Once in a while a new publication comes along that truly makes me want to get off my bike to sit down and read. Congrats to Brad Q and Jeff G for making this happen.

Enjoy.

Urban Cyclist

Snackey's Cross-Check

Well, here she is. My Cross-Check that I have been working on over the winter. I started off running cruiser bars with V-brakes and linear-pull levers. Hated it. Couldn’t get comfy. My position was too upright and my weight was to far back, making any climbing painful. I should note that all climbing is painful for me, but when the bike fit is all jacked I’d rather walk than ride. I started this project with the goal of building a bike for city riding, cruiser style, but for now I’ve decided that idea will have to wait for a future project.

Things of note on this bike:
1. The drive train is a Dingle. The chain rings are Surly 36t & 33t. The cogs are Surly 20t & 17t. I used a Surly single speed spacer kit and a 9-speed SRAM chain.
2. I used Deore disc hubs cuz they were lying around, and yes, I know the front hub is in the dropout backwards, but I’m not using disc brakes so is there any functional difference? I didn’t think so, so SHUT UP! The Salsa Delgado-X rims are tough and cheap, and the Maxxis tires were also lying around and seemed right for the job.
3. The cranks are Truvativ Stylo 180mm. I love 180mm cranks.
4. The bar tape is leather, but not Brooks. This tape was a gift from my Japanese friend. Mori san surprised me with it at Chie Matsuri last month. He does leather shoe repair and on the side makes stuff like this. Very cool. This is the first leather tape I’ve ever had.
5. Avid Shorty 4 canti brakes. I set up the spring tension too high, but I’ll ride them for awhile to see if I like it or not.
6. I found a racing Ralph green Brooks B-17 in my garage and it seemed right for the green color of the frame. Problem is I robbed it off my Bianchi so I’ll need to find another saddle for that one later.
7. The front cable straddle is too close to the zero rise stem, but the brake still feels smooth. I was originally planning to use a fork mounted unit from my old Cannondale M700 but I didn’t have the right length bolt at my immediate disposal. Maybe I’ll swap it out later.
8. The Salsa scandium stem is the right reach (90mm), but I think I’d like about 15 degrees more rise for a better fit.
9. Yes, that’s a Chris King headset. Eat your heart out, Sov.

It’s a fun bike so far. Not sure if I should gear it a bit taller as it will be ridden mainly on road, but it’s pretty good in the area I live, which is somewhat hilly. This is the first time for me to build up a Cross-Check, so I’m sure I’ll be changing some of the components as I get more used to the fit of this bike.

To be continued….

I recently found out they have the internet on computers now. Sov told me. "You remember internet," he said, "it's the one with email." So when I got home I swept the pile of clothes and notebooks off of my computer and turned it on for the first time. And after some digging around I found the internet right on there. Damnation. The world I grewed up in is gone.
That was last thursday. That night I was "surfing" the "web," as as the kids say, and "hanging ten" I might add, and I got this little...I don't know what you call it, like a window that pops up that says I have 4,876 messages. Well you can imagine my excitement! After some digging I found my "mailbox" and started reading all 4,876 emails. Near the end (and I mean that both in terms of the number of emails and my physical state after staying up for 2 days straight staring into the "monitor," dressed in crumpled jammies, eating wheat thin after crispy, low fat, lightly salted wheat thin) I came across one from Tim Grahl, one of the whack-jobs at The Crooked Cog network of bike related websites (which started if I'm not mistaken with twentynineinches.com, which isn't what it may sound like. {He's completely wrong. It started with bluecollarmtb.com. What the hell is going on around here? -KB}).
This email from Tim, a latticework of lyrical phraseology, was a reminder of the Big Wheeled Ballyhoo, a 29er meet up organizized by Crooked Cog. The email said in part, "wondering if you would do a post about it on the Surly blog."
"What in good gravy," I wondered aloud, spraying half moist cracker crumbs all over the keyboard, "is a blog? And who is this Kenny Bloggins he keeps talking about? Is that name supposed to be a joke? Why do I seem to know this guy? But man, he DOES paint a picture."
I fell asleep on the floor next to my chair. The dark magic of his words had infused me like delicate tendrils of smoke, opiate and dangerous, and I began to dream, a lavish wild roller coaster of washed out visions and suspect memories. I dreamed of endless rollers, tire-polished roots, and slabs of crumbling limestone. I dreamed a string of lights snaking along darkened trails and people drinking beer until the wee small hours when light cracks the horizon, purple and dim.
The next day I pulled myself together and came into work.
"The craziest shit happened to me last week," I said, and explained my last few days' absence. Nick turned around and walked back to his desk without saying a word. Alix rolled her eyes. I saw Snackey pull out a box of rat poison and a teaspoon, then change his mind and put it back in the drawer. I sat in my chair for a while. Sov came over and turned on my computer, typed some stuff then said simply, "Write."

Sea Otter

Well, our first trip to Sea Otter was only slightly less painful than a stick to the eye. That means it went pretty well from my perspective. We met lots of cool people, got lots of sun and wind, and drank plenty of beer.

Yeah, the wind! When it's calm it's like heaven, but once the wind picks up it feels colder than Minneapolis in January. Maybe the Sea Otter folks should consider scheduling the event in say, May or June?

On Saturday it rained for a few hours so we battened down the hatches and tried to stay dry in our tent.



Before too long folks from all around showed up to drink our beer and form an impromptu party. Here is all that remained afterwards:



Good times for sure.

Chipps Chippendale of Singletrack U.K. Magazine got his armpits cooled down by several ladies with cold fingers.



Needless to say I did not want to put my cold digits in there.

Check out our flickr page for more pics from the event.

Spring is here, the birds are chirping, the flowers are sprouting and the people are dusting off their bikes. But how do these people NOT realize their helmets are on backwards?

Yup, We're Gonna Be There

As I write this I am getting my hobo sack packed for Sea Otter. We fly out tomorrow morning.
This is the first time Surly will have an official presence at the event. We'll have a small tent, a selection of bikes, some catalogs, and hopefully a cooler of beer.

Sov and I will attend. Swing by and say hi and shit.

In other news, I have uploaded a ton more photos to our flickr site. There is a link under the Photo Gallery section in the right-hand column of the page you are viewing. Visit it often and let us know which ones you like. As always around here we preach quantity over quality. At least that's how we approach our flickr page. No apologies.

Later...

Complete Long Haul Trucker bikes are in stock.

This first bunch will not last long.

Contact your bike shop if you want one.

Do it now.

Just a quick follow up on our boy Zito.

He's home from the hospital, but still has 3 months of down-time ahead of him, a mountain of medical bills (being one of the millions of Americans without health care insurance), and a busted-ass bike.

The bike's being taken care of.

If you've met Zito, you know he's the kind of guy who will be first in line to help you move to a new place, give you a beer or a smoke if he's holding, help you up when you're down (or down if you're too far up), and generally will have your back. He's as loyal as they come and now it's your turn.

Donations to the cause can be sent here:
Chris Zito Fund
C/O TCF Bank
801 Marquette Ave. 001-01-J
Minneapolis, MN 55402-9984

Dig the news story.:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5vAgtszfdw

This is a trashcan west of my house in north MPLS, which I pass on my way to Theo Wirth trail. You can't really see it, but the gas pump in the baby's mouth says "consume."


Also: Surly Studios is proud to present "It's Pronounced Iowa", starring Eric "B Rose" Sovern:

Hit and Run

There aren't too many things more cowardly than driving your car into a cyclist, then speeding off as if nothing happened. Mr. Rubber Side Down himself, Chris Zito, got his rubber side upended Thursday night by a motor vehicle. By the time Zito rolled and stood up, the car squeeled it's tires and took off. Adding insult to traumatic injury, two other vehicles ran over his bike in the roadway and kept on driving.

What is wrong with people?

So Zito did his best Velma impression and found his glasses and cellphone, then called 911. The bodily damage: several ruptured lower vertebrae and a fractured humerus arm bone. The bike damage: one old FUBAR Bianchi Pista, see picture below.

Zito is like a cat and should eventually recover, but the damage is done. This whole incident just makes me loose what little faith I had in American society to take responsibility for themselves and help a brother in need.

Let's be careful out there.