HappyHumber

Hi, wondering if any other Aussies had been in the market for a Surly Steamroller frameset early this year? it seems the Aussie distributors, Dirtworks, despite advising me to the contrary back in February, have only just got a shipment of the complete bikes and NOT the framesets.

I had been saving for a frameset since late last year, and started collecting parts (got a set of deep-v rims & surly hubs built up..... sugino cranks arriving within the week.) But my retailer in Perth received a call last week to say no framesets.... Arrgh!

I'd really got my heart set on a Steamroller for the wheel clearances, and general utility nature of the bike (as far as singlespeed machines with track ends go) i figure the alternatives are, swallow the cost difference and get a whole bike, and use my better new parts. Keep as spare or sell the parts removed from the complete bike....

or keep within my budget and stoop for a Soma Rush or similar.... assuming I can get one through their Importers..

anyway.. just mumbling/thinking/typing out loud at this point.

astroman

hey fellow perthite. damn! that sucks. sometimes living in perth really is like living in the end of the world. there's a whole world of great stuff out there it is almost impossible to get our hands on. now even the simple stuff! i reckon the steamroller would be the way to go too. soma seem pretty pricey, though i do like the look of the new delancey. i've got a pake, which is maybe one way to go, it's cheap but rides like a tank. i happen to kinda dig that though, not for everyone however. been thinking a steamroller would have been a nice upgrade eventually. not sure if you can go a hillbrick, if they do a steel frame. the crosscheck is probably a bit undynamic for what you want. maybe try a jonesman.

HappyHumber

Got word back this arvo - for just a Soma frameset is pushing at least $900, because the fork is sold seperately. The complete Steamroller is a smidge over a grand.

Was also toying with just getting an off the shelf Fuji Track. They RRP for $AUD 600, are cro-mo and drilled for brakes. But as I said earlier.. my heart was set on the Surly. I actually have a Cross-check already which I assembled last year out of the ashes of my Treck OCLV roadie & I love it! (see my velospace sig). You could say I already have some brand loyalty.

Where did you pick up your Pake? I hadn't heard of an aussie distributor for them.

astroman

pake from elite. cost about 700 i think. but heavy. i get your brand loyalty. i have a geared pacer from surly and there's a huge dif between the two rides (aside from the gears). surly use much thinner (seemingly better quality, but i couldn't say for sure) tubing and it feels snappier and faster etc, love the pacer so much! pake is a point and shoot ride. fuji sounds okay, didn't knw you could get em here (i assume you are talking with glen parker?). i guess soma is kinda trackish, which is why the delancey sounds good, think it has good tire clearances. a friend of mine reckons it seems like a bike to ride to a funeral on, not the surly rough and ready vibe for sure. maybe the plan might be to pony up for the surly complete and make it sweet, plonk the parts on your other fix and let that be the beater...no point saying winter bike since we don't have that season...anyways you've probably thought of that.

HappyHumber

I'm swaying around all over the place at the moment. This morning it was the complete Steamie for sure...

This evening it's save probably a few hundred and use a fairly nice 80s MBK (Motobecane) Trainer 14 Speed frame I got off a verge in Riverton in February. I already had $100 deposit down on the Steamroller frame at Quantum Bicycle Manufacturers in North Perth... so I've still got that credit with them. Actually taking the MBK up to them tomorrow to have a word.

At the very least have them (neatly) shave all the braze-ons and derailleur hanger. Maybe some track ends and get them to give it a nice paint job. It's just my size and probably would still work out cheaper.

decisions decisions....

astroman

good luck...

HappyHumber

Well.. here's one in Australia on e-bay.... 56cm which is a bugger.. that's what I wanted...


I ended up with the complete bike - stripped and in bits across various shoeboxes in my living room as I type.

astroman

hey cool, hope it's great. i checked out your cross check on velospace. my knee has kinda died on the fix and i'm wondering about a complete one as a rugged do anything bike. all reviews say they're super, but how do you go with the bar end shifters? are they allright? easy to use? i have campy centaur on my pacer, and love them. also, on your mudguard question, shifterbikes in melbourne are stcoking soma mud guards...might be the go...though i think we've had our rain for the year...

HappyHumber

Part of me getting into the SS & Fixies came from my reluctance to use the bar-end shifters after I had built the Cross-check. I started by consciously trying to find the best all round gear for my commute and weekend rides. About 9 months later, I'm riding it pretty much the same way.

Having said that - on the odd occasion I do change gears I am usally pretty conservative and they're not too much of a problem. I think at the very least you might learn to be more frugal in your changes. I don't go slamming up or down any more than a cog at a time

So Yay or Nay? Mmm.. couldn't say... my riding style has changed so they're hardly ever used to really be an issue.

astroman

thanks for the feedback on the gears. the thing i dig about the campy is easily flipping up and down lots of gears...i reckon that rules the standard cross check out for me. now that my knee pain is stabilised (to a ind of rubbery ick) i'm gonna give fix one more chance, gear down to 69 (from 74) and hope it works out! thanks again, hope the surly is rockin...

jpap

Hey Astroman,

I just ordered a Surly Pacer today. I intend using it as my everyday commuter bike. It sounds though it wouldn't be out of place amongst some of the high end bikes found on weekend group rides. Can't wait.

astroman

hey jpap,
you will not be disappointed. i love mine so much. i had a principia that i never felt really comfortable on, and wanted something more soild but still zippy, so i switched the frame to the pacer and have never looked back. i works fantastic as a commuter, and is a blast on the weekend! oh stickers come off easy too, but if you're getting the new grey version they look cool as is i reckon...enjoi...

HappyHumber

I must've been either too impatient or too pissed when I sat down with a bottle of Stout, a hairdryer and a coupla stripping blades to attack the stickers on my new poo-brown Steamroller.

I had been planning to paint the frame, but then I got used to the brown but hated the stickers. Then I did such a **** job of the stickers with tonnes of little nicks and scratches to the finish underneath, I'm now back to the original dilemma of what colour I want.

BTW... getting the original tektro dual pivot calipers anodized black to match all the other black parts I've collected for it. Was battling to get anything else dual pivot with the sorta reach they have.....

astroman

my pacer stickers came off super easy with the hair dryer and my thumb nail. maybe because my nail is long for the guitar, but it clearly has other uses. i tried the credit card like others have suggested and that was really bloody difficult. even with my nail technique though it took a couple of hours. on the other hand i stripped my principia frame of decals with the same method and it was two days work! and in the process i probably devalued the resale, since it now a no-name brand roadie frame...damn...

orange seems to be the colour of choice in the city at the moment. but if all parts are black, maybe grey, black or white. if it were me, i'd def go canary yellow. i've seen a cool steamroller in an undercoat type grey-blue, very nice. where are you gonna get the paint job done? and the anodisation? quantum?

HappyHumber

Funny you should say that.. the Ford XR6/XR8 orange was what I was thinking to contrast with as many black bits as I could. If not; a black frame for all over. I don't get into the CBD much these days. Haven't spent any time in there for about 3 or 4 years. Used to commute into the AMP building on my crappy Raleigh Hybrid and wonder about some of those single speed courier machines way back then...

I still don't know about the paint. Quantum were trying to talk me out of powdercoating. A lot of people seem to swear by it for its durability; but I have been told it's a cow and a half to strip again later. I still could go either way at this point. But whichever it is; I'm just out for simple bold colour. Nothing fancy.

Getting the anodizing done at Anomed in Osborne Park. A little bit of a toddle from my neck of the woods (I work in Booragoon, live in Ferndale near Cannington.) but it's another excuse to have a longer lunch break during the week. He was recommended by Georges Bike shop in Willeton whom I've largely been dealing with for the individual parts.

astroman

ooh! osbourne park huh? that's my neighbourhood. i'll swing by and see what they do sometime. maybe post a pic when you've got the new paint job.

HappyHumber

The guy at Anomed, Bob, seemed pretty cool. Didn't patronise me too much when I asked stupid questions I think it's just him who runs the place.

He quoted me $40 for the 3 caliper bits, the headstem, headstem cap & 4 spacers. When he put me at ease I hopped back in my car, went home and got the seatpost as well. So I might end up paying $45/50.

I've got some 'before' photos - mainly 'cos I was worried about getting the calipers back together again properly. So providing they are a success I'll be able to get some 'after' shots as well

Hasselhof

A quick question for anyone that has one or has some experience with the steamroller....

I'm quite a big guy (fat, not tall) and am thinking of getting myself a second fun bike to augment my current do it all MTB. Have been thinking seriously about getting the complete bike steamroller as per the dirtworks spec (I'm guessing its the same spec as on the surly website though I've not checked) and wondered how it might go with the pounding a stack of extra kg's would have on it. I ride pretty much exclusively for fun with the added bonus that it makes me lose a stack of weight quickly (lost about 23kg in a few months a year or two ago though a fair chunk has been put back on) and after a bit of a hiatus want to hit it hard again stat. Any changes or suggestions you think I should make to the lbs if I order one that might fit the needs of a 110-120kg rider?

cheers

Scott

HappyHumber

I finally got my complete Steamroller. Although I probably only rode it about 50km before I stripped it down ready for the custom rebuild (it's still in parts across my living room floor - pick the single guy) I think it's a good solid little buy. The 4130 CroMo frame is sturdy. Not the lightest thing, but it instills a bit more confidence than anything aluminium, IMO. And of course, if really comes down to it - Cro-Mo is more easily repaired/welded than ally.

Even though I haven't ridden mine a great deal yet - I could still even a this stage attest to them being pretty bulletproof as a lot of other personal reviews say if you search through bikeforums and the net in general.

I'm 187cm & floating between 100 & 105Kg myself. My bike arrived at my LBS from Dirtworks pretty much as specc'ed from the Surly website itself. The seat is a bit naff, I think. But I'd just say go for it as is - and customise it as you see fit from there.

Hasselhof

Thanks for that Happy

Yeah it looks like a good bike on paper and there seems to be a fair bit of praise for it around the traps. have decided that its the bike to go for as soon as fund-age allows. Besides, based on the N+1 rule of bike ownership its inevitable I'll end up with at some point

Cheers

Hasselhof

Well, I went and put down an order for my steamroller. Apparently there aren't any in the country at the moment and mine is sitting in a shipping container bound for Sydney via Singapore. Now for the long wait.....

HappyHumber

Similar deal when I orderd mine. i think it was in February - I e-mailed Dirtworks direct asking if they were importing both the framesets and the complete bikes. They said they were gettting both and they were expecting them about April at that point. I placed a frameset on backorder through my LBS soon after. But at some point later, my LBS was told Dirtworks only received the complete bikes.... hence my little whinge with the creation of this thread.

Don't think I'll be finishing my Steamie for a some months yet at this rate. Spending up on a holiday in August and work has me to & fro across the country just lately as well.

Am enjoying the conversion I built up with the Steamie parts though (see the MBK Trainer in my sig). Done my first real amount of fixed gear riding on it and enjoying it quite a lot.