adamlee

Greetings all,

Just a short shout out to all that have helped me in the past with various oddball questions, not to mention all of the threads I've pilfered for information... Thanks.

Around a month ago I finally decided to pull the trigger on a brand new bike and I decided upon a Steamroller. I went for the black model over the cream but I feel like both would've satisfied me in the end. I am somewhat dissatisfied with the hardware being all black, but I can always find new components in the future. I did the unthinkable with this bike and ordered online without ever even riding fixed before. I've always been more of a vintage road bike guy but I wanted a commuter with as little to care for as possible. I am 6' tall and pretty lanky so I went for the 59cm. I think I would've been just as happy with the 56cm but the 59cm fits me really well. In the future it's possible I would get a shorter stem depending on the type of bar I was using, but stock I really feel great on the bike. Now, when I say I am 6' tall, I really mean I am. I am sure you know someone, if not yourself, who adds a couple inches to their height when telling others but I figure, 5'10'', 6'2" who cares? I am six feet tall without shoes. I used the whole shove a book into your 'crotchal' region and measure method. I have around 2 inches to spare above the 32.9 inch standover. I am lanky.

The bike's weight amazed me. I've only ridden old-school roadbikes and when I read that this was a heavy frame I only assumed that it would have to be an improvement to a Chicago Schwinn.... Ha! probably half the weight. Literally. It feels really, really light to me. The stock gearing is a little bit easy for me. (Is that low or high?) Outside of a saddle, I imagine the first thing I will change will be the cog.

I removed all of the decals and replaced the stock 'steamroller' with some nice italic Bodoni. It looks much, much better. Who ever gave the thumbs up to Surly's nasty art direction should be given a stern talking to. Does anyone really enjoy the original decals? One of the selling points to me was the removable decals, so props to Surly for at least allowing that. I used the cd-r method I read about in another thread and it worked really well. Thanks to whoever discovered that.

Universalcycles.com overall was an enjoyable seller to deal with. I live just outside of Chicago and had my heart set on driving into the city and buying a Steamroller from a LBS but the 10.5% sales tax inspired me to shop online. Free shipping, no tax, + price match made Universal Cycle my decision. It took almost two weeks for the bike to arrive but it was well worth the savings. The assembly was great and it literally took me less than 15 minutes before I was giving it a test spin. Bravo to them. Prices are good, shipping was fast enough, assembly was stellar, and they packaged the bike really well. Will buy from them again in the future.

If this wasn't my first fixed, I am sure I could make this review much more enlightening for the readers but this is more based towards those who are thinking about getting their first. Forget the hipsters, they will fade. If my town has fixed gear hipsters than it must be on the way out. I ran a marathon last year and do a lot of weight lifting and this bike is pretty much a perfect compliment to my regime. I commute to work on it then go for extended rides at night or on the weekends because running has gotten old. I welcome any questions about how I feel about riding fixed, or why I chose the Steamroller over other brands from other soon to be fixed riders. It's the least I can do after all the info I've gotten from this site.

Thanks again, sorry for rambling, I've been drinking.

Squirrelli

Great story, I enjoyed it.
47/19 is the ratio that is came stock with the bike, which comes to around 65 gear inches with 25c tires, perfect ratio for rolling around town.

PanFry

Very Cool!

Please Enjoy,

PF

spaceballs

Pictures?

cc700

yeah, pictures are a must for said bodoni typeface. i don't see "surly" looking all that nice in an italic font.

adamlee

I didn't set surly in bodoni, just steamroller. I wanted a subtle way to give props to the frame and I think I did a decent job. I may switch the typeface as time goes on... we'll see. Hard to go wrong with bodoni though.... so far I am liking it. Looks better in person than in the attached photos, but you get the idea.

WoundedKnee

There we go.

Squirrelli

Spin to win?

Deshi

48/16 is my gear of choice. Nice and fast and still able to climb.

avner

I run about 76 gear inches in an area with a lot of long slight grades and a fair amount of hills. No probs yet. I've rode to venice on it without discomfort.

nmaybank

does it have full clearance for barspins

toosahn

Climb what exactly? What grade hills?

I think 70 gear inches is about right for moderately steep terrain if your A-B is less than 7 miles.

However, if I lived in San Francisco, I'd be rocking around 65 inches.

sitwell

Thanks for the review. Always good to hear these. Sometimes I wish I got a Surly instead of my IRO, but I do love my IRO. Love the typeface in the picture. Such an elegant way to print STEAMROLLER on your SURLY.