First off, I ride my bike and you ride yours so whatever you ride doesn't effect me one bit.

I love the fuck out of my Cross check. I can ride it to work in the rain, snow, hot cold and my favorite part of my commute is the construction site short cut I take. (love showing up to work with a mud covered bike)

I love bikes, but I'm bike dumb. My bike shifts, steers, goes and stops. I've never once regretted one penny I spent on my bike. Had I bought another brand, I'm sure I would say the same. But after 100 or so miles, its still my bike.

I would love to see that bike.

You can do it for free - just lock the derailleurs into one position.

the framework for many a Mitch Hedberg joke

Isn't the steamroller fixed though?

The OP mentioned converting to SS cheaply, not fixed.

However, it should be pretty easy to make a freewheel fixed. All you have to do is make the bearings sieze permanently.

To do it wrong. yes.

You're clearly not redneck enough.

If it works, its not wrong.



(it can certainly be done better, but not for free - and really, if you can find gears on the front and rear that are roughly inline and you're running a setup that will require a tensioner anyway, the ghetto version isn't really any worse, just heavier)

http://thereifixedit.failblog.org/tag/bicycle/

I found a picture of the OP's vintage bike.

that's so dumb...I hate adjustable stems.

Thanks for Bat56 for reminding me that I posted this last spring. I actually totally forgot about it until Bat56's reply to a recent post of mine reminded me of that I had put up a post daring to challenge the Surly gods here in Minneapolis. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I inspired five pages of flaming replies to my original comments (which have been deleted because the thought has died).

First off, I should say thanks to everyone who added their two cents. I appreciate the insights, humor, challenges to my knowledge of the bike stuff. You all are clever and funny too so even when I'm getting flamed it's still good fun ;) It's very clear that people here love QBP and their Surly brand... And dang nabbit Brand loyalty is important considering they employ local people and aren't making bikes in a sweatshop in Taiwan (according to your replies this seems to be the case).

Second off, I apologize for offending anyone's sensibilities, I had no idea my post would cause such "passionate outrage" over a particular bike brand. I suppose what fueled my original post more than anything is that most of the people I had run into at that point who touted Surly as "the bike to get", actually knew very little about bikes... they just knew that Surly was hip and they should probably get one. Most of these people I would classify as recreational riders, as in they ride less than 100 miles a month. OBVIOUSLY very different from everyone who responded with a Surly boner here. I get it, really, you're experienced riders that ride a minimum of million miles per year (give or take a few miles), own like 30 different bikes, can tear down and put together any bike blind-folded and have ridden 90% of bike brands past, present or future.

(hanging head in shame, tearing up just a bit)... I realize how out dated and austere my tastes for cheap bike boom vintage bikes are in this town (and how ridiculous my passion for wrenching on said bikes is in town where it's so easy to just get a new bike and forgo all that extra work). Yes MBL community forum users, I'm way outside the circle with my opinion about buying a Surly. So let's just agree to disagree and move on (although I do like all your clever/funnny posts).

OP aint hating on Surly's, yo... just asking questions that ~may~ of been just a tad adversarial in nature due to the fact that OP likes push buttons and can hide behind the anonymity of the world wide interwebs ;)

As a person who loves his Surly I am nevertheless dissapointed that you seem to be apologizing for daring to point out that these bikes may just be a tad overrated. Your thread was just so much fun. If you want to see really incur the flaming wrath of the Bike Love "community" try meekly suggesting that you don't think riding a bike on a city street while pulling your dog on a leash is the greatest idea. Oh boy, Now I've done it!

No helmet.