03-21-2009, 11:08 PM
I've been eying up commuter/urban bikes for probably a year now. I've been rocking my mountain bike with slicks on it, but being lazy that has kept me from actually mountain biking (yes, swapping wheels is enough of a hurdle). Soooo....
I've been looking at a ton of stuff. Prebuilt, I was looking at something in the 650-900 range. Unfortunately, everything I tried was missing something, and in that range, they're really not all that well put-together; some part is cheaped on.
After tossing around various models for months now, I pretty much settled on getting something from Surly... They're sort of leaders in the singlespeed market and make some really versatile and high quality stuff. Combine the timing of everyone else building bikes, mountain bike season coming soon, and some guy listing a used frame for sale and I was all in.
Within a day, I had already spec'd out the entire build. <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pKVJZpKuJTHSbChcuCRkIXQ">http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key= ... ChcuCRkIXQ</a><!-- m -->
I'm looking at $750, but every single part on this thing is how I want it and of good quality; I can thank eBay and some stellar sales for that. The wheelset was $100! That's ridiculous.
The Surly 1x1 is a steel mountain bike frame, which is perfect for how I commute. Steel is soft so it'll be comfy, and the frame is beefy so it can handle everything I throw at it. The only downside is it's 26". Typically, a larger wheel is preferred for road riding, which is why road bikes are 700c (29"). I'm going to take a stab at throwing some 29" wheels on it, but the geometry might be thrown off completely. If that happens, I'll resell the frame and throw another $125 in to upgrade to the 29" equivalent called the Karate Monkey.
I'd love to embed pics, but the MM forum hates the format my web gallery uses... It doesn't recognize them as images. So here's a link: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.iammike.org/gallery/?dir=my_rides%2Fbicycles%2Fsurly_1x1">http://www.iammike.org/gallery/?dir=my_ ... Fsurly_1x1</a><!-- m -->
Waiting on the wheels, a small order from JensonUSA, and the brake discs from the previous owner (he couldn't find the bit to remove them). Should have it all by mid-week and it'll be assembled in a matter of minutes.
As a bonus for reading this far, have some cheap condoms: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://tiny.cc/iI6VU">http://tiny.cc/iI6VU</a><!-- m -->
I've been looking at a ton of stuff. Prebuilt, I was looking at something in the 650-900 range. Unfortunately, everything I tried was missing something, and in that range, they're really not all that well put-together; some part is cheaped on.
After tossing around various models for months now, I pretty much settled on getting something from Surly... They're sort of leaders in the singlespeed market and make some really versatile and high quality stuff. Combine the timing of everyone else building bikes, mountain bike season coming soon, and some guy listing a used frame for sale and I was all in.
Within a day, I had already spec'd out the entire build. <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pKVJZpKuJTHSbChcuCRkIXQ">http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key= ... ChcuCRkIXQ</a><!-- m -->
I'm looking at $750, but every single part on this thing is how I want it and of good quality; I can thank eBay and some stellar sales for that. The wheelset was $100! That's ridiculous.
The Surly 1x1 is a steel mountain bike frame, which is perfect for how I commute. Steel is soft so it'll be comfy, and the frame is beefy so it can handle everything I throw at it. The only downside is it's 26". Typically, a larger wheel is preferred for road riding, which is why road bikes are 700c (29"). I'm going to take a stab at throwing some 29" wheels on it, but the geometry might be thrown off completely. If that happens, I'll resell the frame and throw another $125 in to upgrade to the 29" equivalent called the Karate Monkey.
I'd love to embed pics, but the MM forum hates the format my web gallery uses... It doesn't recognize them as images. So here's a link: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.iammike.org/gallery/?dir=my_rides%2Fbicycles%2Fsurly_1x1">http://www.iammike.org/gallery/?dir=my_ ... Fsurly_1x1</a><!-- m -->
Waiting on the wheels, a small order from JensonUSA, and the brake discs from the previous owner (he couldn't find the bit to remove them). Should have it all by mid-week and it'll be assembled in a matter of minutes.
As a bonus for reading this far, have some cheap condoms: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://tiny.cc/iI6VU">http://tiny.cc/iI6VU</a><!-- m -->
I Am Mike
4 wheels: '01 RAV4 (Formerly '93 Civic CX, '01 S2000, '10 GTI, '09 A4 Avant)
2 wheels: '12 Surly Cross-Check Custom | '14 Trek Madone 2.1 105 | '17 Norco Threshold SL Force 1 | '17 Norco Revolver 9.2 FS | '18 BMC Roadmachine 02 Two | '19 Norco Search XR Steel (Formerly '97 Honda VFR750F, '05 Giant TCR 2, '15 WeThePeople Atlas 24, '10 Scott Scale 29er XT, '11 Cervelo R3 Rival, '12 Ridley X-Fire Red)
No longer onyachin.
4 wheels: '01 RAV4 (Formerly '93 Civic CX, '01 S2000, '10 GTI, '09 A4 Avant)
2 wheels: '12 Surly Cross-Check Custom | '14 Trek Madone 2.1 105 | '17 Norco Threshold SL Force 1 | '17 Norco Revolver 9.2 FS | '18 BMC Roadmachine 02 Two | '19 Norco Search XR Steel (Formerly '97 Honda VFR750F, '05 Giant TCR 2, '15 WeThePeople Atlas 24, '10 Scott Scale 29er XT, '11 Cervelo R3 Rival, '12 Ridley X-Fire Red)
No longer onyachin.