My Surly Years

A few years back, while surfing the web considering a replacement for my Mercian Audax, which I had sold due to sizing issues, I came across references about these bikes being designed in the States and TIG welded in China. The company, Surly was a quirky little outfit that made a few interesting bikes, all in steel!

They first created the "1X1", a single speed mountain bike, then the Steamroller, a single speed street bike. They now have a whole line of really unusual and imaginative bike designs. The first to grab my attention was an honest-to-god touring frame for 400 bucks! The Long Haul Trucker. It was also in a lovely, (to me anyway), shade of sage green. I ordered a big one, (60cm)so I wouldn't get stuck with too small a frame.

Long Haul Trucker

Compared to the bikes of the 70s and early 80s, the LHT has some remarkable features. Double eyelets for rack and fenders, 3 sets of water bottle braze-ons, low rider eyelets, completely set up for cantilever brakes, threading in the bottom bracket bridge for bolting on the fender, even spoke holders on the left chainstay! The bikes geometry is excellent for touring, plenty of clearance for fenders and for a stable ride. I really couldn't think of much more they could have put on this bike. Maybe a bracket for a bottle generator(dynamo), like I saw on practically every bicycle in Germany last year! Only thing I would change, the spoke holders were not really useful for my length of spokes. I've never been able to use them.  Also, it would have been cool to have them on the chain side, that way, if you could fit spokes into them, they would make a chain guard for the stay as well!

Initial set up of my LHT. Stem height and length would eventually change.

For what it is intended for, the LHT is a remarkable bargain. I've used it on several tours through the Northern Sierra, and its been a comfortable and reliable machine. 

On the Sunrise Highway, San Diego County, just north of Mt. Laguna.

At the summit of Monitor Pass. Fall, 2008. This shot shows my current

configuration of stem length and height.

Well, I guess you can figure out where this is. Fall, 2008.

*  *  *
For my next bike project, I needed a purpose built commuter. I had been commuting with a fixed gear for several years, so I looked at what was available in single speed bikes. There were beginning to be a lot of choices available in this field sine single speeds were becoming very fashionable. Out of several candidates I finally decided on the Surly for a couple of reasons: one, I was happy with the quality of my LHT, and two, I got a really good deal on this from Universal Cycles. I can't really remember the price now but it was pretty reasonable, less then even the LHT. Of course, there less stuff on a SS, so it should be cheaper I guess.

Surly Steamroller Commuter

Anyway, when the frame showed up, it was missing a fork! But the guys at Universal were very good about taking care of that little mistake. Well, I'm not going to gush over the Steamroller too much. It's a very simple bike, really no frills at all. But the geometry is nice, it was a nice riding bicycle. The one downside on this bike was the placement of the water bottle bosses. If you're going to go through the bother of installing them, why put the only ones on the bike on the seat tube as opposed to the down tube? I don't get it, if you use a frame pump, either you have to strap a bottle on the down tube, or you go without a bottle. I even wrote Surly about this but they are sticking with that design. I think it just make the bosses useless! Eventually, the lack of eyelets for fenders also became a hassle.

After about 2 1/2 years of riding, I started to notice a bit of flex in the frame. A close examination uncovers a large crack had developed at the weld and down tube near the bottom bracket! I suppose this was just a fluke, not a normal problem with TIG frames, I hope so, anyway. Surly and Universal bikes were very good about backing their warranty, they gave me a generous credit, for which I am grateful. 

I guess my overall impressions of the Steamroller are mixed. If it's just about the ride, no problems. But since I wanted a few more features for my commuting bike, it fell a little short.

*  *  *

My next Surly proved to be a real sleeper. I was checking out the Universal Cycles webpage one day and came across a clearance sale, they were blowing out Pacer frames for something like $250!!

Pacer

It so happened that I was thinking about a somewhat sportier ride than my LHT, so what the heck! In a week I had a nice shiny frameset in the garage, and started to assemble parts for it. Mostly I used stuff I had from previous bikes. I did some research and discovered the perfect brakeset for this bike is the Campagnolo Centaur. Their reach is just a bit longer than Shimano shorties, they are reasonably priced, plus it was a chance to get some new Campy stuff! I also got some of the Tektro "Ergo" rip-off levers, Shimano 105 derailleurs, and some 7 spd indexed levers which you can force into 8 spd mode.

Near Lake Cuyamaca, San Diego County

I have to say, that while this bike is not the most exciting, it has become a favorite ride for me. Riding position is as good as it gets for me. It has all the right features for this type of bike. I'm even beginning to like the idea of black bikes!

Outside Mt. Laguna.

Look familiar? Same place as the LHT picture a few years earlier.