The funny thing about Hardrocks and Antelopes and equivalent is that the early 90s were a peak for that style and price point of bike. If your bike says "Chromoly" on the tubing sticker, it's pretty good, and if it says "butted" on the tubing sticker and/or all the components are Shimano of the same trim level, then it's a great one to keep running. The big problem is, they're old now.

By Y2K they all came with suspension forks, which at that price level are just a coil spring. The components got lower trim level and sometimes unbranded to keep the price point down. The frames went to worse steel for the same reason. A few years later in the early-mid 2000's, the frames from most brands would all go aluminum, which was an improvement, but the components got even worse.

Your commute has Marathon Plus written all over it. Keep them pressured up to what is appropriate for the tire section (i.e. 60psi x 2") and you get rolling resistance comparable to other tires you have used. Surly bikes are nice but they are not made 'better' than anything else. Even department store BSO (bicycle shaped object) things hold up surprisingly well. Salsa makes some nice models that are cheaper than Surly. Trek's FX series as mentioned by Korina has something for everyone. FX2/3 are not beneath contempt. FX5/6 are very nice. Maybe even too nice for just a 12mi round trip commute. FX4? UK has some brands we don't see here in the U.S. so if you want the most complete information you need to visit a local bike store yourself.

Punctures are fairly random occurrences. I've had three flats in a week and then none for a year. If they happen in a rash like that, there might be a common cause, and there might not be.

Do you check the inside of the tires after a flat? I often find thorns, staples, wires, etc. I use the most sensitive thorn detector.. My fingertips. lol

Also check the spoke protector. Sometimes they get off center. Or maybe a spoke is protruding too far?

As noglider says, they are random. I can go weeks without a flat, then have one a week or more for a while. In the Phoenix area there's often leftover trimmings from Palo Verde and Mesquite in the bike lane.

Thanks again for all of the replies. So, it looks like it's just bad luck. There was some very thin wire inside of the tire that caused the flat this time. I've been looking at some used Surly bikes and came across this one that looks interesting. It is the Surly Pack Rat. Is anyone familiar with this model. It is built for front loading...

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...4657218bf4.jpg

It's a bit of an oddball but not in a bad way. It was the last Surly that had rim brakes and it has the in-between 650B tire size. That makes it resemble the style of mid-20th-century French bikes promoted by Compass / Rene Herse, but the fine details are all Surly. So it won't be as fine, but instead of just a lunch, poncho, and Instamatic, it can carry All Your Stuff. Here's their blog post when they launched it. Surly Pack Rat Launch Blog | What is a Surly Pack Rat? | Surly Bikes

The one you show is an XL

Thanks for your reply. The owner says it is a 58cm size. That would correspond to XL? I'm just under 6 feet tall. Do you think this size would be ok for me? Do you know if larger tires can be installed on this bike or is 650B the max?

Most bike brands will have a chart like this.

Well, maybe not exactly like this. It's less so now, but for a while their marketing department was baked

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...2b0a8f0129.png

The owner said it is a large (58cm) so I think it might be a good fit. I plan to check it out this weekend. Do you think $800 is a fair price if it is in good condition?

Also, I'm ideally looking for a more upright bike and it looks like if I use the top of this handlebar that it should be ok, but do you know if I can swap out he handlebars in the future. Some had a nice looking upright style of handlebar that I saw online. I think it was called the Jones Bar? Is anyone familiar with this?

It will be an ok fit, not a good or great one. If you want a more upright bike, keep your powder dry, and wait for one. But if you decide to get this bike, get a 50mm stem and SMP TRK saddle. It will be a lot of work to convert that bike over to flat-bar style. If you can do the work yourself it's worth it. Otherwise prolly not. I'd use an FSA Metropolis Bar or the Origin 8 lookalike. Jones bars are a little bit redneck for what you are after. City bar, maybe Moustache bar, is the style I think you are going for. I would take advantage of the fact that you will be using flat bar brake levers to 'upgrade' the calipers to V-Brakes. Those are old style cantilevers on there now. An acquired taste. 650B isn't so much a size of tire as it's a size of wheel diameter. You won't be able to change from 650B tires as long as you keep those wheels (which I recommend you do). I'm eyeballing those tires at 35mm to 40mm wide (and tall), and it looks like wider tires were on there before. There is no good reason to run the fenders so far from the tire. You've got room under there to go to 50mm possibly. The bike shop could tell you for certain.

How do you think the bike is now "as is". Is $800 a fair price? I'm 52 years old and my current bike is a Specialized Hard Rock. I'm fine with that, but it needs work and I'd like to replace it. Down the road I'm concerned about being too hunched over, but ok for now. That's why I was thinking about changing out the handlebars at some point. The stem and saddle you recommended should be done now do you think?

Why don't you take it for a test ride first? That would likely answer most of your questions and at that price it's not likely to be sold out from under you. If it's in excellent condition, $800 sounds reasonable to me. If it's been up for awhile he might be willing to take less.

I'm guessing it's going to be too large for 5-11. It's the largest size listed on the product page, where it shows that a 58cm size is 60cm long. (Bike shopping is the time to be honest with yourself about your height, too. It's not a dating profile.)

Nevertheless the seller of this one may be 2xl if you judge from his setup. Imagine getting a bike with a sloping top tube, adding all those spacers, and a riser stem, and it's still lower than the saddle. I suppose you will meet him for yourself.

It's definitely all set with the big rack and fenders. All it need is some lights. (Standard time starts the weekend after Halloween!)

I remember when this bike came out I was pretty curious. I ultimately ended up with my Stormchaser. Don't let my enthusiasm push you into a big spend if it's not right.

If the Surly is in the condition it appears to be in, $800 might be a good price. Of course, it has to fit.

the owner says it is a large which would put that in the 5-11 to 6-3 range? The bike is located about an hour’s drive away, so I’d have to be sure. You menrioned the brakes are older style? Are they still cantilever, but just a different style? There’s also a Surly disc trucker available in the area. How would this model compare to that?

I’m thinking used because I don’t really want to be riding a brand new shiny bike around and thought that a nice solid used one would be nice.

If I do go new though and am looking in the $750 range for a solid commuting and weekend riding bike, any thoughts in brands to look at? For the $750 I’d like to have a rack and fenders and possibly a pannier.

thanks…

This is a link to the Disc Trucker...


(Not sure if that link is permitted, so here is a pic too)...

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...e0a55ac595.jpg

there.

I think since you are in an active bike market your budget could buy quite a lot. There are eleven hundred bikes on DC Craigslist. One of them is fine. Take a moment to notice you are heading down the path not of "saving money riding a bike" but rather "identifying as a Bike Commuter" which is how we get targeted to spend more.

But it's nice to have something new(ish). I know from experience it's hard to keep up, much less upgrade a Hardrock, without going whole hog. The individual pieces are all the kind of hokey that goes together. When you want to replace one worn out part with a current part, it tends to cascade to the rest of it, until it seems foolish next to the price of a new bike. And current bikes have some good features.

https://washingtondc.craigslist.org/...789090829.html
Nothing fancy but would be a nice all weather bike. I'd offer $400 and see where that goes. Says 26" but these are 700 and you could go larger smaller on the tires.

'Simply Red' (seen below) new in 2017 did not cost $800. She is a hell of a lot more bike than that Surly. Half that would still be on the high side. I wouldn't do it. Especially when it doesn't tick ALL your boxes. If you have the equivalent of $800 USD to spend on a bike you can get either a new one or a pretty amazing used one. One of the Trek FX?'s should do you quite nicely, I would think. Get it a year out of season. That's how I got 'SR' for 50% off. Bought an overstock that they couldn't get rid of. It is one size too big. Like ̶y̶o̶u̶r̶ the Surly. Easily fixed with a shorter stem. This is a racebike through. The FX?'s are hybrids. Flat bar. Very nice. Go have a look.
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...f8378bb327.jpg

Thank you. I do like the idea of going new. But it seems that everything new has disc brakes. I like the simplicity of the calipers. My hope and goal was to learn more about bike maintenance and be able to handle flats and brakes. But disc brakes seem more involved and that more could go wrong with them and they would be more expensive to repair?

Also, what I liked about the Surly Pack Rat was its unique build to handle the front rack. Reviews say that because it's built to handle the front rack, it won't wobble as much. I like the idea of having a pannier/carrier on the front so you can see your things as you ride. I also like front because I would be worried that adding even more weight to the rear tire would put too much pressure on the back and cause problems? I weight 195 (hopefully get down to 180-185) and worry that I'm too heavy for even more weight on the back. Currently, I put all my stuff in my backpack, but I'd like to lighten my backpack and get that stuff in a pannier.

So, basically I'm back to square one. New or used, I don't know. Disc brakes or calipers, I don't know...

Thanks in advance to anyone who can provide some guidance.

You wouldn't want to put a rack on a suspension fork or a road bike. On those you would mount a bag to the handlebars. Just about any other kind of bike, it's fine. It's absolutely no problem to put a rack on the back or the front of an average commuter bike.

Brakes would not be a deciding factor for me. I like disks better but I've had brakes of all kinds that stopped fine and none of them seemed complicated.

Most of my bikes are rim brake but it's a whole new stopping experience with hydraulic disc. I'd say the only down side is you need to change pads a little more often but it's nice to stop in about half the distance.

I like disc brakes and have them on my MTB. But my rim brakes will lock up both tires just as well on my road bikes. So with the tires locked up on my MTB I can stop in half the distance that I would be able to if I lock my tires up on the rim brake bikes? Brakes are brakes. If they'll lock up the wheels the stopping distance is going to be the same. Or am I missing something here? :foo:
Edit-The main thing I like about disc brakes is that I won't have to replace the rims because they're worn thin. :thumb:

The difference between rim & disc isn't about exceeding the friction of the tires contact patch; the logical limiting factor of all braking systems. It is about how you get to that point.

Imagine having all the progressive power modulation of a short pull lever on a long pull "V" brake with none of the fiddly setup or pad travel concerns of mix-n-match pull ratio system...That is the nut hydraulic disc seeks to crack.

More force for less effort and a more progressive predictable path to get there makes for an improved, more forgiving rider experience.

So, between the Disc Trucker and Pack Rat, what are your thoughts? I'm now leaning towards the Disc Trucker. The owner of the Disc Trucker does mention in the listing description that there is a ghost shift that occurs from time to time. Should I be concerned about that?

Also, between the two, which one do you think, down the road, could be configured to a more upright riding position? For now, I'm ok with either as is, but would probably like something more upright a few years down the road...

May just be a cable adjustment.

Ghost shifting can also be worn cables that are dragging.

so, you would say pass on the Disc Trucker?

If you're not interested in doing and learning how to maintain a bike, you'll be looking at a lot of shop time down the road. Most bike related maintenance is simple and straightforward, especially if you like tinkering and watching Utube videos for guidance. You mention you might like a more upright riding position in time, then I would be looking at the trucker, with the understanding that I'm going to be 'tinkering' on it sooner rather than later. Only you can make that call for yourself, though. Good luck and keep us posted, :)