New Large Marge rim extrusion

We've been working on some improvements to our existing Large Marge rims to address the oddities of an offset built wheel. This new rim is designed specifically for Pugsley and other offset frames and is NOT compatible with standard bike frames.

Issue # 1- We wanted increased spoke hole offset from the center of the rim. This will make for more even spoke tensions from side to side (stronger wheel) and accomodate hubs with flanges that are spaced closely together (like Rohloff).

Issue # 2- With the new 12mm spoke hole offset, we were required to redesign a completely new extrusion. So why not hog it out a little bit? The new rims are coming in around 150 grams lighter than the original models.

Issue # 3- Tire removal was a bit different than most other tire/rim combinations. You were required to push the tire bead into the inner valley of the rim to create enough slack to pry the tire off. This was easy if you knew how to do it, but difficult for 1st timers or impatient people that don't read instructions. With the new extrusion, we've made the valley of the rim slightly steeper near the sidewall to aid in getting the tire into the valley. Once inflated, the tire beads will still "lock" up against the sidewall snugly for running low pressures, as has always been the case with Large Marge.

There is a slight price increase from the original to the new extrusion rims. The original non-offset rims have not changed and will not change. There are three new part numbers for the "new extrusion" offset Large Marge, all rims are black anodized with machined sidewalls and eyeletted spoke holes:

RM0011- 32 hole, DH, 990 grams, in stock this week
RM0012- 36 hole, DH, 990 grams, in stock late summer
RM0013- 32 hole, XC, 910 grams, in stock this week

This diagram is a cross-section of the new extrusion.

"Andy tells me the next step is to go offroad on a fixie, but I can tell you right now it doesn't sound too appealing to me."

I didn't say that exactly. Rather, it was more that when you start riding fixed gear, riding offroad is at some point inevitable, so perhaps it's better to get comfy with obstacles sooner than later.

Say, that reminds me: yesterday my trusty 1x1 proved yet again that it may be the most versatile bike I have ever built. To recap: I wanted the Do-It-All bike, so I built a 1x1 up as fixed gear, with a front hydro disc brake, Maxxis Larsen tires (good on road, great offroad, a little heavy but tolerable), upright bars, Wellgo pedals (which are THE best clipless/pinned platform flip/flop pedal I have found so far) etc, etc, blah blah blah. This bike looks sort of grandpa, sort of old Camaro, and acts as townie, bar ride, actual high performance offroad machine, winter (and sometimes summer) commuter, EVERYTHING bike. I ride it on the trails at the same speeds as my front suspended 'mountain bike' and to the store to get beer and beer accessories.
Doing yard work yesterday, it was determined by the lovely and talented Ms. Bloggins that I would need some field stones for the fire pit and various other projects, so I put the chain on the easy gear (has 17t and 19t gear options), hooked up my aging Burley trailer, threw in a shovel, some gloves, and a large plastic tote, and headed to the railroad tracks by the river. I brought back two loads of rock, each weighing more than me, the bike, and the trailer combined. I'm guessing I hauled 500+ pounds of rock in 2 loads. The place I went for the rocks is pretty close and only really accessible by foot or by bike, so driving wasn't an option. Once loaded up it was slow going, with the Burley well past it's recommended weight limit, but the 38/19 fixed gearing worked perfectly (the fixie aspect allows you a great deal of control, even heavily loaded up, because you can't really get going fast) and the disc brake was exactly as powerful, low effort, and reliable as always in those few places I needed to get the whole thing stopped, such as intersections.
It's rare, I have found (because I am a bike nerd), that you end up with a bike so perfectly suited to such a wide range of duties. Sure, this isn't the bike that's going to race the Tour (maybe Paris-Roubaix...), but then you're also not going to pull a trailer full of rocks with your Trek Madone 5.9. Not if you're smart, anyway. No, when I have tried in the past to build the ultimate utility bike I always seem to find some area that needs improvement, but this time ...I don't know, maybe because after all these years I finally know what I'm doing, maybe I just got lucky, or maybe I'm numb enough in the mind from finally getting some warm weather that I can't tell the difference, but I seem truly to have built a bike so useful, so enjoyable, and so reliable that I expect to keep and use in it's current incarnartion for years to come. Maybe I'll pick it up a shiny new stainless steel chain. To say thanks.
I cannot tell you the feeling of satisfaction when you know that you hauled so much stuff with your bike. I had my tea on the porch this morning so I could stare at the pile of rocks.

Snackey's First Bloggy

Well, here it is. My first blog entry. I'm being forced to do it. No, really, I am. Emily tells me she is sad that I'm not blogging. That's enough pressure on me to give me a major guilt trip. We can't have Emily feeling down now, can we?

I have been riding Surlies for years but only last week built my first Steamroller. In fact, about a month ago I built my first fixie, a Bianchi Reparto Corse road frame in a tasty celeste color and an even nicer ride. I was scared shitless at the thought of riding fixed gear, but it had always intrigued me so I figured I’d try it since I had the Bianchi frame lying around and already had a Pacer geared road bike in my stable.

The first ride on it was as scary as I had anticipated. But it completely blew me away, and I must admit I am now hooked. Now that I work for Surly I figured the next logical step would be to build a Steamer, so I did. It’s awesome. I rode it in today.

Here it is…



I’m a total noob at this, but I don’t care. It’s just a blast to ride this rig and I know if I can ride it as much as possible it will make me an overall stronger rider. I’m riding it with flats right now but am gaining enough confidence that I foresee putting SPD pedals on it in the near future. I’m also riding with a front brake, mostly for the purpose of scrubbing speed on descents when I feel like I’m starting to get a bit wound up. The 48T x 18T gear is just right for most situations around here, but I won’t lie and tell you it’s an easy thing to make it to the top of the steep hills. I will tell you that when I do make it to the top there is a greater sense of satisfaction knowing that I did it without using a gear cluster as my crutch.

I think my favorite thing about riding fixie is how quiet the bike is. This has its negative side as well, as I find myself sneaking up on folks walking on the bike paths and I don't have a bell to warn of my approach. The cool thing is I can use this advantage to creep up on animals in the Park without spooking them, even though I'm sure this makes me seem kinda creepy to the animals.

Andy tells me the next step is to go offroad on a fixie, but I can tell you right now it doesn't sound too appealing to me.

To be continued...

Here's how this works:
I type "Hey look! The Swedes have a website! SSWC06 is happening!"
Then you, in a pavlovian reactionary lather, see only "SSWC06" before shouting something incomprehensible to your significant other as you trip over the dog in your rush to the garage, where you spend half the night drinking and staring at your collection of bikes, deciding which one to turn into a single speed, and the other half of the night stealing stuff from your other bikes to build (but never finish) your dream machine for SSWC, which your friend's sister's boyfriend heard about last year and said was the ultra rad super cool next big thing. You may find it perplexing that rules surrounding this event are scarce but hi jinx are not, but damn them torpedoes!
For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, SSWC is code for Single Speed World Championships and is in Stockholm (!) this year. I have been to several SSWCs and have not yet had anything but a good time. This in part owes to its collectively self-appointed stance as an anti-race, and I am something of an anti-racer, so it works out nicely.
If you're put off by a lack of gear options, if your heart rate has dropped unacceptably while you've read this, if you think carbon fiber chainrings are a good idea, or if you just really like spandex 'kits' that look just like what your favorite pro doper...erm, make that 'racer'... wears and you don't sense any irony in this, well SSWC may not be the thing for you. But if you feel that riding to have fun as fast as you can muster is the way it should be, there isn't a finer excuse to get your swerve on. No derailleurs or whiners allowed.

A lot of bicycle companies claim that their stuff is "bomb proof." Hell, I've probably said it about our stuff.

What are the chances that there's a plot of land somewhere where we could get some bike parts and some bombs and test the theories?

Just sounds like fun.

Brent, from Phil Wood, informed me that they've manufactured 145mm bottom bracket axles for you Pugsley owners who want to use a tapered axle/crank system. $180.00 complete. Yep, that's a bit of dough, but it's Phil Wood. You know it's gonna last.

I'll raise a glass or two or three to Phil Wood for offering another component option for the Pug.

This past Saturday was trouble before it even started.
Surly Brewing Company was having their grand open house to show the public our first glimpse of the new brewery. There is absolutely no affiliation between Surly Bikes and Surly Brewing, except for the fact that they like bikes and we like beer. After the initial shock of finding out another company in town shared our name, our eyes lit up with cross-promotional ideas, errr, free beer.

Either way, Kenny Bloggins, Sovern, pal Mike and I rolled the party bike up to north Minneapolis. As we were locking up our bikes, the door swung open and a girl wearing a "Surly Girl" t-shirt said, "Are you the guys from Surly Bikes? Come on in and have some beers". She was the wife of the owner and she made us feel like rockstars. The brewery was packed and the beer was flowing. They currently have two beers, but unveiled a third just for the open house. They even had special editions of their beers, one brewed with coffee and the other was aged in a bourbon barrel. Oh my god, they were both excellent. I told myself, I'm going to stay here and drink until they cut me off. They tapped a dry hopped beer with Amarillo hops later, but we'd gotten on our bikes by then because we'd had our share of free beer. The brewery was beyond impressive and it left me with the feeling that I'm happy to share the Surly name with a company like that.

Low and behold, our share of free beer hadn't ended yet. We rolled the party bike through NE Mpls, having some PBRs along the way and stopped at Dusty's for some of the famous Dagos sandwiches. Think Italian sausage burger with sauteed onions and peppers. Oh yeah!

Then Mr.Bloggins gave us a tour of his neighborhood, we rocked to Black Sabbath, did some scratch off lottery games with another cyclist we met, rock some more Black Sabbath, stopped at One On One bike shop to say hello and ride their Honda 50cc down the alley, and found our way to Townhall Brewery for an hours worth of free Maibock. They had two guys dressed as priests to recite a blessing for the Maibock and they had two bagpipers wander around the bar to do their thing. I'm not sure what bagpipes have to do with a traditional German springtime beer, but it was cool. The staff walked around for just over an hour pouring beer into any cup that had room in it. Kapow, game on.

Still not done yet, we found our way under some bridges for some James Brown jam sessions and finally to a party near my house. We rolled up in the backyard and found huge bowls of candy and keg of Grain Belt Premium. Could it get any better? There wasn't any music in the backyard, so I turned on my party bike soundsystem (more on the party bike coming soon to this blog) and we rocked out. That was until Nate, not the greatest DJ on the planet, changed my iPod program and forced me to wrestle his 250# ass to the ground. I was telling him something like, "dude, you can't just play what you want to hear at a party, you have to play a party mix that everyone wants to listen to". As I clutched his jacket and kept him on the ground, the words coming out of my mouth gradually turned to "dude, did you just fart or crap your pants when I tackled you?" We quickly realized we'd been wrestling around in dog shit. What kind of party host goes to the extent of having a nice party with big bowls of candy and a keg of beer but doesn't pick up their dog crap? Don't they know lawns are for wrestling?

We quickly got on our bikes and headed towards home, poop smell and all. Another quick beer and I was finally home. George Foreman was about to cook me some burgers. Three friends stopped by during this time and I think they realized I was done for the evening. When George Foreman is in the kitchen, a food coma will quickly ensue. All in all, it was one of the finest days I've had on the bike in a long time.

Mpls girls on bikes.

Do I have your complete attention now? The Minneapolis bike scene gets better and better, to the point now that girls are organizing their own pub roll rides.

Whether this is truly a drunk ride or not is for you to find out. All girls of all abilities are welcome to join. Grandmas, trailers, lowriders, highriders, sportos, motorheads, geeks, sluts, pinheads, dweebies, wonkers, richies, whatever. The organizers are the types of girls that simply like to ride bikes without all the testosterone and stupid let's-go-fast action that so many group rides turn into. I'm told nobody will get dropped.

Guys, read and obey the fine print on the flyer if this interests you. It's a little hard to read, but the key word is SPANDEX. Gotta pay to play.

Product Stock Status

We'll be out of many sizes of Karate Monkey framesets until mid-June.

Also back in stock approximately mid-June:

- Cross-Check framesets, all sizes in both Dark Green or Black colors.

- Offset Large Marge rims for Pugsley frames, non-cutout (DH) version, original extrusion.

- Offset Large Marge rims for Pugsley frames, cutout (XC) and non-cutout (DH) versions in the NEW dedicated offset extrusion rim. What is the difference between the new and the original. The new extrusion will have 12mm of spoke offset vs. 6mm on the original. This allows better spoke triangulation for a stronger wheel. The extrusion itself will be slightly lighter weight than the original. How much, how much, how much? Stop tweaking Mr.Graham Shaver, it's really only a few grams, we'll post that info when we receive the final production pieces so we're not misleading you with bogus prototype information. This will be the first time these new rims will be in stock.

Also, we'll get ETAs on Long Haul Truckers framesets as soon I figure that out.

Do you work on your own stuff? I mean, when your bike is all broke-ass and it needs fixing, do you do it yourself? Where do you get your work done?

Man, when I was growing up on the farm in Iowa, we fixed a lot of stuff. My dad - while not the master metalworker, or super anal finish carpenter - was a true problem solver and a visionary when it came to getting it "good enough." Some of my first memories are of him wrestling with the old Ford 8N tractor (I think it's even where I learned my first real cuss words.)

The best part about helping Dad out with the wrenching was his toolbox. It was a standard issue Craftsman steel box filled with the essentials - Channel-loks, 1/2" drive set (SAE thank you very much), Vise-grips, Craftsman red white and blue screwdrivers, and a ton of other greasy, well-used tools. I used to be in charge of hitting all the Zerk fittings on the various farm implements. "Just until you see a little grease come out the sides, Son." Damn, that was fun. As time went on my responsibilities gradually increased.

Thing was, we didn't really have a workshop. Yeah, there was a workbench in the barn, but mostly the work had to be done where the problems were. That meant a lot of toolbox and raw material hauling. The whole farm was the workshop - under the Hesston mower-conditioner changing out broken teeth on the sythe bar, digging fencepost holes for (mostly) straight fences, putting the sliding door to the sheep barn back on its tracks for the 45th time.

Since that time, I've spent my life amassing tools, but I've never had a place for them. Therefore, I haven't been particularly insane about keeping them pristine or in any sort of organizational structure. They're just where they are because I'll probably need them someplace else. I've kept the mobile workshop alive... until recently.

Three months ago I changed my living circumstances (due to a weak moment on the part of my very excellent and extremely understanding lady-friend) and was given carte blanche to do "whatever I want" with the largely untouched basement. Time to go to Sears!

A few weeks and a nearly empty savings account later I've gotten a good start on the BaseMANt - my den, my sanctuary from the pain of life, my place of refuge to tinker and get grease under my fingers. My tools have a home now, as does my ever growing pile of bike parts. I'm putting down mechanic's roots and it feels good. I finlly even invested in a good bench grinder and a vice! Heaven.

So, if you find yourself fixing your bike on someone's lawn and losing small bits in the grass, or the living room of your shitty apartment has a parts washer on one end and a pile of wheels on the other, keep faith! You may yet find the nirvana of an empty garage or a quiet cool basement where your tools can live in their natural habitat. Just be real nice to your significant other, pet dogs when you can, and always try to do right by your fellow humans. Karma may come around for you.

Or maybe not.

-Skip

From the mailbag this morning:

hey you surly folk -

started with a 1X1 a few years ago. it rocks at going over rocks, around rocks, even under rocks occasionally when i'm in the right place.

then rock gardens started getting easier and i thought a fixie might make them more challenging. what better ride to fix than a karate monkey. one speed, drop bars, fixed 38X17. damn thing goes over rocks too, and around them, but not yet under them - no trips to moab with the km yet.

then i thought road rides might build the muscles a little better so i could do longer offroad rides.
picked up a pacer. friggin' thing goes over rocks too (little tiny ones packed down in asphalt form). dirt roads with a spattering of small rocks. gravel roads.

bottom line - your stuff rocks. now i got my eye on a steamroller. i've seen what they do to rocks.

work hard. play harder. be surly.
ray

Damn straight, Ray. Thanks.

I started working for Surly, as a product designer, 6 years ago. 4 ½ years ago, Wakeman moved back to Denver and I moved into the GM position he'd held. That worked out fine. Surly was still pretty small, and I had time to manage the brand and design bike stuff. But we’ve grown a bit since then, and I can’t do both. So I made the decision, in February, to go back to what I really want to do…design and develop Surly product. I went to college, many years ago, so I could learn how to use the tools and techniques of product creation. My professional goals have always been set on finding a career that blends art with mechanics. Purchasing, accounting, personnel management and all of the business dookie that goes along with being a GM of present-day Surly doesn’t fit into that plan.

The new Surly GM is Jolly Green Peter Redin…also known, by his adoring fans, as Snacky P. Peter has been our international sales guy for many years, so he knows the product and he knows our market. He loves spreadsheets, long walks on the beach, endless meetings, vanilla-scented candles, bar graphs, fizzy raspberry bubble baths, product status reports, Fabreze, half-caf soy almond lattes with a sprinkle of nutmeg and brown sugar, white wine spritzers, and all things Yanni. With this going for him, we think Peter has what it takes to steer the Surly shortbus to world domination. Congratulations, Snacky.

What does this mean to you? Well, now that there are 5 Surlys instead of 4, you should get better customer service all around. Look forward to better fill rate, more product selection, and new glossy packaging featuring unicorn holograms.

Before he left last week for the Fruita Fat Tire Fest (which by now is over for another year), Brauer, with a bit of a desperate whine, begged me to post something new on the blog so he wouldn't have to look at McGruff's ass anymore (our pal Leeche, on seeing the photo, described it as "a muffin top with blue chocolate"). I, however, am the only man on deck here at Surly Intergalactic HQ, the rest of the crew having flown the coop with Brauer for the sunnier clime and mountains of Fruita. What with the vacuum of bodies and the unmitigated flow of work, I simply did not have the time to update it (and for that matter, Brauer is no where near a computer so changing it just for him would be not only ridiculous but also moot). But as with the other things blown in by spring weather (locusts, floods, and an increase in automobile traffic bound for Ikea), McGruff's ass too shall pass, starting with...

TransIowa V2.0. This thing also happened this past weekend. Organizer and Bad Ass Superdude Jeff Kerkove reports that conditions leading up to the event, a 300 mile (+/-) fast-as-you-can race across Iowa over mostly gravel roads, were about as grim as you can expect, with several days of cold rain throughout the state for many days previous, making the route little more than a gravelly mud bog. Last year, with conditions far better, the ride was hard enough that most of the starters dropped out before finishing. This year, Kerkove reports, "most people made it about 70 miles." None of the 70 or so registered racers was able to make the 6pm Saturday final time check, and so no one officially finished the course, but, Kerkove continues, "just to give you an idea of how tough conditions were, the leaders took 2 hours to go 9 miles in the later part of the first half of the course." Go here for photos, and here for a video. Ouch. To my knowledge, none of them rode or brought as a spare bike any Pugsleys. Although a bit heavy for a 300 mile race, that sort of rig may have been the best option given the conditions. Live and learn.

Our pal Zeke, who already rocks the trails and streets around KC, MO, on a Crosscheck and a Karate Monkey, recently got a Long Haul Trucker and wrote to say, "Have I mentioned that I LOVE my Long Haul Trucker? Thanks again for one more bike I love." And if this is any indication, apparently Zeke isn't the only one. There is now a website by and for Long Haul Trucker owners. We didn't start it and we don't operate it. In fact other than saying "yeah, sure, go for it" when the LHT Owner's Group web dude asked if we minded, we're not affiliated with it at all. But we sure are glad people think enough of the LHT to do something like this. Thanks folks, seriously. I'm nearly speechless. But not quite..

Finally today, someone identifying him/herself only as J-Me (ultra-mod rework of a common name or codifed instructions? maybe both...) of Altered Esthetics Gallery in my fair NE MPLS wrote in to alert us to...well here, read for yourself:
"Our 'Bike Art' group-show features over 40 local and international artists and over 100 works of art celebrating the bicycle - everything from performance art, to photography, to sculpture. The opening is on May 12, 2006. More information about the show can be found [here]." The email lists a bevy (possibly a coterie) of artists who will be displaying, including some probably familiar to you already, such as Ken Avidor, Andy Singer, and Roger Lootine. Less than 2 weeks away. Consider yourself invited.

That's all the news today. My co-wrockers (not a typo) and various other ugly kids return tomorrow from the Surly Bikes 'Extended Hangover' U.S. Tour, which basically covers I-70 between the Denver airport and Fruita. You can still see McGruff's ass bruise though. Just scroll down a bit....bit more...OH! Horrible, absolutely horrible!