simplybao

I have a few threads on here about what steel bike to ride. I chose a Surly Pacer and I have it put together and put 200 miles on it in the last week. This picture has a Fizik saddle on it but I'm switching it to a Brooks Cambium B17.

It's a 6800 drivetrain (and wheels). CK headset and BB, Easton EC70 cockpit. It weighs 21.4 lbs with pedals (Speedplay Frog Chromoly)

Overall I love it. I'm tweaking the seat setback and playing with the height. The ride, man the ride, it's soooo smooth. It floats over the bumps. Riding on chip seal feels like smooth pavement. The 6800 wheels roll very well, I think they roll better than other wheels with CK hubs. The only thing is that I'm used to the near instant engagement of the CK hubs. I may switch to HED wheels.

ColonelSanders

I love the look of that curved steel fork.

Some questions:

1. Is it the most comfortable bike/frame you have ever ridden?

2. How stiff is the bottom bracket area when it comes to power transfer when accelerating from a standing stop?

3. What brand/model seatpost are you using?

StanSeven

I'm curious. Why switch saddles? I know people like Brooks but they are soooo heavy.

Juan Foote

Really nice looking build there.

I have been hunting around to do a "custom" steel build, IE finding a good fitting and decently priced CroMo production frame and build up around it. I have been really disappointed in lead times, stock quantities in what I am looking for, etc. So far I have found that the stated delivery time on a spec frame vs. stated lead time from a local custom builder to be the same. The reviews on said spec frames seems to indicate the wait would be longer.
It led me to take a look into some of the "big three" production bikes and I am finding lead times on those to be inline with the custom work this late into the 16 season...the exception being a bike that wasn't even within my specs or on my radar before starting to look...and it's Aluminum....

jamesdak 

Welcome to the steel club!!

Sweet ride!

jade408

I like the lines of steel bikes so much better! To the poster above complaining about frame lead times, locally we have a few LBSs that stock Soma regularly. You might have one too.

philbob57

That Fizik seat has a lot more fore-aft adjustability than the Brooks saddles do. If you need the Fizik to be forward in the seatpost, the Brooks may not fit for you.

The seat plays a relatively small part in the weight that has to be moved by pedalling. The comfort of the Brooks may more than make up for the extra weight.

simplybao

1. It is pretty damn comfortable. I have a Lynskey Viale and the Pacer seems to glide over road imperfections. It feels like it is "floating" it's hard to describe. The Lynskey is really comfortable too, but I would give the nod to the Pacer. Both bikes are running 700x28c tires. Although I'm running Gatorskins on the pacer and Schwalbe marathon supremes on the Lynskey. I run both tires at 80 psi. Compare both of those bikes to my Madone and there is no comparison. The Madone is just plain stiff and after 20-30 miles on the Madone, I'm ready to jump off of it.

2. I'm not very large so even when I'm accelerating, I'd don't think I cause too much flex. I'm 5'5 and 135#. The Pacer does accelerate faster than the Lynskey but I can't tell how stiff it is. I'm not sure if I know what I'm looking for. I run CK BB's on both bikes. I will say that with the Lynskey it does feel like something is flexing, it's hard to describe but I don't feel the same on the Pacer. The Pacer "feels" faster than the Lynskey does as well.

3. All Easton EC70 cockpit (this is their entry level Carbon stuff but it's still really light)-- 15 mm setback seat post, 80x6mm stem, and bar.

Other's asked about why switch to Brooks. I originally built the bike with a Brooks C15 Cambium and rode it for 100 miles. I had a Fizik saddle on my Madone and wanted to test it out on this bike. I like the Brooks better so I'm switching it back. Yep, it's heavier but it's more comfortable. I have a C17 Cambium on my Lynskey. The difference between the C17 and C15 is that the C15 is narrower (I was told to use this one because the Pacer isn't as upright as a the Lynskey). I will say the C17 is more comfortable though.

simplybao

I bought mine at my favorite LBS. You can have them check their distributor for stock. The Surly Pacer isn't as popular as the Crosscheck or Straggler and in my size (52), there was plenty of stock. I got my frame in a week. I thought about getting a Gunnar but in the end all I really wanted was a classic looking steel bike. All of the Gunnar's had sloping top tubes and I chose looks over hand built (Oh and I saved $1K). I bought my Pacer frame and fork for $500.

dim

I have a brand new surly LHT .... I very much doubt that I will ever sell it

as for saddles, have a close look at the Gilles Berthoud Aravis (with titanium rails) .... much better than any Brooks IMHO

VictorKnox

Nice Pacer, I just built up the same bike a few weeks ago:



105, Open Pros, and heavier than yours, but I like it. Like you said, very smooth ride.

ColonelSanders

What size is your bike?

I'm guessing it is a 62cm.

VictorKnox

Close - It's a 60cm.

trailangel

How did you come up with 21.4 lbs?

twodownzero

I'm skeptical of this as well. If the Surly Pacer is really that light, I'd seriously consider selling my carbon frame and transferring its parts over to a Surly Pacer.

What size frame is that?

simplybao

I hung it on my brother's Park tool scale. It's only a 52 and everything on it is fairly light. It's all carbon cockpit, Ultegra everything. I weighed it with the Brooks saddle on there. The cambium isn't that heavy.

My TI Lynskey is heavier. It's 22.6 lbs. But I have heavier wheels on it (CK hubs with DT Swiss TK540 touring hoops).

Consider this, the frame is a little over 4 lbs. I can't recall the exact measurement, but I weighed it and remembered 4.something. I didn't weigh the fork but it should be about 2 - 3 lbs. My Lynskey frame was a little over 3 lbs. The carbon Lynskey fork weighed a bit over 2.

Many carbon frames weigh in around 2 lbs and the forks, should weigh in about the same as my Lynskey fork. This is unless you have an Enve or something really light and high end. So, if you take that all into consideration, a steel frame and fork is what, 3 -4 lbs heavier than a carbon one. Many carbon bikes weigh in between 16 - 18 lbs. So, 21 lbs is realistic, I'm not sure why it's hard to believe.

StanSeven

That weight with your parts seems perfectly reasonable to me. My Waterford with a CF fork is 18.2 lbs. Your fork is likely a pound more and the frame at least a pound. I've got older DA so the group is probably an even wash with your Ultegra.

mongol777

My Pacer is 54cm, built with 5700 105, square taper crank (Stronglight, rebadged Sugini), Cambium C17, Soma HwyOne bars, Pacenti SL23 wheels with Pacenti hubs, Wellgo MG2 mountain pedals - comes out at 22lbs dead on.

Jarrett2

21.4 lbs for a size 52 Pacer sounds about right to me.

My Black Mountain Cycles size 56 was 20 lbs without pedals and it also has a steel fork. Just a little lighter steel than the Pacer.

My Gunnar size 58 with an Enve fork was 18.3 lbs without pedals. It's True Temper OX Platinum though.

dr_lha has a size 58 Ritchey Road Logic with Ultegra and his was 18.2 lbs I think.

A size 52 bike made with the most modern steel frame available and light components would be pretty dang light.

Dispute the drop in major brands using steel, the material has continued to evolve. The modern stainless stuff can approach carbon levels of lightness. I saw an English (brand) bike posted a while back that used a stainless steel frame to get down to 9.9 lbs for a complete bike. I know Rodriquez can build one in the 13 lb. range as well.

veganbikes

The C17 is very comfortable. The bit of added weight is not a big deal when you are more comfortable. You could certainly save the weight from the saddle in other areas of the bike pretty easily. A few ounces is not a big deal honestly. The Cambium series tend to be lighter than their saddles taken from animal's skin and don't have the break-in period.


Congrats on a steel bike. Steel is real!! I might be adding another steel bike to my quiver as well.

bruce19

My Guru steel is a 55. Without pedals it is 16 lbs 9 oz. Ready to ride...with tool bag, blinkie light, pump/inflator and cartridges, and mirror it weighs 18 lbs 15 oz according to my Park Scale. It has a mix of SRAM Red and Rival and Ksyrium Elite wheels.

rydabent

Nice bike. I know the in crowd these days think that the only good bike is a carbon fiber bike, but with care Im sure that your steel bike will be around long after any CF bike its age has failed or got punctured.

trailangel

And here I thought the idea behind a steel bike was to not have any plastic on the bike!

simplybao

lol!!!!

kingston 

Those are both nice bikes. I still haven't come around to the look of the Shimano HT cranks on a steel frame. They look jarringly out of place to me. Am I the only one?