I didn't plan on winning the frameset at a silent auction with a bid of a hundred and fifty bucks – but I did – so after some convincing from the Surly staff to please ride the damn thing, I decided to build it. It was certainly a budget build, over the course of a few months, sourcing the best pricing that I could manage from the LBS' used section, Craigslist, eBay, online retailers, and friends. I took a couple of risks; the chain color, mostly because the blue was on sale! The only reason I am running a rear brake is because the bars I got came with a generic brake which was already wired up to the proper length.

I had a LBS do the crankset and headset installs – didn't care to botch either of those jobs myself. This was my first SS/FG build, and actually my first bike build. In the past I had preferred buying bikes that were ready to roll; this process was so enjoyable I think I will build another soon. Totally different addiction. Big thanks to this forum for the search feature; helped me out in a big way.

For what it's worth – I love the color. I think it's because its horrible in every way. An awful, awful color. It's literally named after pee. Amazing stuff. In all honesty I think it's cool, but again, only because it's bad.

Anyways I am curious to know how you think I did on the parts and the pricing that I got, and where I could improve the build in the future.

53cm Surly Steamroller frame and fork in Drink More Water Yellow – new from fundraiser auction - $150
SRAM S300 crankset with GXP bb – new worldwide cyclery - $107
SS/FG takeoff wheelset from Specialized Langster – used from a buddy - $40
Ritchey stem – used LBS- $25
Shimano A530 pedals – used from a buddy - $25
FSA The Pig headset – new eBay - $16
Ritchey seatpost – used ebay - $16
Tubes – LBS- $16
KMC K710SL chain – new amazon - $14
Tektro R539 front brake – new ebay - $13
Specialized drop bars wrapped with generic brake levers and rear brake attached – used from a buddy - $10
Tires – free from parts bin
Seat – free from parts bin
~$432 + some labor cost

As far as the ride, I am absolutely blown away. The only steel bike I've ridden is my ancient Peugeot, which feels like a boat compared to the Surly. The 53 is a bit small for me, I am about 5'11”, but it seems to work, and the bike feels very quick, I would imagine that if I was riding a track bike it would be about this size. I've ridden it for maybe 5 miles so far, through slush and snow, a **** ton of water, and dirt, all on stock road tires. I passed a fat biker on a hill packed with snow, felt good. It is setup freewheel bc I've never ridden fixed but I will give fixed a try soon. I did reach for the brifter and try to down-shift on a hill once, again, my first SS bike. The simplicity is nice, though. Minnesota is a bit of a challenge at the moment but I look forward to more miles in a few months.

There is some noise coming from either the crankset, chain or rear wheel, need to sort that out, basically it's creaking under heavy load. I also put a different seat on it and a water bottle holder since this pic, and raise the seat up a bit. So I'm still tweaking it and hope to get some better pictures for you guys today or tomorrow.

Nice build. My first bike outside of the BMX world was a single speed Steamroller. I really miss it. I also had a creaking issue with that same crankset/GXP BB combo. Turns out it wasn't the S300s at all, but the BB cups. Completely rebuilt it with lots of grease and used a torque wrench to make sure I had everything as tight as possible - voila, silence!

Looks sweet.

That 53 would be tiny for someone of your height.

Glad you are enjoying the bike, shame they chose that color but I am not Donald Trump and I don't like mustard so that is most likely why I don't care for it. I wish they did it in a nice gunmetal grey, that would look awesome.

I don't think those wheels are from any Langster (stock at least) they look like a unbranded Rolf Prima knockoff or maybe they are some vintage Rolfs?

Glad you're enjoying the bike and your first SS! Now set it up fixed.

*cough cough*

Interesting. My buddy speculated that they came from a Langster but we can't confirm. I will try to take some photos, the hubs have a red stripe around them and a "B", Bontager it seems. It's possible the wheelset is Bontager. But yeah, he was under the impression they came off of a stock Specialized single speed? Appreciate the input on the bike.

Ehh a little too light for my taste. I want something a little darker maybe more akin to an XTR/Ultegra grey rather than this silvery one. Though it does not look bad, much better than urine.

Nope they did not, Specialized I don't think has ever had any paired spoke technology except maybe using Shimano wheels as many did back in the day. Trek did use a license from Rolf Dietrich for his paired spokes at some point but that did end but Trek does own Bontrager so it is all possible, they are some Trek product. The history on the Rolf Prima website is quite hilarious though (in addition to being informative)

Blue. Why?

Cause it was $10 cheaper than the black, and I'm a cheap ass, and I didn't realize how stupid it would look.

I actually really like that yellow color which I don't think I normally would. I'm around 5'9 on the 53cm SteamRoller, but I really hate that blue chain on there and the seat lol.

I like the bike! You did pretty well with the prices. The S300 crankset goes for $144 at Wabi cycles. Are you comfortable with the handlebars at that height? If so, you could have the folk cut down a bit more and loose a stack of spacers too.

Dave

Thanks Dave. I got the crankset on black Friday so that's why it was priced lower. I had the LBS leave some of the steer tube on it just incase I wanted to go higher in the future. Looks terrible obviously but whatever. I wouldn't mind going higher with the bars as my daily bike is more upright so I am used to that, but I think I will leave it as-is.

Nice looking bike

I hear ya about the steer tube. For me, mine are as long as possible for back issue reasons, and having the flexibility to change. In a way I'm glad to see I'm not the only one!

Dave