Your latest bike purchase?

[NicDiesel]

@dkel 86575 wrote:

What did you think of the Straggler? You’re the only person I know who’s ridden one!

Living down the street from QBP I’ve test rode every version of this years line of Surly, All City, and Salsa bikes for pavement. The Straggler (58cm) I tested out with my Brooks saddle felt very similar to my 58cm Cross Check and seemed like a decent frame for the price. I only did about 20 miles on it and didn’t really make too many adjustments to it but it felt very similar to my Cross Check.

@bluerider 86725 wrote:

My personal opinion is the Straggler is not very good value. You pay a lot of a bike with a fairly low end drivetrain and component group.

When it comes to pavement Surlys the rule of thumb, at least for me, is never, ever buy a complete. Buy the frame and build it up with the components you want, the stock components on the Surly pavement lines are a terrible value and the stock wheels are just awful. On some of the other lines (read: OmniTerra) buying a complete is a decent value if you buy the OPS versions, the stock Pugsley are just as bad of a value as a stock Cross Check.

[bluerider]

Phatboing,
That’s very true but it does come in Smokey Blue Robinson which is almost as cool. Just finished this and have since added a stainless front rack

[NicDiesel]

@bluerider 86743 wrote:

Yep, I agree. I will only do hand built wheels from now on. The extra money is worth it in the long run. If I were building a Ruben I would just get the frameset too. Lots of money left over for a nice build.

I had a Phil Wood 48h-Velocity Chukkar wheelset built up two years ago that have yet to go out of true. The initial cost was substantial (~$1,200) but it taught me a very valuable lesson – buy it right the first time. Obviously 48h wheelsets are probably overkill for anyone under 350lbs, but after riding on those for the past two years I’ll never own a non-hand built wheelset again.

[bluerider]

@NicDiesel 86746 wrote:

I had a Phil Wood 48h-Velocity Chukkar wheelset built up two years ago that have yet to go out of true. The initial cost was substantial (~$1,200) but it taught me a very valuable lesson – buy it right the first time. Obviously 48h wheelsets are probably overkill for anyone under 350lbs, but after riding on those for the past two years I’ll never own a non-hand built wheelset again.

Yep, went hand-built route on the Vaya shown above with White Industries Mi6 hubs, 36 holes, Velocity Dyad, DT Swiss Champion spokes. So far, bombproof.

[Harry Meatmotor]

I think it helps to keep in mind Surly’s target demographic when considering parts spec and pricing. Most shops who carry Surly do so because there wasn’t (for a looooong time) an attractively priced alternative to the $1.5k entry level road bike that would accommodate any sort of regular abuse. In other words, bike commuters and folks interested in touring didn’t have any non-fussy (I’m looking at you Grant Petersen…) options without compromising a relaxed geometry road bike, or commuterizing a recreational hybrid. Surly specs parts that are just cheap enough to do the job well. And leveling the critique of factory-built wheels applies to any and all bikes. Cheaping out on wheels is the easiest way to shave hundreds of bucks off MSRP no matter what the bike brand.

Also – I don’t think Surly really intends for the crosscheck or the straggler to be podium worthy cyclocross bikes – they could be if raced in the right hands, but by and large those two bikes are intended to offer a heavy duty road bike geometry fatter tire platform. As a mechanic, I appreciate what Surly does with their bikes. I actually love it when one of the floor walkers sells a LHT cause I know I’ll (usually) never see it back in the shop again for good reason: they’re built well with smart parts and can take a ton of abuse.

[jabberwocky]

I’m helping a friend shop for a new commuting bike, and had pointed her at the crosscheck and straggler as options. I’d like to have her consider the Vaya as well, but it looks like small sizes are 26″ wheels (huge drawback for a road oriented bike, IMO).

[jrenaut]

I’d like to see bike manufacturers explicitly acknowledge the genre that the Cross Check really fits into (the same one my Bianchi Volpe fits into). They usually call them cross bikes, but no serious racers would consider them for racing. They’re nice steel bikes with aggressive geometry, but they have lots of mounts for fenders and racks and space for big tires. They’re great for people who like to go fast, but use their bike as a replacement for a car, and ride in bad weather, and all that stuff that a good many of us do. I think of the Volpe as the equivalent of a CUV like the Mazda CX5 – space for passengers and cargo but it also has an optional 6spd manual.

Of course, now that my Xtracycle is on the way, I’ll probably use that for more of the grocery store runs (and I’m going to do a Costco run on the bike just to show I can). But still. Not sure what this genre of bike should be called…

[NicDiesel]

@Harry Meatmotor 86749 wrote:

I think it helps to keep in mind Surly’s target demographic when considering parts spec and pricing.

Outside of replacing the chain, swapping out the cassette, and replacing the bar end shifters with Soras my Cross Check has the same drivetrain it had the day I bought it. I’ve probably put 3,500 miles on that drivetrain and haven’t had any issues and probably won’t as long as I keep it clean in the winter. For what they are they’re great bikes, but you have to go in to purchasing one knowing what is and what it is not that you’re buying. The framesets, to me, are a really great value and are one of the reasons I stayed with a Cross Check when I replaced my frame last year instead of going with a Mr. Pink or a Spacehorse.

[Harry Meatmotor]

@jrenaut 86756 wrote:

I’d like to see bike manufacturers explicitly acknowledge the genre that the Cross Check really fits into (the same one my Bianchi Volpe fits into). They usually call them cross bikes, but no serious racers would consider them for racing. They’re nice steel bikes with aggressive geometry, but they have lots of mounts for fenders and racks and space for big tires. They’re great for people who like to go fast, but use their bike as a replacement for a car, and ride in bad weather, and all that stuff that a good many of us do. I think of the Volpe as the equivalent of a CUV like the Mazda CX5 – space for passengers and cargo but it also has an optional 6spd manual.

Of course, now that my Xtracycle is on the way, I’ll probably use that for more of the grocery store runs (and I’m going to do a Costco run on the bike just to show I can). But still. Not sure what this genre of bike should be called…

I agree – unfortunately i think the proper name for these types of bikes has been taken (utility bike). I like to think of them more like a mid-size pickup truck.

in general Surlys are good for 80% of folks who have some experience on a bike recreationally, but want to taste a car-free diet. but as most posters have expressed, for those “in the know,” Surly frames are the real highlight – good, cheap, and durable. So the smart money is on building them up from a frame set, however, convincing the someone who is purchasing their first commuter bike to build it from scratch is a little difficult, and imho, kinda stupid. folks should be riding their bikes, not fussing over what parts to hang on a frame. lol.

[hozn]

@Harry Meatmotor 86762 wrote:

however, convincing the someone who is purchasing their first commuter bike to build it from scratch is a little difficult, and imho, kinda stupid. folks should be riding their bikes, not fussing over what parts to hang on a frame. lol.

This probably strikes at the heart of the problem with most of the advice from this forum (and others). People come on asking “I want to start commuting; which bike should I get?” and people like us that ride 12+ hours a week year-round start chiming in about how you need mm-precise geometry, hand-built wheels, disc brakes, tires with a good balance of grip and durability, etc. etc. And the reality is that folks riding for a few hours a week will really be happy on pretty much anything and if they ride 4k miles a year, then their drivetrain will probably last all year and their shifters, wheels, BB, etc. likely for multiple years.

[dasgeh]

I’m a 5’9″ woman, and tend to like bikes on the smaller side (53 fits perfectly, but I usually have to choose between 54 and 52 and go with 52). I test rode a 52 cm Straggler. I wanted to love it. I REALLY wanted to love it. But I found it really cramped in an odd way. The top half of my body felt fine, so I don’t think I could have gone with a larger size, but my legs just never felt extended enough to get good power. I fiddled with the seat height some, but I quickly ended up in the range of not being able to put my foot down comfortably, and decided it’s geometry just isn’t for me. I never figured out, from looking at the numbers, why it felt so cramped.

That said, I love the look, and I wanted to love it. So if you love it, awesome. But I would take it out for a LONG test ride before declaring love. Maybe up the Rosslyn hill or similar. My 2 cents.

[Harry Meatmotor]

@hozn 86766 wrote:

This probably strikes at the heart of the problem with most of the advice from this forum (and others). People come on asking “I want to start commuting; which bike should I get?” and people like us that ride 12+ hours a week year-round start chiming in about how you need mm-precise geometry, hand-built wheels, disc brakes, tires with a good balance of grip and durability, etc. etc. And the reality is that folks riding for a few hours a week will really be happy on pretty much anything and if they ride 4k miles a year, then their drivetrain will probably last all year and their shifters, wheels, BB, etc. likely for multiple years.

it’s also why finding a knowledgable LBS is crucial to finding the right bike. well intentioned forumites (and me, too) often forget that at one point in time, they, too, rode a $400 hybrid or mountain bike into the ground* and it was a learning experience in terms of helping them decide what they actually need in a bike to get them from point A to point B, that costs $1k+.

* i’d be willing to bet that at least half of us on the forum had a bike, abused it, then took it to a shop where they learned how spending $400 to fix a $250 bike is just throwing good money after bad and had a bit of an epiphany with regards to what an expensive bike is and what it gets you. Mine was a 1992 Diamondback Sorrento.

[NicDiesel]

@Harry Meatmotor 86762 wrote:

however, convincing the someone who is purchasing their first commuter bike to build it from scratch is a little difficult, and imho, kinda stupid. folks should be riding their bikes, not fussing over what parts to hang on a frame. lol.

Slow down there hoss. I was suggesting if you were looking to make that level of purchase instead of, say, a $500 hybrid, you might talk with your LBS and get their feedback on what you might want on a first commuter bike and proceed accordingly. The LBS would be the one building it up or swapping out components, not John Q New Commuter. I had two super large riders reach out to me for bike recommendations and I gave them the build sheet of my bike and said “talk to your LBS, they’ll make it happen.” One followed my advice (specifically on wheels) and hasn’t had any issues outside of finding a proper saddle, the other went with a stock build and has had nothing but problems (tacoing wheels, wrist pain). YMMV.

[dkel]

Thanks, everyone, for all the advice; hearing differing perspectives from everyone is quite enlightening. For my part, I think I fit into the category that a few folks have described: I’ve gotten a lot out of my hybrid, but after 3000 miles I’m looking to take my cycling to the next level, though I’m not quite ready to build a bike up from scratch yet! I do think the Straggler fits what I’m looking for at the moment pretty well, and as a bonus, I can change it into almost anything I want later by swapping out components, which I have realized is not possible with my hybrid. For the time being, it will be my do-everything bike, and it should be fairly indestructible at that for a long time (component wear notwithstanding). As I become more savvy about everything, I’ll probably become more picky about the details, and that will probably lead to other components and frames, which I’m quite looking forward to.

P.S. I love this forum!

[NicDiesel]

I’ve abused the hell out of my Cross Check for over two years and the only two things that haven’t survived the abuse of a 380lbs cyclist being on it for over 4,000 miles are chains and saddles, everything else is going strong.

[Author]

Posts