Perhaps he is using newer dropouts. I took a very good look at it last night, and to get enough clearance I would probably have to use 11T small cog and slide the axle all the way forward, which is a suboptimal position for rear derailleur relative to the location of the hanger. The seatstay is rather thick on both sides of the dropout braze joint. I bet the solution is to move some or most of the seatstay joint to the outside of the dropout. I'm very happy Surly is taking care of it!!!