Inevitable...

I think there's some corollary to the Clausius Statement of the Second Law of Thermodynamics, that goes something like this:

"Every bearded nerdy bike mechanic type, left long enough in a closed system, will eventually ride a Surly."

It was inevitable....

This one I picked up used for less than the new cost of the frame and fork.
It came to me in decent shape but in need of a bit of fine tuning. The drivetrain was a Hope singlespeed rear hub with 15 - 27 t cassette (6 out of 9 speeds). The XT derailleur wouldn't fit any bigger. Plus that big empty triangle looked weird and I had to carry my stuff in a backpack!



So I contacted my favorite local mechanic and he got to work.



Here's a nifty little bit from Wolftooth Components, called the Road Link. It is a derailleur hanger extender so you can fit a bigger cassette in the back, it was designed so roadies can run a single chainring and a really big low gear in the back to make up for it. Here I'm using it so I can fit a bigger low gear on a singlespeed hub.



Then I checked clearances on a cassette I had. There was a little ring, about 2 mm thick at the center of the biggest cog. This I took off carefully on the disc sander, and that gave me just enough room to squeak on 7 speeds instead of 6, and the Road Link gave me enough clearance to go up to 34 t instead of 27 t.  Works great. Paired with a 32 t chainring it gets me most places I need to go now, on trails. The singlespeed hub reduces dish in the wheel, making it stronger, and the narrower cassette improves chainline.

Oh, and it has big tires and a squishy fork too.



Then we set out to make a nice custom frame bag to fill up that weird looking empty triangle.



There - that's starting to look better.





The Quality Control Manager inspecting a few custom bags.




Here's a stuff sack made specifically for the Everything Bag. Diameter is about 4-1/2", and the roll top closure goes from about 8 to 12 inches, for a capacity of 2 - 3 L. Fits perfectly in an Everything Bag or similar fork mounted cage, and carries your stuff. This one was made from my heaviest fabric and weights 2.5 oz. They're NOT waterproof but are quite water resistant.
Need one for your next adventure?
$30 shipped per bag.











The flowers were great this spring due to the extra rain, but now they're long gone in the heat.










Every one year old needs a custom mountaineering backpack.
This one is made of a festive mix of cuben fiber and XPAC fabrics, and is complete with full strength dual haul loop (good for when the climbing gets steep and the leader has to haul his pack, or good for mommy grabbing him fast), a crampon pocket (also good for extra diapers or teddy bears), compression straps, and two ice axe loops.