Got this a few months ago and have been loving it, especially the Surly Terminal bars. Was fun out of the box but definitely needed some tweaks as it's a $300 bike. Next up for an upgrade is a crankset and would love suggestions.
by earth_covers_earth
5 Comments
I have the drop bar version and love it! I put an SRAM s-300 and I am really happy with it.
Interesting, their site shows 900 for the rim brake version, and bikes direct has the disc version for 330. Seems to be a very nice frame, double butted and tapered 4130, just the frame alone seems to me was a good deal.
I would suggest resisting the possible urge to go with external bearing cranks. They Hoover up water like a vacuum cleaner, which is important if you ride in the wet. Which you might do on beer runs 🙂
There are very nice JIS square taper cartridge bottom brackets out there (for example Token). And companies like Velo Orange have nice square taper cranks.
FSA, Sugino and Suntour also have nice single square taper cranks, less pricey than the VO.
Really like this build a lot! Only thing I would change is ditching the panniers. Never did like the weight on the front wheel, though if you’re going to do some touring, it’s a necessary evil.
If I really wanted panniers on this, I’d either go black or a complimentary colour to the rest of the scheme.
As for upgrades, I don’t really think you need to do much. Probably the most obvious change would be a new saddle. Get something you really like. And then bars, if you ever get tired of those one.
Nice it’s my main ride I’m gonna change the bottom bracket to a Shimano mt501 I’ve already added a ACS paws freewheel and a Z1 chain this bike is best bang for the buck for sure 👍
This is sweet! Have you decided on ss gearing you like?