Originally Posted by veganbikes

That is a fine deal and Surly does still sell 9 speed but my guess is they are not going to be around a whole ton longer.

Surly makes a solid bike and people can hem and haw about them and hate on them but no real need. Surly is a bunch of folks who love touring and having a good time, they make a decently spec'd bike for a reasonable price and are pretty easy to access. Sure their bikes are heavy and blah blah blah but their goals aren't focused on weight but durability and usability for a variety of situations. They realize most people are practical riders who are not just going to be ultralight roadies or MTB racers and some of us will want rack mounts or will want to make it a single speed or fixed gear or run wide tires or switch it all up at some point. I think they saw a lot of what people had been doing to modify old "ten speeds" and "mountain bikes" for touring and commuting and weekend fun and built a company making more versatile bikes from the get go.