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basscyclist thread picture thread
- Thread starter Nobody
- Start date
City Commuter Bike | Flat Bar Gravel Bike | Drop Bar Pavement Bicycle
I guess Surly is trying to sell a more affordable commuter type bike now. If they did it this time last year I might have thought about it.
I guess Surly is trying to sell a more affordable commuter type bike now. If they did it this time last year I might have thought about it.
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Wow - that’s pretty close to my ideal: like a 90s MTB with sloping geometry, 700c wheels and disc brakes!
2023 Surly= 2016 Diamondback. 
Mine came with a flat bar, which I switched to a swept bar. My best bike for longer rides. Surly probably has higher grade components.
Mine came with a flat bar, which I switched to a swept bar. My best bike for longer rides. Surly probably has higher grade components.
It's 43 degrees here and I was thinking of skipping the ride....Guess I should put on the wind breaker and do it.
Canyon Bikes is running a crazy sale and this is headed my way. I love my Trail Smurf but I've been riding it since 2006 and it'll be nice to ride a modern bike!
Snowstorm today in Kingston. That ride was nice.
It really does seem to share a lot with older mountain bikes... A lot of surlys do. I think in my situation I really don't need it but it looks fun.2023 Surly= 2016 Diamondback.
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Dayum! er...I mean, nice bike!
Canyon Bikes is running a crazy sale and this is headed my way. I love my Trail Smurf but I've been riding it since 2006 and it'll be nice to ride a modern bike!
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Indeed, I've been eyeing a Cross Check frame for a long time, same deal. The difference is that the Cross Check would accommodate my weird needs for gear hubs, single speed, and whatnot. But I need another bike like I need a hole in the head.
I've been riding a Surly Cross Check as my primary road bike since 2006. I'm very satisfied with it.
First thing to keep in mind is that although by today's standards of plastic bikes and 220 lb guys in stretch Lycra it'd be considered a "long wheelbase, long chainstay, relaxed angle" bike, if you look at the actual specs it lines up very closely with a late 70s Raleigh Professional or an early 80s Mercian Olympic, both of which were considered high quality road racing bikes at the time.
For actual grownups who enjoy riding a bike, as opposed to millennials who want to show off their latest plastic bike and expensive gear as they wobble down the bike path at 40 rpm in the traditional wrong gear, I would highly recomment the Cross-Check.
First thing to keep in mind is that although by today's standards of plastic bikes and 220 lb guys in stretch Lycra it'd be considered a "long wheelbase, long chainstay, relaxed angle" bike, if you look at the actual specs it lines up very closely with a late 70s Raleigh Professional or an early 80s Mercian Olympic, both of which were considered high quality road racing bikes at the time.
For actual grownups who enjoy riding a bike, as opposed to millennials who want to show off their latest plastic bike and expensive gear as they wobble down the bike path at 40 rpm in the traditional wrong gear, I would highly recomment the Cross-Check.
I think on the whole the Cross Check is probably the better/more versatile bike/frame, I think the one I posted is probably as close as they'll get to something like a Trek FX or Giant Escape type of frame - a generally capable "all-rounder" hybrid that isn't too expensive (at 1500ish CAD I'll say not too expensive compared to the rest of what Surly sells) and could give a newer potential buyer/commuter a good feeling, reliable ride to get around town in, and just capable enough off road to go through some hiking trails and get into a bit of trouble on. I guess a gateway bike. Don't ask me about geometry too much, but looking at charts it's not *too* far off of my trek 830, except probably with more stack.
Except instead of the Trek or Giant, it's got a surly branded steel frame that's due to last a lifetime or two and probably weighs a bit more. It looks nicer than my CCM but since all three seem to have similar geometry and are steel it's hard to justify at a higher cost than the total cost of ownership of both of my other bikes so far.
Well, if we're talking about a 4 lb. frame and fork vs. a 3 lb frame and fork ridden by me, who ought to weigh 150 lbs but actually weighs 185 lbs, where is the greatest weight reduction potential? Hmmmmm?
Then add on a pair of 36 spoke three cross wheels that need to be trued about once every two years, and 32 mm tires, and a full tool kit under the saddle, and a pump, and two 16 oz, water bottles, and a Brooks B67 saddle with springs, and NOW tell me how important that plastic frame is to you?
Then add on a pair of 36 spoke three cross wheels that need to be trued about once every two years, and 32 mm tires, and a full tool kit under the saddle, and a pump, and two 16 oz, water bottles, and a Brooks B67 saddle with springs, and NOW tell me how important that plastic frame is to you?
Here's my 2016 BMC teammachine slr01.
Ultegra Di-2, rim brakes, nothing fancy.
I'm a roadie and love to throw down on solo training rides and group rides here in ATL.
Ultegra Di-2, rim brakes, nothing fancy.
I'm a roadie and love to throw down on solo training rides and group rides here in ATL.
Say what you will, a bike is a bike - it's not the bike you ride, it's the fun you have riding it.
It just occurred to me that you might have thought I was trying to crap talk the cross check.
Not at all, I think that surly stuff occupies a pretty rad niche that I'd probably have bought by now if I didn't already have two bikes... Both of them steel.
I was mostly trying to compare the new surly preamble to what I figured was the closest comparable thing - some other brands have relatively affordable hybrid bikes that they tend to market as a mix of commuter and adventure bikes and I think surly is trying to do that, but in their own way. If the preamble came out this time last year, I probably would have bought a frame as it seems pretty close to perfect for me - but I have since bought an '88 trek 830 frame and assembled that from a number of parts and posted about it pretty extensively. At this point, as rad as the surly is, and I'm sure the cross trek is also an awesome bike, my needs are pretty well met.
As far as weight is concerned on my end - I think the last big ride I went on I packed a couple beers, four litres of water, a jar of peanut butter and a spoon into a bag and onto a rear rack on a high tensile frame. I'm hardly fussy and I'm almost sorry I came off that way.
Bikes are rad, steel is rad, carbon is way out of my price range but I'm sure it's great too.
I recently got a new B17.
A few observations-
they finally come in a sort of usable box instead of the "almost a box" they used to come in.
This one is much harder than the last one I got- but I *may* have over-conditioned that one when I first got it.
But it'll break in nicely.
Brooks 2023 by Dave The Golden Boy, on Flickr
A few observations-
they finally come in a sort of usable box instead of the "almost a box" they used to come in.
This one is much harder than the last one I got- but I *may* have over-conditioned that one when I first got it.
But it'll break in nicely.
Brooks 2023 by Dave The Golden Boy, on Flickr
