Originally Posted by
FrenchFit
Have some more koolaid. Surly is part of the Quality Brand Products corporate conglomerate which includes Salsa, Problems Solvers, All City, etc. This is not a company of 20 people working out of brick building in the soho district. The whole Surly thing may be cool marketing, I appalaud the courage to be different, but it is as intentional as the fire red rims on your fixie.
LOL.... I bought my LHT because it was the only decent 26" touring frame I could find. I have no illusions as to what and who they are. I just needed a solid workhorse bike frame, and they had what I liked.
And I hate the fixie trend.
Originally Posted by
modernjess
Surly and their other small bike brands have absolutely benefited from the proximity to the industry, the product knowledge, and the distribution which comes from Q. But to dismiss it as a calculated corporate marketing shill is an uninformed opinion and frankly insulting to the dedicated bike nerds that invented, market, and ride the Surly brand every day. But trust me, they don't care what you think.
I think the guys at Surly understand how things work, and they know what they can and can't get away with. They could have just marketed their bikes as generic models in a company's lineup, but they didn't. All things said, I'd have bought one regardless of who marketed it. Their bike design happened to cross paths with what I needed, and I think the "surly" character is just funny. It didn't affect my decision to buy one, one way or the other. When I tell people I own one, they get this funny smile and nod, because they recognize it. Bottom line: they design bikes people like to ride.