NOVEMBER 2nd IS COMING!

Have you started thinking about the Presidential election yet? I told you I'm going to hammer it into ALL of you the importance of voting on Novemeber 2nd. Pay attention, use a variety of news sources, read in between the mudslinging and vote wisely. Start now! Don't let the man keep you down.

We almost forgot to tell you our new stainless steel chainrings are now in stock for the first time. They're made from 304 stainless, which is a hell of a lot more durable than aluminum. Think about it, you've got a steel cog on the back being pulled by a steel chain. Why not have an all steel drivetrain to go with that not-so-fancy steel frame?

They're available in all the popular singlespeed flavors. MMMMMM stainless.

Ouch, it's back to reality time for me. After a week off work to fix up my new house, I'm here in the office again. Only this time Kenny Bloggins is in Iowa for RABRAI and Brother David Sunshine is in Taiwan finalizing some things on our upcoming products.

With the (not-so-fun) paint fumes I've breathed all week and the morning beers that were cracked in celebration of playing in my new honeycomb hideout, I'm a bit dumb today and have 279 e-mails to sort through. If you don't get a nice quick response this week, bear with me.

Now, how do I get three colors of paint off my new Converse One-Stars?

Achtung! If you are attending the SSWC in Berlin this year, we have been sent spy photos of some of the course. O.k., not spy photos so much; the photos are on the chatroom portion of Singletrack UK's website. Looks like you should plan on bringing the paddle tread floaters, and even then the sand may suck you dowwwwwn.

O.K., let's see...what's going on lately...
First up is RAGBRAI, the granddaddy of rides across a state.  Starts this sunday and their website says day passes are still available, so call in sick to work and at the very least ride into or out of Iowa Falls, my home town (my hand is over my heart, you just can't see it).  This is one of those things you should see (and ride) before you die, one of the world's wonders.  Sure, the event is  getting sort of corporate and ugly, but riding Iowa is more challenging and beautiful than it sounds and the people are the salt of the earth.  Take Sov and Cheever over at EvilCycling, for example :-).
RAGBRAI ends Saturday, July 31, and Sunday the 1st is The Hilly Billy Single Speed Race in Des Moines, put on by Donny Quixote, Iowa badass and someone who is likely much faster than you.  Rasmussen's Bike Shop is helping sponsor it by giving away a Surly 1X1 frameset.  Ain't that swell?  There are some other Surly prizes too, plus stuff from, you know, other brands.  The only downer is the 9 am start time the day after RAGBRAI, but whatev.  You're hard, ain't ya?  HARD!  GRRR!
For you folks out there reading this who are taking a break from polishing your fleet of bikes, lovingly going over every square milimeter (that's right!  I said it!  metric, dammit, metric!  but hey, I don't need to convince you) with an old cloth diaper, whispering soothing mumbles to each one, for you folks I have the perfect upgrade:

Visit Jen Green's website, she's a jewelry maker and cyclist, and she'll get you all tucked into your happy place.
Finally, Ryan and Lubie, our pals from St Cloud, MN, provided a public service anouncement in the form of this photo  to encourage you, if you live nearby or are just travelling through, to hook it up and ride with them.  Ryan sez the trails are a work in progress, but the single speed culture is a festering ball of energy waiting for all interested parties to show up.  When you arrive, dial up Out & About Gear at 320 251 9036 to find out the wheres. 
OK, that's it.  Go ride.

Hey, Tim over at Blue Collar MTB.com has a good thing going.  Go check out the site...you could win a subscription to Dirt Rag.  See what you think....
YUPDATE: Tim wants you to know they have a blog now too.

dancefloors, headlights, in my blood there's gasoline
for an urban boy on a dirty tour I never felt so clean
loaded questions in an automatic world
you just won't be seein' the things you need, as if you thought you would
oh I know it's never easy when there's trouble waitin for me
                              ~Dancefloors, MMJ
 
What a gorgeous day.  Sunny, warm, slight breeze.  The traffic was light and polite, the wildflowers were swaying in the park.  *sigh*  On the spinner for months now is My Morning Jacket's It Still Moves.  Just keeps getting better. 
Current transmorgrification of the Crosscheck with Nitto North Road mustachio is two rings and 2 freewheels, for a 4 gear combo single speed.  Also installed a Tuggnut on it, which works just fine with the dropout set screws removed.  That handlebar is great, although I had to cut off an inch from each side.
RAGBRAI's coming up, still have not determined for sure if I'm riding it this year.  Suppose I should get that decided, since it starts in about a week.  But whatev.  Still thinking about the ride tonight and wondering if I can sneak out early for the extended tour home.

We get sent lots of photos of bikes from proud Surly owners. Most of them are the sort that show off the color coordination between frame and parts, or often display excessively priced fancy parts on the simple steel frame. While we appreciate your enthusiasm and welcome your photos, this photo is unique for it's own simple reasons. Thanks to
pete slonka for the image.

The word meeting doesn't usually ring too well with us Surly people. They are necessary, yes, and thankfully it's just us and we can talk about ANYTHING. But it's just the word that makes me think of staying awake, pretending you're interested by jotting something down on your notepad, trying not to figure of why that motivational speaker decidied to wear the blue neck tie today instead of the red.



Fortunately, our meetings are not at all like that. Sometimes the meetings are very productive, sometimes we just go off discussing the finer points of subjects we cannot mention on this BLOG. So when the weather is cooperative, we get our asses outside and have meetings in the park next to our offices. As you can see, we aren't wearing neck ties, we're not falling asleep and it looks like we're staying interested. So going outside for your next meeting is my recommendation for the day.

Election day here in the USA is less than 5 months away. Do you know who you're going to vote for yet? It's time to start paying attention to what is happening in the world and do what you can to make sure things are heading in a good direction for the next 4 years. Arm yourself with well-rounded knowledge, not just info from the mainstream news channels. As Kenny Bloggins asked me this morning, "why do you have to pay $7.50 at the movie theater to learn about the information in Fahrenheit 9/11, shouldn't that stuff be in the newspapers or on the TV?"
Great question, one I don't have an answer to. If you're scared to bring up politics with certain people, maybe it's time to have that constructive argument with them and try to understand what the other side of their story is. Know your enemy. Or at least try to enlighten them with your perspective without scaring them away. Arguments only turn bad when your emotions get in the way.

If you're from another country, please bear with me, I'm just trying to make sure the people that would read the SURLYBLOG is this country are voting.

By the way, it's November 2nd. Put this on your calendar.

After an empty stomach 16 mile commute to work, I was greeted in the park by the first wave of black raspberries of the season. Normally the berry patch is guarded by a fire breathing dragon, or in Minnesota blood sucking mosquitos, but this morning was about 55 degrees F and the skeeters just wanted nothing to do with my tainted blood. So I had free reign on the patch and ate about 3 dozen, enough to make my mouth look nice and bloodied up. YUM.

Dave and I and our international man Peter were lucky enough recently to go visit Japan. We were there on Official Business but managed to get some riding in thanks chiefly to some cool locals.

In the photo are (from left to right) Gogo, former messenger (he rode a sweet, chromed, old skool Colnago fixed gear frame complete with clover leaf cut-out in BB shell...shiny!), Takuya, messenger for Kaze Messenger Service and key organizer of the Kyoto Loco messenger rally, and (another) Takuya, mechanic and sales guy for KCTP, a real bike shop's bike shop in Kyoto.
Sadly, jet lag, an ever-changing schedule, and hunger kept us from riding with KCTP Takuya and his pals after he got off work, but the next day Kaze Takuya and Gogo (is there a better name for a messenger?) rode us all around Kyoto. It was hot and humid and perfect. A few of their friends met up with us as we rode along, so we had a nice pack by day's end.
Kaze Takuya had dropped off some stuff at the inn where we were staying. This was the night before, when we were out eating, but he looped back and found us right after we had returned. We had picked up some after dinner mints (actually large cans of Kirin and Asahi and various snack treats...you can buy big cans of beer from vending machines located everywhere) so we invited him in to drink beer and chat. We all had a great conversation until we were all bleary eyed and had to sleep. What follows is part of what Takuya had dropped off, an interview with the Kyoto Loco womens' winner, Chie (pronounced chee-ay), who won a Surly Steamroller frame, and a pitch about why they believe Surly is a good fit in Japan (in fact, the second part is really true to our whole philosophy; there is a place between Wal-Mart specials and overpriced, one crash Lance-alikes: Surlyville). I'm printing this thing verbatim to retain it's unique flavor. Thanks to all the fine folks who showed us nothing but enthusiasm and incredible hospitality while we were in the land of the rising sun; I can't wait to come back and visit you!

How do you do Surly people?
We are Kaze, 10 messengers from ancient city of Japan. we throw a messenger race "Kyoto LOCO 2004" the first & only messenger event in this country, on 2nd&3rd of May.
The male champion got a 1x1 frame.
And Chie, very proud one of us beat all German, Danish and American girls to be the female champion! She got a Re-road messenger bag and a Steamroller frame! Takuya, also our guy, build her bike and had this chatting.

-Konnichiwa Chie! How do you like your new bike?
-This is my first fixy, so I don't know what to say yet. I'm 157cm tall and 490mm is a little too big. I wish Surly makes a smaller size for Japanese girls.
-Well no Japanese girls ride fixed gear, so there is no market.
-I will be a role model and make them put on cool fixs.
-Good luck. By the way I like color of your bike. I heard brown is the color thieves avoid. [the frame she won was one of the older model brown Steamrollers with the 1" threaded headset which our local distributor had.-KB]
-I like orange! Orange is my taste. And I have this magic power anyway.
-What? Magic power?
-I leave my road racer on the street without any lock when I work. Sometimes customers make me wait for 5 minutes you know, then when I go back to the street, my bike is waiting me all the time. And it's orange.
-O.K., that's very good. I say lock your Steam Roller cause your magic power might not work on a brown bike. Anyway, Chie you are 2 time champ of Kyoto LOCO. Will you be a champ in 2005 on your new bike? If you try hard, you may win the Queen of Fixy too!
-Only if I feel like trying hard. All these skidding and things sems too dangerous. Safety is my first concern you know.
-Alright. At the end, do you wanna tell something to Surly people? Something good?
-It's very cool that you make bigger track cogs. Because Keirin don't use anything bigger than 16, and something like 18 was impossible to get in Japan. Thank you very much for supporting Kyoto LOCO! Thank you very much for the Steam Roller! I will ride it for the 2005 Cycle Messenger World Championship in New York!


Will you ever come to Kyoto?
Kyoto is one of the oldest city and there are lots of temples and historical stuff. Also there are more than 30 universitys and colleges. History & young people is a good mix.
In economical sense, Tokyo is 100 times bigger than Kyoto. So most bicycle sales is much bigger there. Except Surly.
Takuya used to work at a tiny bike shop and he sold more Surly than any other shops in Japan. Well 20 Surlys are not so many but they sell only 50 bikes a year. He quit there, cause he didn't sell enough Chinese MTB look likes or no Cannondales and owner was not happy. [hells yeah!-KB]
The reasons why people in Kyoto loves real bikes are,
(1) Land is flat and students are poor. The city is surrounded by mountains. We need everyday bikes that can take Sunday morning ride, not a car top decoration that races once a year.
(2) Living in an old city, we love something that last. Consumer goods are too new for us.
(3) We see geisyas and samurais wearing genuine kinomos. We know what good design is. Anonymous, low profile, yet beauty comes out from its function just like a katana sword.
If you or any friend of you guys have a chance to come down to Kyoto, stop by or stay at Fortuna House [the Kaze messenger's house-KB].\Chie, Naoki and Takuya of KAZE, plus Gogo and ex-messenger live there.
The house is dirty but cozy, and there is futon space for our guests.
We have basic tools so you don't have to bring your truing stand.
Contact Kyoto Messenger KAZE please, cause no computer in the Fortuna house.

Thank you again for supporting Kyoto LOCO 2004. We are looking forward to see you sometimes.