Originally Posted by
headwind15
All you need; A long cage rear derailleur and a cassette that goes up to 34 teeth and some 9 speed shift pods. Do not get complete brake lever/shifters (for v brakes) unless they are pre 1996/ made for cantilevers. Gearing aside. Take notice that the bike is too big. A basic thing I totally agree with, Greg LeMond who said in his book that you should have more seat post showing that the head tube size.
I definitely don't want to mess with the brakes, since it took some doing for me to get them set up right.
Sizing is a tough one for me, because I have shorter legs and a long torso, so I basically sized the bike based on top tube. It's a 56, and a fit kit session I did some years ago did put me on a 56 for road bikes, although I prefer 55 for cyclocross/gravel. The Surly does make a taller head tube than any other frame I've seen, too.