Single Speed World Championships 2005. That's pretty much all I have to write. If you're of a certain camp, you read that and probably have already moved on to a different web page. Others read it and rolled their eyes but kept reading, hoping it was just an isolated aftershock, some random burp before this year's event is finally digested and left alone. There is another group who read that line and kept reading willingly, perhaps even out of rapt curiosity. Many of these people are not 'bike' people, in that they do not (yet) have that disease that makes a person live and breathe bicycles, at the expense of personal relationships, normal looking clothing, and of course their checking account balance. These are cyclists without guile, for they are without the attachments of cycling cliques. In other words, they have not yet grown sick of hearing about SSWC.

One of the distinguishing factors of this year's SSWC was the amazing cooperation between the event organizers, the forestry service (on whose land we rode, as we were told at the beginning of the race), and the city of State College itself. Event organizers told us they had so many volunteers that they actually had to turn people away. This may not sound like a big deal, but in addition to registration of several hundred riders, getting number plates, schwag, porta-johns, etc., there were volunteers all along the 27.5 mile route. In fact, there were at least several people at every stop, aiding in whatever way presented itself. They tirelessly cheered on all the riders and were especially encouring at particularly tough spots. They got, well, me through a challenging rock garden that I might otherwise have given up on halfway through and they did it just by being enthusiastic about being out there and watching everybody ride bikes.

By the prize portion of race day, we were still trying to decide a reasonable category for the winner of a free Surly frame. We went through several ideas but nothing seemed right. Nick then hit upon the idea of giving it to one of the volunteers. Sov and I agreed this was a perfect choice and Nick went to talk to the organizers. They knew right away who deserved it most. Joe Gore was one such volunteer. He likes bikes. He rides bikes. He likes to help others ride bikes. According to E. Roman, one of the organizers, Joe was one of those volunteers who took everything that was thrown at him and asked for more. Joe was called up in front of the throng of half-in-the-bag riders and awarded his choice of Surly frame. Fast forward to a few days ago. Joe wrote in to say he'd talked to E. Roman down at Mt Nittany Wheelworks and had decided on a Steamroller. Joe had this to say when he wrote us with his decision:
"I wanted a cool town bike and now i have the chance to be kicken it in style. Thanks again for coming out and chillen with us and riden our trails. Come back soon and I will show you and your boys some more cool stuff."
Joe, you're on. But, uh, I might still need some time to recover. SSWC '06 is less than a year away...
Congrats, Joe. You deserve it.

Every once in a while I'll drop some hard earned cash on a concert and it pays off. The $50 spent on the original Black Sabbath 7 years agowill probably remain the best $50 ever spent. Geezer Butler was on fire, Tony Iommi was crisp and even Ozzy was animated as ever.

The White Stripes show this weekend was by far the best show I've seen in years and I never expected it. I'd seen them years ago in a small venue and was midly impressed. Any two people with that much sound deserve to be appreciated, but I left thinking they were possibly just a good studio band.

However, the White Stripes show this weekend was mind blowing. On stage were keyboards and piano, marimba, an array of guitars and microphones allover the stage, (in red, black and white, natch). Jack White was absolutely stunning. His guitar solos were truly face melting and his vocals exuded desperation. He played like was pissed off and had something to prove, fearless could describe it best. It was properly loud and fast, with the occasional mellow tune. I haven't seen so many people go nuts in an audience like that in years.

Also a huge thanks to yellow t-shirt guy in the front row left side. That was an amazing display of step aerobics/hippie squirm/air guitar/thrash dance. We hope you got one of the Polaroids Jack was throwing into the audience.

Jack White, you rule. Thanks for making that $45 ticket well worth it. I take back anything back I said about you two and am glad to see success hasn't watered down your music or hampered your ability to kick ass.

Pat, Kathy, Ray and Pugsley

Long-time Surly rider/racer/supporter Pat Irwin and his wife Kathy just got back from one hell of a beach cruise. With a Pugsley (equipped with Endomorph 3.7 tires) and one of Ray Molina’s fat-tired rigs, Pat and Kathy flew into Hope and rode to Homer along the beach of Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula.

Check out this link for the story and some pics.

Here’s a map showing the areas surrounding Hope and Homer.

Cogs coming soon. We have almost every SKU of cogs in stock right now, expect for a few very popular sizes. We'll have another batch for your gear grinding needs in about two weeks.

Nice Racks shouldn't be too much longer either. ETAs coming as soon as we get a clue.

Singlespeed World Championships could be coming to your town in 2006. If you think your trails rival some of the best in the world, your town can accomodate up to 700 bike freaks, there is an airport within a reasonable distance and you have organized some sort of bike event in the past, this is your chance.

Why does Surly get to decide where it is in 2006? You have to go back to the first (official) SSWC in 1999 held in California. To determine where it was to be held for the following year, the winner of the derby got to decide on the location. Since the Minneapolis Mafia cleaned up on the skimpy array of challengers that year, it was then held in Minneapolis in 2000.

After a few years of some random committee chosing where it would be rather than having the derby decide it, the SSWC 2005 organizers smartly brought back the derby to decide it’s location. Since we Surly slugs were the last people still upright on 2 of 3 derby rounds, it’s our choice. If you don’t like it, you should’ve been there to knock Skip Bernet and myself off our bikes.

In trying to be fair to everybody and not have Minneapolis be the host city again, we’re asking you to submit a proposal to host it in 2006. But PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE think twice about this before replying. Some of the things to consider are:

· Your staff/friends/volunteers/drinking buddies must commit to many hours of unpaid work to organize this event.

· The host city must be able to accomodate up to 700 participants with hotels, camping, restaurants, bars and lawyers within a reasonable distance from an airport. Ideally, the trails would be nearby.

· The trails in your area must not only be kickass, but you must get approval from local government and/or land owners to hold this event on the property. Special permits may be required and you may have to kiss some serious forest department butt to make it happen.

·You’ll have to round up some volunteers to help with everything from course marshalling, to porta-toilet aqcuisitions, to being the last person to ride the course and pick up some chump’s GU packet and look for mangled bodies.

·Don’t forget about having emergency medical services present.

·This is the WORLD championships, so any country is welcome to host.
SSWC2005 was in the USA, so let’s try to get this thing somewhere else next year.

·Please see SSWC05.com
for an idea of what the SSWC06 website should entail. The online registration with prepay only seemed to work quite well also.

What you get out of this experience is being the most popular person in town for a whole weekend. Your town will get to showcase all the trails you’re so proud of by having people from all over the world embark upon your backyard. I think I speak for everyone by saying it better be somewhere cool, because I don’t want to buy a plane ticket across the pond for some lame dirtroads.You are not in this for the money, you’re in it for the glory. What do you say?

Send me a serious proposal for hosting SSWC06 by October 31st, 2005 to nick@surlybikes.com. Also, sending me a random “do it in Jamaica, man” will automatically disqualify your town. Please be serious, we’re too busy to handle extra insignificant e-mails. Can’t wait to hear from you.

This years Singlespeed World Championships in Pennsylvania was the best of the three I've been to. Partly because we extended our trip a day to hang out in Pittsburgh with the Dirt Rag magazine crew.



On Thursday, we rode trails right out their office doors and got those airplane miles shaken off our butts. The singletrack was loopy and tight, it's no wonder this magazine remains top quality and true to life. Back at Mo and Thanita's house, we had home cooked Thai food and played pinball. Later, we ventured into Pitt to Guerrero's house for some beers. We got totally lost coming home because Pitt is a complete clusterf&^k to find your way around (thanks for the fantastic directions Thanita). But still a quality town.



Friday was another big ride day in Pitt, as we rode Frick park located right in the city. After almost 2 hours of singletrack, the ride turned into a pub crawl. The 40 riders rolled out as the sun was getting low in the sky. Not the kind of pub crawl where you go from bar to bar, but the kind where you zigzag around and bypass about 3 bars before stopping. The best way to get around a foreign city is by bike being led by locals. We eventually split into 2 groups and our dirty dozen made some nice bike piles along the way. Thanks a ton to local guy Jason ____? for keeping us inline for the next bar and knowing exactly which bar would still be open for last call. Props to the Columbus, Ohio crew for showing up in numbers. You guys rock.




Saturday was the 3 hour drive to State College for the actual SSWC event. The pre-party was in a downtown bar and it was the first time you got to see everybody. From the Brits, to famous people like Gary Fisher, Keith Bontrager, Travis Brown and Marla Streb, to hot dutch girls, to slimebag nobodies like us.



The race isn't really a race, it's more like a big group ride where the people in front probably try to beat eachother, while everyone else is JRA for the fun of it. After last years DFL performance, I decided I was going to actually go out and ride this thing. Starting DFL with Dirt Rag and Mpls crew, I started to work my way ahead of the people who were walking this fine rocky mess. That's my thing, technical singletrack, and I wasn't about to walk a kickass 25 miles of it.

The 1st 7 miles just about murdered me. My legs and arms were already shaky, I hadn't sat in the saddle for more than 30 seconds at a time and I'd partaken in some pre-ride bevies that were altering my flow. As the race promoters said it best, "we have little dirt gardens in between all the rock". We hit a dirt road and I've never been so happy to ride doubletrack in my life. I told some guy "I could ride this for 5 miles", he replied "you got it". The doubletrack gradually got steeper and steeper, until riders were walking. Screw that, I'm riding, especially when I spot Big Jonny's ugly yellow-ness ahead of me. I buzz his rear tire and roll by. His Phil Ligget impressions got me almost to the top, but I was into that uncomfortable zone where your body doesn't like to be, so I walked for about a minute or two.

More rocks and more dirt roads until I finally ran into another Mpls brother, Hollywood Henderson, with 6 miles left. This included the sketchy downhills everybody was talking about and the reason I'd ridden up those damned fireroads to get to. After scoring a beer and then another homebrew that we shared, we rolled along. We finally hit the crazy stuff, and it was really worth it. Definitely the kind of trail where one little mistake could result in full-mouth dentures. As H-wood and I sang a heavy metal duet, my hydraulic brake line blew a leak. My fault, I crashed hard and felt my head bounce off a rock at about mile 10 and that's when I damaged the brake line. I was able to jump off my bike before ramming into his rear wheel and the song was over. So was my ride. Walking down a downhill is not an easy thing for me to do, but it was better than suicide with one brake.



I met H-wood at the end and shared a smile with the legendary Jacquie Phelan, who still had those damned black tights with polka dots. How old are those things? It was pretty cool to ride with all these people that have been in the business since I was a little tweaker.

The winner of the actual bike race did not directly result in a SSWC champion. It merely qualified the top few men and women to a go-kart race. There were also a few randomly chosen "racers" from the field to go-kart for the title of world champion. Why? To take the emphasis off racing and put it on having fun. Nothing wrong with heart rate monitors and leg shaving, but that's what NORBA races are for. SSWC is for the people that simply love to ride singlespeed bikes. Having some dude show up at the last minute, crush everybody, then leave before the partying begins doesn't make for any dude I'd want to hang out with.



So the go-kart race was really fun to watch. The multiple heats included spin-outs and lots of crashes. The lead changed a bunch of times in each race and there were some obviously faster cars. But the skill level of Marla Streb was also obvious, as she gassed her way to her second SSWC tattoo. Local speedster "Buck" also revved his mohawk to a deserving win and his first tattoo, despite Big Jonny's brake check near the end of his lap. The go-kart thing was a fantastic idea.

Overall, the event was epic. Volunteers and organizers made it so easy for all of us to show up and have fun. Even the porta-toilets were clean. Course marshals were everywhere and very helpful, even though they didn't know how many miles it was to the finish. They had beers, food and directions when I needed them. Thanks to all of you.



The post-race awards ceremony was fairly lucrative. Again, not for the winners so much, but for random acts. One guy got his bike taken by another racer, so he won a custom bike. Rudy and Justin, you guys are my heros. They rode rode fix geared rigid cross-bikes through stuff most people couldn't do on a full suspension bike. Badass indeed! The faster Rudy received some sweet frameset. We gave away a frameset to the most helpful volunteer for the event, so we didn't disclude the people who sacrificed their riding day to help us all. Thanks to all the other sponsors who helped people walk away with something nice.

The derby was brought back to determine where the SSWC in 2006 was going to be held. Skip Bernet and I put the smackdown in 2 of 3 rounds before the skid contest ensued. So guess who gets to decide where it's going to be next year? We do. The skid contest was aided by a bucket of deep fryer grease, a downhill and fireworks. They must've skidded 300+ feet. It took about 45 minutes for a cop to finally show up, and the look on his face was pure humor. He almost didn't know what to arrest people for. I don't think anybody went to jail though, which is good.

So insert a bunch of crashes into these paragraphs, along with loads of yummy local beer and less than the normal amount of sleep. Then you'll know why my body still hurts 3 days later. Hope you can make it next year, wherever it'll be...

MORE STUFF IN STOCK SOON

Karate Monkey, brown, 20" large, FM4007, in stock thursday or friday

1x1, black, in stock thursday or friday
- 14" X-small, FM0065
- 16" small, FM0066
- 18" medium, FM0067

Cross-Check complete bikes, dark green or black, all sizes, in stock NOW

Insert sigh of relief here

MORE STUFF COMING IN...

Endomorph 26 x 3.7" tires and 26 x 3-4" tubes should be in stock 3rd week of September.

Another full production run of Karate Monkeys, black or brown, all sizes, end of September.

Another nearly full production run of Cross-Check framesets, end of September.

18" and 20" Instigators end of September.

Long Haul Truckers, most sizes, sage green color, mid September.

If there is something not mentioned that you know is out of stock, contact us.

SSWC05 was a complete blast. I'm sore as hell today and will tell all about how I got that way, complete with photos, once I sift through some of this e-mail and work out our new project that will be unveiled at Interbike in 5 weeks.

Goiter Tour



The Goiter and I took a trip out to the ‘burbs on Friday….46km (28.5 miles) from my house to my off-the-map campsite. The combined weight of my loaded backpack, loaded uni, and full water bottles was about 19kg (42lbs). Not bad. I’ll shave some grams on the next trip and move more (if not all) of the weight off my back and onto the uni. My ass and shoulders would be happier without the burden of the 5kg pack weight.



I got to use my Hennessy Hammock and hex fly for the first time…other than sleeping in my yard to test it out. I like this system. I can hang all of my gear from the hammock ropes under the fly, which keeps my stuff dry and makes it easy to access vs. crouching and crawling in a tent or under a low-slung tarp. It’s sealed from bugs, it’s well-ventilated, it sets up quickly, and it’s lightweight. Plus, I sleep better in the hammock than on the ground.

It took me 4 hours and 40 minutes to get to my site…including 4 stops along the way for coffee, booze, water, and snacks....plus lots of 1-to-2 minute walks, while pushing the Goiter, to give my junk a breather. The ride home on Sunday took an hour less because 1) I only stopped twice. 2) I had a tailwind. 3) I had less food weight on my back.

The weekend was glorious. Sunshine by day, full or damn-near full moon by night. I hiked deer paths until 2:00am each night/morning without the aid of a headlamp. Aside from 2 separate attacks by bees (5 stings the first time, 2 stings the second time), Mother Nature was very good to me. Thank you, Mother.

This trip gave me a ton of new ideas to make my next trip easier and/or longer. Some of the things I learned apply to bike tours as well as uni tours. Now, I know that I can ride one wheel 50-80k per day with 12 –15kg of gear strapped onto it. I’ve set the bar a notch higher for myself. The challenge is part of the fun for me. It’s still about the journey. A nice destination is just icing on the cake.

Things on the calendar.

If you've had your head either A) examining your colon from the inside, or B) staring at a heart rate monitor you may have missed the news that the Single Speed World Championships are this weekend in lovely State College, PA. This annual event is the gathering of the tribe, the grand-daddy, the big enchillada and you really should get there. This year promises a death-march style course, excellent wooded single-track, rocks, roots, big ups and big downs, hot derby action, and... go karts.

Also:



McGruff (shown above with his comfort bike)... longtime Friend of Surly, devilish single speeder, Budweiser advocate, and all around good egg is getting hitched this weekend in St. Louis, MO. Rumor has it that a large herd of retarded dingos is on its way to that locale with mayhem in mind. Not that the McGruff clan needs any more fuel on that fire. We at Surly extend our most sincere congrats to the happy couple (and we extend a middle finger for having a weddin' on the same day as Worlds - see above).

MORE STUFF BACK IN STOCK

Fixed/Free flipflop mountain hubs, 135mm spacing, black, 32 hole, in stock now.

Also, Pugsley framesets in should be back in stock by Wednesday

MORE FRAMESETS IN STOCK

Steamroller framesets, all sizes, charcoal metallic color, in stock now

Pacer framesets in just 50, 56 and 62cm sizes, in stock now

Karate Monkey framesets, all sizes, brown or black, in stock now

1x1 framesets, white 14", 16", 18", 20" and black 20" in stock now. The rest of the sizes/colors 1x1's in stock approximately one more week

We frequently get asked "what is the new color for next year"? Our response is usually something like, "we don't have yearly models and we tend to change colors when we get sick of them and want something new, regardless of season of the year".

We also get requests for custom colors, so guess what the most requested color is this year? C'mon guess. It's pink. We already did a limited run of pink 1x1 frames last fall and we're not doing anymore pink. No pink Pacers, no pink t-shirts, no pink do-rags, no pink hubs. Pink is dead, just like the faux-hawk hairstyle.

Oh come on, this is just my opinion. If you still love pink, continue wearing it with pride. But just don't expect us to make anything pink for a long long time. And if you still comb your hair up in the middle and gel it up nice to look punk, well I'm just going to chuckle to myself and hope that trend goes away soon.

You don't have to go home but you can't stay here.

Touring Goiter with Brake



I had the torch out last night, so I figured I'd braze up some water bottle mounts for the forward-facing boom on the Goiter. And since I made some room for the brake lever, I decided to mount the brake to see how everything was going to fit. It worked out well. I went for a ride around the 'hood. The fore/aft balance is good, and everything is secure.

Geeky? Yep. Sensible? That's questionable. Good exercise? No doubt. Fun? Hell Yeah!

I just about crapped my pants when I heard about Surly Brewing Company earlier this spring. It's true, but it has nothing to do with Surly Bikes, other than that we're located in the Minneapolis area and we have the same first name. If their beer is good, we might be doing some serious product swapping in the future. As you'll see from the website, they're still working on things and hope to have beer flowing by this fall. Admittedly, it's so weird to see another "Surly" company website. Thankfully it's not "Surly Baby Diaper Company" or "Surly Hair Styling Gel Company".

Product ETAs

More Puglsey framesets, all sizes, purple color, should be available end of August

HU0209 fixed/free 135mm rear hub 32h black, end of August, finally!

Steamroller framesets, all sizes, charcoal metallic color, later this week or next week

Pacer framesets in just 50, 56 and 62cm sizes, later this week or next week

Karate Monkey framesets, all sizes, brown or black, later this week or next week

Long Haul Truckers, 42, 52, 54, 56, 58, 60 and 62cm sizes, sage green color, mid-September

Endomorph tires, approximately 6-7 weeks, mid-end of September

Cross-check complete bikes, now available in two colors black or dark green metallic, all sizes, end of August

1x1 framesets, trickling in between later this week and later next week, all sizes, black or white

We're catching up on production and the rate at which our hair is turning gray is starting to slow down. Thanks for being patient.

Goiter in touring mode



I figured it’s time to for a new type of challenge…a new means to an adventure, so I set up the Goiter to do some short (50-100k per day) self-supported 1- or 2-day tours.

The bag is a Jandd Mountain Wedge 3... 7.47 liter (456 cubic inch) capacity. It provides as much volume as you'll find in many rack bags. This bag fits well within the confines of the space available, and it keeps the mass of my cargo close to the seat tube...compared to a rack/rack bag combo. I utilized a length-adjustable tandem stoker stem to mount it. The boom below the bag acts as a stabilizer and potential fender/accessory mount. Heavy items will go in the Jandd bag: toiletries, tools, spare tube, first aid, food, alcohol stove, fuel, ti cook pot, eating utensils, tea light lantern with 3 tea lights (enough for 12+ hours of light), LED flashlight, paperback book, notebook and pen, fire starting stuff, misc. Most of my gear is ultralight and compact, so it will fit easily in the Jandd bag or my backpack.

Lighter bulky items (down sleeping bag, sleeping pad, tent or hammock, clothes) will go in an ultralight (255 gram) Dana Designs backpack. The total weight on my back should stay under 3.6 kg (8 lbs). The backpack has a pouch for my 3 liter (100 oz) water bladder. I'll fill it when I get close to my campsite.

I can still mount a Magura rim brake system, if I remove the upper bottle cage to make room for the brake lever. If necessary, I can mount both bottle cages on a separate forward-facing boom that clamps to the seat tube (like the one that anchors the bottom of the Jandd bag). I won't need the brake on my next outing...my route utilizes a lot of mellow rails-to-trails bike paths, but I'll probably remount it in the future.

I've ridden around Minneapolis with my rig loaded up, so I could check out the riding characteristics before heading out on an overnight. It seems fine. I'm heading out to the western 'burbs of Minneapolis (50km out, 50km back) in a couple of weeks to test the system and test myself.

Sunny as can be today, low 80s. I literally cannot see a cloud in the sky. Slight breeze. Ride in was terrif, ride home will be even better. It is Friday after all.
On monday my cousin arrives to start school at Univ. of MN. I'll likely be taking him to see this here play, 10 Speed Revolution, part of the Minnesota Fringe Festival, and if you're around you should consider it too. Anarchy, bicycles, punk. Sounds familiar. 5 different show dates, and under the 'genre' section it says "Violence, Adult Language." YEAH! I'm so there. Benzo says we should all do a friday night wednesday night ride to the late show on the 12th. I'm in. Who else? Wear your tube socks.
Benzo has also turned on his telepathic flux capacitor and is beaming subtle reminders to your brain. He wants you to know about the first annual fixed gear symposium in Traverse City, Michigan, August 12-14. Go there! RIDE THERE! The Great & Powahful Benzo commands you!
Devo just stopped by to say hi, and although she doesn't have any events to trumpet, she asked me to mention her on the blog. So there you go.

NOW IN STOCK

-Cross-Check framesets in all sizes and both black or Dark Green colors

-Offset drilled Large Marge rims for Pugsley. Part numbers are:
RM0008 32 hole DH version
RM0009 36 hole DH version
RM0010 32 hole XC version with inner cutouts, 100g lighter
All rims come sans eyelets

Rock on

To The Lady In The Minivan Who Almost Ran Me Over Last Friday:

I guess I must have been in your way. I mean, after all, bikes aren't really supposed to be on the roads anyway. You were in your car and in a big hurry to get to that stop sign 30 feet in front of you. It was rude of me to assume you would let me in even though I had plenty of space and clearly signalled. I should have gotten the message when you laid on the horn and kept creeping closer and closer...literally inches from my wheel. What was I thinking? I should have known when you leaned out your window, still honking, and yelled at me, telling me that you "ride a bike too, so (you) know." It was rude of me to argue with you for almost intentially running into me with your minivan. Those roads belong to you and you alone. I'm sorry to have made you so upset about costing you time that you sat at the stop sign and yelled at me for several minutes, while the other drivers behind you rolled their eyes and even started trying to go around you, creating an even more dangerous mess. It was very rude of me to assume that I am traffic too, and I hope next time you nail that stupid biker costing you precious seconds of your life, moments that you will never get back, moments that you could have spent yelling at other people or talking on your cell phone. The life or health of someone like me is less important than getting to soccer practice, and I see now the error of my ways.