kickstart

Yeah, but you're not a "serious" cyclist.................

AlmostTrick

I know, right?

I was waiting for the perfect opportunity to use that line on someone else and you beat me to the punch. Well done!

Maelochs

So ... someone on the Internet said something disparaging about [insert topic.] So ... someone else had to rebut because No one can have an opinion that differs from that other guy's on any subject ... Who cares how many people have given their lives for freedom of speech and freedom of belief!! No One says anything I don't personally approve about [insert topic.]

This and porn and kittens ... is why the Internet has taken over.

I have traveled across the nation on a bicycle, but I am not a serious cyclist. I have traveled the world campaigning for freedom of belief, but I guess I am not serious about freedom of thought, either, because I didn't do it in expensive team-logo spandex while logging my miles on Strava.

Take a small step back and this thread only makes sense when people are knowingly saying absurd things.

Wonder why the country and the world are so messed up? I don't. The problem is people. The proof is any thread like this.

BlazingPedals

Well, I learned... no I didn't. I didn't learn anything from this thread.

Saddle Up

Thanks, you've helped with the point I was trying to make. Don't judge someone based on how much money they have or haven't spent or the brand they choose to ride. Lots of $4000-$10,000 bikes hanging in garages unused. Lots of $1000 bikes being ridden into the ground.

JohnDThompson 

I don't understand the hating on Surly. They offer a decent product at a decent price. Personally, I've never spent over $1,000 on a bike.

Hypno Toad

LMAO! You did post this exact comment to EVERY. SINGLE. THREAD. on BF, right? 'Cause that's what this place is, a place to talk about bikes in every stupid, point-less detail. If you want to talk about freedom, world politics, etc, ... you're kinda in the wrong place.

Thank you for the good laugh, my Monday needed that!

AlmostTrick

Thank you for coming on the internet to tell people who are telling others that they are wrong, that they are doing it wrong!

Doctor Morbius

In before the lock!

Just for the record, I don't want a Surly. I want a Hurley!

Hypno Toad

I'm curious, who is making bikes in the US? I can't think of one mass-produced bike that isn't imported, I'm sure I'm missing something. It's been 10 years since I worked closely with the bike manufactures, but at that time I know that only the high-end, low-production bikes were made in the USA frames. In Minneapolis, we have craft builders, like Appleman or Peacock Groove, but these guys are tiny compared to Surly.

Black wallnut 

True story; two years ago I was in the market for a CX bike. Looked at Surly only long enough to notice bar end shifters, ummm no thanks.

fietsbob

its not hard to change shifters with any level of mechanical competence , but it is not an App .

QBP Is happy to ship a frame and fork to Your LBS and You can fit your Surly Frame with what ever pleases You.

mconlonx

Pretends to be hip, but puts out interesting bikes in spite/because of that. They hit niches bigger companies won't or haven't yet. I see them as a step between NAHBS and mass production by a bigger company. Same kind of thing as Soma or Velo-Orange.

Being a part of Q might undercut their legitimacy as hip and niche, but it also means that their bikes are accessible -- you can order one through any shop that has a QBP acct., which is most of them.

I don't fault them for being what they are, and they seem to be a step up from BSOs like you'd find at a dept store. If you want higher end bikes in some of the same categories, there's other QBP brands, like Salsa, All-City, Whiskey, and the like. Otherwise, they remind me of lower (but not bottom) tier bikes from the 80s and early 90s.

...except with premium pricing. Which, when considering the limited production runs they must do for a fairly small brand, are probably reasonable... and plenty of consumers find them so.

Some models like the LHT and CC remain strong sellers, recommended by many, and form a benchmark against what others are measured against. Other models are in a class by their own -- who are doing bikes as versatile as the Ogre, Troll, and ECR? And it's nice to see them keeping legacy models alive, even though the market has tossed all kinds of competition their way.

And don't forget parts -- looking for a rigid fork for a vintage MTB with an obsolete suspension fork...?

Waterford -- > Gunnar/Milwaukee Bicycle Co. Mass produced, but still low production compared to larger manufacturers overseas or former US manufacturers.

Also, Bike Friday.

FrenchFit 

I think the answer is: no one does. Waterford and Trek still make bikes in the US, but high-end, low production.

What I noticed as gag-worthy was Surly's early marketing spin like they're just hip guys downtown who are totally into bikes and local bike culture. That seems to be toned down, now their website discloses: "Surly is an arm of parent company, Quality Bicycle Products; a juggernaut of the bicycle industry..."

Hypno Toad

Thank you! I've seen Gunnar bikes around town but never took the time to look them up. Now I have a good idea why I'm seeing more and more of them.

And this reminded me about Detroit Bikes.

Doctor Morbius

Nothing says hipster more than a J.C. Higgings!

Lazyass

You could have spent only a few hundred more and bought a better frame. You could have spent $300 less and got a better frame with a 105 group on Bikes Direct. You're a serious cyclist, you should know this.

bikemig 

, yeah gotta hate cross bikes with bar ends . . . .

mconlonx

Some of the brands for which Waterford does contract work are not so high end and reasonably priced... but still more expensive than Surly. Intermediate between imported Pac-rim steel bikes and US custom bikes.

There's also Zen Bicycle Fabrication, doing contract production runs, but unsure what brands.

I included Waterford because they don't only do high-end stuff -- the Gunnar and Milwaukee Bicycle Co. frames are more on the reasonable side for Made in the USA -- but not Trek, because Trek is only the very highest end, carbon stuff which is Mfg in Waterloo WI. Much different animal from Surly. Likewise, the higher end Waterford frames are in a way different class, more akin to the Trek carbon frames than Surly.

But I do appreciate the self-deprecating face-saving going on at Surly, kind of like, "We know we're not getting over on anyone anymore with the hip, indy hype, so let's just be honest and play up the fact that we are owned by the largest bike distribution company in the USA."

Maelochs

@Hypno Toad—Glad I made you laugh. That might be my entire positive contribution to humanity today.

@AlmostTrick—They Are doing it wrong. I am by far the Best pompous ass on the Internet, and I work ceaselessly to try to get others to raise their games so I have some competition. For the good of the species.

And hey ... I was the first poster in the thread to play the Surly pun card. That ought to earn me Something ...

indyfabz

+1. Four pages based on a make believe premise.

AlmostTrick

Not serious... Hardcore. Remember?

ltxi

I strongly agree with your disagreement.. I can today rather well afford any bike I wish. A big reason that's true is an abiding sense of buying value/what I actually need over many, many years.

usedbutnotup

But I do appreciate the self-deprecating face-saving going on at Surly, kind of like, "We know we're not getting over on anyone anymore with the hip, indy hype, so let's just be honest and play up the fact that we are owned by the largest bike distribution company in the USA."[/QUOTE]

Yeah, ain't that the truth. Which is why I bought a "cheaper" fat bike and don't see myself buying a Surly anytime soon. Nice bikes...but what are you getting for the money? An amusing website? Steel frames? They are cool bikes...but for what you get for the money? Go next door to Salsa and get something better. Just my .02. No hate towards Surly on my end, but I can't help but think alot of [not all] buyers are buying into a cool, different web site and not really shopping for what might best fit their particular needs. And truthfully, if anyone doesn't realize QBP and Salsa and Surly [among others] are under one roof, well that's your fault. YRMV.

AlmostTrick

But are you a Serious cyclist?