roading but it felt plenty capable and am excited to take it on some slightly rougher stuff. I did come off once when the front wheel dug into a boggy patch but me and the bike remained unscathed despite landing several feet apart! On the roads it rides smooth as anything and the 2.2 tires feel plush and can still ride pretty fast too.

My only gripe was slight pain in my hands when riding on the hoods. Hard to explain but the muscle in your palm that forms the lower section of the thumb. So some adjustment of the bars and hoods is probably necessary if you have any advice on this? I feel maybe the transition from
Bar to hood isn’t quite smooth enough. The pain was far from unbearable though but it meant I was moving my hands around quite a bit.

The friction shifting too. I’m a convert! Something about it just feels so good. So smooth and I love the slight more finesse it requires compared to indexed. And sweeping across the cassette just puts a smile on your face. Gearing was great, 11 speed 11-42t cassette and a 38t upfront. Wasn’t a single hill (not that many exist in norfolk) I couldn’t climb and probably didn’t pass the 9th gear on these trips so feel satisfied it’ll take anything I could throw at it. I also felt I had plenty of speed down hill too.

All round I’m super satisfied with this build. I wanted a burly do it all bike and it handles my 20 minute commute with ease and excels on longer rides on a variety of surfaces. All while feeling super fun too. Got plenty planned for the new year, lots of local overnight trips and a couple longer trips in Europe in the works too so very much look forward to putting the bike through its paces!

3 Attachments

Rad

Friction is the best.
With the Trp levers, have you got the plastic wedge in that alters the angle? I found them much comfier without it.

I have got the wedges in and I did wonder if this was the culprit! Maybe I’ll give them a go without. Cheers for the tip

The wedges create a little ridge just where you rest your thumb when on the hoods, give it a go, may help, and if not, it's cost nowt.
And, happy travels.

Welcome to the friction club, great looking bike.

I used to use those levers and they took me a while to get them comfy. Ive swapped for Hylexs and I love them, could be worth a look.

Looking good!
I bet the Gravel Super Highway™️ was SFAB! especially between the bridges bit.

Conditions were no where near as bad as I was expecting considering the weather we’d had all week. Saying that the bit between the bridges is exactly where I came off!

Very nice