Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - Which bike: Surly Steamroller or Kona Band Wagon

I live in Minneapolis and I want a bike that I can use year round as a commuter (probably not as much in the winter) and do some short touring on (100+ mile weekend trips) and I think the Steamroller and the Band Wagon can get that done for me. But I can only buy one unfortunately. The Band Wagon is on sale for $650 at my LBS which is around $300 dollars off the original price so I assume it has better parts, but I can't really tell, I'm definitely not an expert on bikes. The Steamroller is $720, which is pushing it, but I'd happily pay an extra $70 if it's worth it. I like the fact that it has a larger tire clearance, for the winter, or I wanna go off road with it or something. I don't know if I could do that with the Kona. I also like the brake levers being on top of the handlebars on the Surly. I'm kind of leaning toward the Surly because of all of the good things I've heard about it. But the Kona has a better deal. I can't decide. I've been trying to, but I really can't, hopefully you can help me.

Thanks.

What's the tire clearance like on the Kona? The steamroller can fit 35s which is about the minimum if there's snow on the road IMO.

Which year band wagon is it? I have the 2009 paddy wagon which is basically the same frame as the '09 and '10 band wagon. The difference between those 2 were just the components for the previous 2 model years.
However, it seems they refreshed the band wagon from the ground up for '11 and created a greater difference to it than the paddy wagon (which kept the same frame). Obvious evidence for this is the upgrade of the band wagon to a integrated headset and different fork.

If you're talking about a last year's model,
I have plenty of space with my paddy wagon, it comes stock with 28c's with room left to spare, it could easily fit 32c.

Sorry I forgot to mention that, 2010 models for both bikes. Thanks for the feedback so far.

Sorry I forgot to mention that, 2010 models for both bikes.

Then what I said above applies about tire clearance. ;)

By the way, kona only refreshed the band wagon to distance it more from the cheaper paddy wagon, as not that many people bought the band wagon because they went for the cheaper paddy wagon instead. It was cheaper around ~$300 - $400 for a different paint job and minimal better components, they both shared the same wheelset, crankset, headset. So no worries about why they refreshed the model.

Hey man, were you looking at behind bars? If so chuck is a great dude. Personally I think the steamroller is a slightly better frame, but I really like the feel of the kona. Bottom line, test ride both and pick the one you have more fun on. Failing that, pick the one you think looks better.

The Surly Steamroller represents the best frame for the money by every measure.

The Steamrolloer will give you a classic foundation you can build on for the rest of your life.

Go Surly.

Hey man, were you looking at behind bars? If so chuck is a great dude. Personally I think the steamroller is a slightly better frame, but I really like the feel of the kona. Bottom line, test ride both and pick the one you have more fun on. Failing that, pick the one you think looks better.

This^
It may seem I'm for the kona but both are equally good bikes, I would go either way :thumb:

for jesus's sake, you're in miniappleless! go pick up one of those great deals on track bikes on the miniappleless craiglist.

Yeah, Behind Bars is awesome. I went there again today to try out the Band Wagon and it turns out they sold it a few days ago. :/ I'm disappointed I didn't at least get to try it out, but I guess that makes my decision easier. I tried the steamroller out and I had a really fun time, so I'm happy with that. So I'm going to go over to The Hub and get last years model tomorrow probably. Thanks for all the feedback everyone. Shalom.