Jamis makes some fine bikes, worthy of cult following, same as other companies like Kona, Trek, Cannondale, Specialized... or that mass-market company no longer distributed in the States, Bridgestone, who once hired some curmudgeon to run their USA division. Crazy.

Trek 520 has its own touring cult.

If I were considering a Rivendell and a Surly, I wouldn't have Soma too far from thought as well. Rivendell has boutique appeal and lugged construction, but like Surly, Soma does steel at a reasonable price. I also like the smaller companies selling a philosophy with their steel bikes, like Kogswell, Handsome, Steelwool, and Velo-Orange.

Not sure you can go too far wrong with any of these. Just that the bigger companies don't have the niche cache that others do.

But whatevs: I ride a small-maker steel bike with IGH -- IRO, FTW. All other makes are vastly inferior. Obviously.

Cult bikes, you say? Former owner of two Honda Hawk NT650gt motorcycles...

Some day I'll own an LHT, too. I dream of the day. I think of what I could go without, what I could sell (baseball cards, etc.) to make up some cash to put towards an LHT. And I've never even ridden one myself. How's that for cultish?! Too many people say too many good things about it and the descriptions of the ride characteristics are EXACTLY what I want my ride to feel like. And the guys I've talked to at the LBS say they love it. One owns one, the other wants one, and TONS of people come asking about them. Again, in the absence of ads, that suggests something to me. Now, if you don't mind please pass me another cup of Kool Aid. I'm thirsty...

On a paractical note, the longer chainstays on the LHT (almost an inch longer than on the Aurora, e.g.) are almost enough to sway me... I plan on doing some loaded touring and have size 11.5-12 feet. Heel strike <> good.

am i reading this wrong bc it sounds like a contradiction? word of mouth and grass-roots are kind of the same, no?

I will get and LHT frame when they get disc brakes, but what I really want is a Big Dummy frame. I never owned a Surly bike/frame but from what I've read I gathered that they just make decent, strong, no-nonsense frames that people really like to ride. I don't find them terribly expensive either.

I have an Aurora and I can relate to that quote. If my apt. were on fire, two things I would definitely try to grab. My Leica and my Aurora.

1. surly is the little guy. people like to root for the little guy.
2. surly builds their frames like how if i said 'quick, in one minute tell me what do you want this frame to have to be perfect'
3. surlys are not trend machines. or gimmicky. they are just bikes.
4. surlys pre-built completes are entry level-ish for the budget minded or the noob. if you are enough of a bike nerd and want to spec it yourself, buy a frame/fork. i will one day.

They are the same thing. I'm just saying, some people in this thread seem to think that they somehow market their product by being seemingly grass roots, when it's not a faux-grass roots, it's genuine.

I think there is a fine line between buying a label and a overpriced bike. Some of the big brands make really good bikes, but in comparision you may be getting lower components to pay for advertising and sponsership, and profit. I like Surly but the pricetag keeps me from riding one atleast for now, instead I am building up a Kona frame.

If I'm not mistaken Surly will help sponsor events and do other things which help with name recognition. They probably wouldn't be in a position to do as much of that without having the backing of someone like QBP. For them marketing might not mean an add on TV or in Bicycling magazine but there are people who are marketing Surly in a deliberate way.

Word of mouth has obviously been very important to their success too so I wouldn't take that away from them.

Issues:
1. is demonstrably false. Surly isn't simply distributed by one of the biggest bike companies on earth, they are owned by said company. Yes, it's an independent business unit, but that hardly makes them the little guy.
2. huh?
3. I think the suggestion that Surly isn't trendy is kind of silly. They are certainly trendy. If anything, a bike with less name recognition would be less trendy.
4. This is hardly unique. There are quality bikes from other makers in the same price range.

He said they weren't trend machines or gimmicky. By this I assume he meant that Surly isn't concerned with using the latest materials and newest technologies. They're more about simplicity and practicality. That's just an observation on my part. I don't own a Surly and in general their bikes don't appeal to me but I think I understand their appeal to others and I appreciate them for what they are.

In developing their products I think they were scratching an itch rather than trying to create a market.

I totally agree well said. Im to old to care about cult value and really dont care who notices,in fact most of the Surlys i see have the decals removed to attract less attention from thieves. I believe the decals are not cleared over for that same purpose. I wanted a new old school bike for a reasonable price. Surly scratched my itch. Bling aint my thing.

I pulled my new frame and fork out of the box, brand new and started scraping all the decals off! I dont know what got into me but I am not one for trends or glitter-glam but I rode a friends LHT 4 years ago and now I have had mine for allmost that long. Yea if I had the money I would be riding a legend but I have not one bad thing to say bout Surly. One day we may find the Surlys of today to be the legends in time.

Nice panniers mech. Are you still using the originals you made?

We have three Surlys in our household. Two LHT's and a Big Dummy. I'd say the Big Dummy has more of a cult following than the LHT. When I got my LHT it was a plain bike with XT hubs and a RD plus a killer Sugino XD600 crankset. It's still pretty much the same these days except the price went up by $200 and they switched out the crankset. Still a wise buy but not like it was in 2008.

Ha ha, yes! The same panniers and I love the things. They are still doing great and are the first ones I ever made with all the leather trim sewn by hand.

OK if I had the money I wish a big dummy could fit in my ellivater I had to sort of make my own out of 2 bikes. I want one so bad and I would put a Surly nice rack on it,,, O man I love that look!

I don't understand the Rivendell love, just don't get the retrogrouch kind of thing, but that is just me. Surly on the other hand, I could be called a cult follower, I have 3, and LHT, a Pacer, and a Cross Check. I think one of the things about Surly is the idea that the company is run by regular people, they have a sense of humor (just look at the website) and the bikes are designed to be practical. Many frames they offer are sold only as frames, and most of the bikes they sell now were only sold as frames for a long time, so many of the Surly folks are at least bike literate enough to build one up from a frame and parts rather than buying a ready made bike at a shop.

My surly pacer is much faster than my CAAD9 or my Kuota racing bikes on any ride longer than 90 miles, due to the comfort factor. It is actually a very good road bike, and set up with Ultegra and all carbon bits, carbon fork, and light wheels I have mine at 17.5 pounds