Oops.  I added another bike.  This one is a Surly Steamroller, and it’s pretty basic.  I didn’t change much, but I did steal the 35mm WTB All-Terrainasarus tyres off of the Gunnar, used the original c. 1994 105 aero levers off of the Trek, and found some old SPD pedals in the garage.

The plan is to commute to work this winter to spare the Gunnar and Trek the indignity of commuting in the rain, and spare me the tedium of draining water from the Gunnar’s chainstays and bottom bracket after every ride.

Impressions of the Surly Steamroller:

• The stock brake blocks are terrible.  I like brakes that work, so I’m going to swap them for some Dura Ace cartridges and pads.
• The weird/bent WTB saddle isn’t as bad as I thought it would be.
• 165mm cranks on a 56cm frame is a strage spec;  170-175mm cranks would have been more sane.
• No rear brake cable guides/stops or downtube cage mount. Really? At least the brake bridge and fork crown are drilled.

My solution for the lack of cable stops or guides:

Last weekend I helped build some new singletrack for the AMTBC Cromer 6hr Enduro, and yesterday I raced it in the solo singlespeed class on the rigid Kona 29er.  The course was well-suited for a singlespeed, though only five of the 85+ entries were in the singlespeed class.  I used a 32×20 gear, while most of the others I talked to were on taller gears.  Most of the track would have been faster with taller gearing, and I think I could have gone with a 34×20 or a 32×18/19 without too much difficulty.  On the other hand, I was quite happy with the 32×20 gearing towards the end of the race.

I was much more careful with fluids, gels and food, and as a result, my lap times were much more consistent than on the Foxy 1000.  As far as the bike went, it had no mechanical issues; no flats, no dropped chains, nothing.  The Ignitor 29×2.1″ tyres were very grippy, predictable, fast, and I’m still very happy with them.  Also, I’m beginning to see some of the benefits of hydraulic brakes.  Even after six hours, braking with the Elixir CR Carbon brakes was easy and I had none of the fatigue that the old Paul’s rim brakes, and to a lesser extent the BB7s caused.

The rigid fork was great for the first four laps/3.4 hours–  the last three laps/2.9 hours were less than comfortable.  Most of the discomfort was in my fingers and arms, and it made some of the choppy/rocky sections in the last few laps a little difficult.  On the other hand, my wrists were fine.  Could this be due to the super-cork wrist-saving Ergon grips?

In the end, I completed seven ~13.5km laps, for a total of around 94.5km in 6:13:46.  I did manage a top-five finish, but as I previously mentioned, there were only five in my class.  Even so, I’m very happy with my lap times, and will be racing in more enduros this autumn/winter.

My lap times:

Complete results: Cromer Race 1, April 3

I’ve been building up a pile of parts for the new build.  Above you see a free Surly Karate Monkey fork and some flashy cork Ergon grips I picked up in Melrose, SA.  In the next photos you’ll see a mix of parts I had in my garage and several used parts I’ve found.  Highlights include an almost new crank, very new-ish hydro brakes, $20 tires and the saddle, seat post, pedals and chain from the M2.