My Surly Straggler, a bike barely alive:





I rebuilt it. I have the technology. I made it better than it was.


Better:





Stronger:





Faster:





I had to replace the h'bars (bent), fenders (cracked), mirror (cracked), and wheels (duh). I also upgraded the shifters, cassette, and chain while I was at it, since this was all on Mr. I-can't-be-bothered-to-watch-where-I'm-going's dime(s). The only damage that I didn't bother with was the bend in the rear rack, right there at the tail end of it. Rack still works great, and I never use that bit of it, so whatevs. Might try and bend it back someday, if it ever starts to bug me.


The new: Salsa Cowbell 3 h'bars, Dimension ?? stem, Shimano 105 2x10 brifters, Velo-Orange fenders (powder coated black), Velocity Chukker rims (powder coated yellow) laced to Shimano XT hubs, Raceface wide/narrow chainring (was having a problem with chain derailment since I switched to 10 speeds in the back, but not anymore!), Woho frame bag, Busch & Müller 901/3 mirror, SRAM 10sp cassette, Wipperman Connex 10sp chain (in black, natch).


The old: Surly Straggler frame and fork, Crank Bros Iodine headset, Nashbar compact road crank and Isis BB, Salsa chainguard, TRP Spyre disc brakes (unhappy with Avid's BB7 roads? try these and you'll never look back), Fizik ?? saddle, Tubus ?? rack, Easton ?? seatpost (spray painted black, 'cuz who powder coats a seatpost?), Wellgo ?? platform pedals, Knog Blinder Road 2 headlight, Cygolight Hotshot taillight, Monkeylectric Mini Monkey wheel light. Currently wearing winter tires (yay, first snow!): Nokian Hakkapeliita w240s, 700x40c. Summer tires (not pictured): Schwalbe Marathons, 700x38c.