The Suffering of the Steamroller
 

My bottom bracket started squeaking a bit recently and it occured to me that is has nearly been a year since I started commuting via Steamroller. I was transferred from a position at one building I could walk to, to one several miles away. As an obstinate non-driver I tried walking, but it was just eating up too much of my day and getting a new bicycle just seemed more sensible.

Of course after humming and hawing over which bicycle, I ended up ordering a Steamroller (no fixed gear scene here in the desert) and proceeded to have it kick my butt for months. I was always a mash-and-coast cyclist, and learning to pedal properly has really taken the whole year. Only now, after finally giving in and going clipless a few months ago, am I really getting spinning.

http://imageshack.us/a/img268/336/roller12.jpg

The poor Steamroller has suffered innumerable indignities. Judging from the web, most are prettied up and treated with kid gloves. This one has been stripped of its decals, its paint battered mercilessly from being locked up to this and that, and worn in several places by the frame bag straps. It has ridden through dust storms and monsoons. It is almost always tugging some form of luggage or trailer -- only rarely ridden unecumbered as pictured.

It has been through several transformations over the year: Three different handlebars before getting to the Nitto moustache bars, four different saddles, four different seatposts, three different styles of brake lever, a lighter wheelset, and a collection of stems. From the stock 64 gear inches it has climbed up to the present 69. Now all I fiddle with is different tires now and again -- that eternal battle between puncture resistance and ride quality.

As they say, "It doesn't get easier, you just go faster." She has been a harsh mistress at times; climbing uphill into the wind on a fixed gear is what separates the men from the madmen, but I have to say I no longer recognize my legs, which look better now than when I was bodybuilding back in my 20s. I wonder which are happier, the pampered colour-coordinated Steamrollers that are paraded for the "fixie" pageant, or my poor daily driver that has seen hell and high water?

I tried a steam roller yesterday. too bad the poor guy isn't drilled for a rear rack.

Great post. I like a cherry, carefully-built bike as much as the next guy, but I respect a hard-workin' bike. :thumb:

Got any other pics?

Yeah, you'd have to go with a seatpost rack. I mount my Carradice Tour bag and Burley Travoy to the seatpost. I'm thinking of getting a dedicated foul weather bike that will properly accommodate full fenders. It doesn't rain here often, but when it does it pours and there's no drainage.

Sure.

http://imageshack.us/a/img171/2163/roller12f.jpg

With Carradice mounted.

http://imageshack.us/a/img705/4804/roller12c.jpg
http://imageshack.us/a/img7/781/roller12d.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img819/8657/roller12e.jpg

50T x 19T, the guard keeps the chainring from getting bashed by bike racks and poles when locked up. Time ATAC pedals.

http://imageshack.us/a/img341/3255/roller12g.jpg

Cockpit with headlight installed.

A well used bike that has been tweaked and modified to get it just where the rider wants it thru trial and error and tribulations is always preferred to some flawless and pristine pagent queen that the owner would fret over a gnat pooping on the top tube. It was made to be ridden and I'm sure the factory crew likes seeing one that has been put thru the paces as well because it shows and tells the tale of just what a bike is capable of.

Plus one for the riders who actually ride. What good is a beauty if you hide it away?

Nice bike. The first utility fixie I've seen that I find good-looking. By the way, I have that same headlight you have! Isn't it sweet?

Thanks! Yes, pretty pleased with Lezyne stuff in general and the headlight does not disappoint. It surprises me how well it works in twilight conditions. When I have some spare cash I'd like to add a more powerful taillight though, like a DiNotte.

That's a fantastic looking ride.

I've got a Cross-Check that has seen similar changes and real-world use. The fenders and fender stays are bent up from winter crashes and various lockups in heaps of other bikes. The powdercoat isn't glossy except for a few places, and it's starting to wear clean through in others. If the decals weren't removed, they've long since gotten chipped up. The singlespeed I run now is the 4th incarnation of this bike, and likely to be the one that I stick with for a long time.
At one point it was my "flash and bling" rando bike, and then I think it realized it belonged to me and thought, "You know what? I don't need to be pretty, I need to be useful" and at that point the utility of it became its beauty.

Thanks. I suspect that most people on the road probably find it a bit odd looking (they don't sell them looking like this in stores), but personally I would say I've become more proud of it the more I've optimized for daily use.

http://img560.imageshack.us/img560/6...eamtravory.jpg

Here's today's grocery run before attacking the mountainside to get home. If anyone here was driving up South Mountain today, I was the crazy guy on the fixed gear. Some roadie in full livery inched past me on the climb (oh the shame) and pulled away for awhile, but then I started to catch him again as he starting coasting after we reached the plateau. What a slacker. :rolleyes:

I don't know which bikes are happier, but I do know I wouldn't be satisfied with something so immaculate that I was afraid to take it outdoors. None of my bikes are gallery ready and never will be.

I like your bike. I have that same frame bag for my winter bike, which holds rain suit and waterproof socks so I always have that stuff in case I need it.

I never saw a trailer like that. Looks pretty handy. But I have a carbon fiber seat post so I don't know that it would be a good idea for me to try something like that.

Probably not with a CF seatpost. It bears a lot of extra loads and torsion from bags and trailers. I use a Thompson post, and so far it is holding up to 235 pounds of me and all my stuff.

The trailer is extremely useful. I have an assortment of bags and straps so it can be used to haul a variety of things, weight limit 60 pounds. The form factor makes it easy to pull upstairs while still full loaded (I live on 2nd floor).

http://img72.imageshack.us/img72/6276/duraace.jpg

The Steamroller gets a new drivetrain: Dura-Ace 7710 crankset and BB, new 1/8" chainring, cog, and chain.

Methinks she is happy today.
:love:

Very, very nice.:thumb:..I love it when people actually use their fixies for commuting and utility riding . It just proves that fixed gear bikes make great commuters.

While I mostly agree with this, lately I have been doubting the suitability of my fixed gear winter bike. It was ideal where I lived back in SW Indiana because there's hardly any snow, but here in Montana I have struggled mightily during a couple of significant snow events. Trying to ride uphill in more than a couple of inches of snow on a fg is very difficult. I don't know if switching to lower gearing would solve the problem, but I've found myself lusting for a fat bike with gears lately.

On the other hand, I guess I'm learning better bike handling skills during those rides when the bike gets squirrely with the front wheel trying to go one way with the back trying to go another. And it turns a bicycle ride into a full body workout too.

Thanks! There's nothing like the control of a fixed gear in daily driving with crazy cagers all around. The new drivetrain is whisper silent. The stock crankset had a queer chainline.


I suspect you'd need to drop the gearing significantly for snow. I am in the desert and I've dropped my gearing to 48x21 (60 GI) just for the sake of a better spin and healthier knees. I'd probably go down to the low to mid 50 GI for snow and ice. On the other hand, I'd be eyeing a fat bike too if I lived in MT. Has anyone built a fixed gear fat bike? I wonder.

Nice bike! Gotta love the Burley!

I've gone as low as 58 GI in the snow... During winter when it's cold I prefer a lower gear ratio and I like to spin, it just makes it easier to get around and I don't mind going slower during winter. FG is great for winter riding.

I love my Steamroller, it has been my commuting companion for the last few years and many thousands of km's. Very well build fun bikes. I'm running mostly stock, 66.6 gear inches (48x19) and can still hit 60 km/h downhill. I can't imagine towing a trailer uphill though, that's hard core.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=293817http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=293818http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=293819

Very practical-looking build! At first glance I would have thought "Cross-Check" -- shows how closely related the two models are.

I plan to build a fixed gear bike out of a 1974 Raleigh International frame (and fork), as it's pretty light and moderately nimble. I hope to finish before winter is over. Riding fixed does give a full body workout, but I can't see myself choosing it for every ride. But I own several bikes and don't choose any bike for every ride. I plan to put as few accessories on the bike as possible, because I prefer a fixie to be lightweight, so no rack and no fenders. I'll put on detachable headlight and taillight.

Chesha Neko, what crank length are you using? I'm going to use 165 mm.

My bike came with 165mm cranks (on a 56cm frame). The new DA cranks are 167.5mm. Having to relearn my spin now.

I plan to eventually build a light/fast fixed bike just for fun rides, one day, someday.

It wouldn't be hard -- the Pugsley and Moonlander have track ends. :thumb:

I used 58" last winter and bumped it up to 61" this season. There seems to be a definite point where no matter how low your gearing, the wrong kind of snow will kill your ability to mount a bike and keep it going.

Alaska here I come. :D

http://img547.imageshack.us/img547/5177/nittopost.jpg

And now with the most beautiful seatpost in production (and I thought Thompsons were nice).

isn't that the truth

what brand is that frame bag?

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=294516 here's the best I could find of mine, it was a fun build I have done tons of long rides (240 miles in 2/3 days) as well commuting daily 10 miles each way. Love it, wish It had rack mounts so I got a cross check, really just ride up to work with the rack to carry stuff for the week the ride the steam roller.

Revelate:

http://www.revelatedesigns.com/

Made from Dimension Polyant sailcloth, and lined in yellow for interior visibility. The stuff is near bulletproof.