Surly Straggler Build *1/23 Update*

Back in September I went to the Cottage Grove Bike Park and put down the winning bid on a certificate for a Surly frame.

I started looking at what they had online and there was nothing that fit exactly what I was looking for so I thought I might just get the Pacer and use it for riding around town.

Then I saw this Straggler bike pop up on the Surly website. It met my 3 criteria:

1. Road bikish.
2. Horizontal dropouts
3. Disc brake compatible

Believe it or not this is a very difficult combo to find.

Stock image

So I emailed the Surly and got in touch with Tyler and let him know what size I wanted. From there the frame got delayed (for everyone) and things took longer than expected (It happens).

yesterday I got an email from Tyler that they would be sending me the frame. I jumped online and started ordering the bits and pieces that I would need to complete the bike and have it rolling. At present time I think all I need it a headset and to get the front wheel I have at home trued.

I'm going to post pictures of the frame, parts, and the build process as this will be the first bike that I have put together from start to finish and will post updates in this blog. I'll try and change the title when I add things, I'm not quite sure how it all works out yet.

Hopefully the bike arrives soon and I can get working on it.

***11/30 Update***

Got in the remainder if the parts that I think I will need. Now just waiting for the frame. 

I was at One on One today and saw a complete build in person. I don't care for the glitter dreams color and with black components the bike didn't look that great to me. 

What did look great was this bike, as well as the price tag ($1550) however, no disc brakes and lower level components had me over it quickly. Still a great looking bike though. 

***12/13 Update***

I had to send another email to Surly to see if the bike had shipped or what was going on and it seems like it got forgotten in the basement. Irregardless, less than 24 hours later the Straggler was delivered to my front door. 

I opened it up and found this beauty waiting inside:

Shortly after opening it I had to get Cooper to hockey at West Side Arena, so after I dropped him off I went over to the Lowertown Bike Shop to have the headset installed. This is a volunteer shop and the guy working when I got there said he had never installed one before and that it would be a few days before someone could get to it. I'm not gonna lie, I'm nervous about the bike sitting there for a few days. It's nice to support places like this, but when it takes a while and there are volunteers going in and out of the store who knows what could happen to it. I might go pick it up after work and bring it somewhere else...

I almost forgot. I got a steal of a deal on ebay the other day. I picked up this lightly used carbon crankset and bottom bracket for $61.00. I'm sticking with the single speed build for this bike so I am going to ditch the current rings and get a new 48t to go on it. 

***12/31 Lame Update***

There has not been much going on towards the actual building up of the bike. I got the headset pressed in and then dropped off my front wheel for truing. They called me back and said that they were unable to get it true since it was so far out of whack. So I went online and got a decent set of 29er wheels for $125, about the same cost as getting a new rim, spoke, and having it built up. The one catch is that the front wheel is for a thru axle so I will have to buy an adapter for $21.

I am putting a carbon fork on the bike rather than the heavy steel one. The problem with that is it says "Bianchi" in large white letters on both sides. After inspecting it I could see that it is a sticker that is under clear coat. So I messaged a guy I know from high school because he works at an auto paint shop. He told be that he can strip, prime, and paint is for a bottle of Jameson. Done deal. I should be getting that back soon.

The only thing left that I think I need to buy is a single speed chain ring. The cranks have a 130 BCD so I will probably get a 48t. 48x16 is good for around town and 48x20 maybe if I ride some gravel, Maybe buy a 22t as well since it is cheaper than buying another chainring.

That is about it for now. Hopefully the next post will include a functioning bike.


***1/10 Update***

Almost a month into the build and it is almost complete. The new wheels are in and the 15mm through axles appears to be working great. I taped up the left bar, but still have to do the right. I thought that I would be good at it since I've probably taped a hockey stick 1000 times, but I wasn't the best. The wrap was always even and looked good, however I kept running out of tape. 4th times and charm and it looks good. I kind of messed up the ending though. Hopefully the second one goes better.

I also installed the brake cables. Not much to say about that.

For my birthday I got a new Surly 44t chainring. It is in the mail so that should be installed early next week. I think that the 44t will be more versatile than the 48t and I won't have to ever change it.

I also have a pair of bolt on skewers in the mail. I think that they make for a cleaner look than QR's.

I got the fork back from the paint shop, and it looks great. I think that it will really shine in the sun. In the picture it looks like an exact match, but if you look close there are some blue and silver flakes.

The stem is a little long so I will have to get that cut and have the star nut re-positioned.

I promise the next post will be a complete build...

By the way, the frame bag that Troy made for my San Jose Pro fits the Straggler nicely.

***1/23 Update***

The build is complete! Got all the parts together finally. Had to get the steer tube cut and install the new chainring. 

Deer Hunting 2013

This past weekend was the annual deer hunting trip. The weather was looking OK and I was excited for a day off of work and getting out in the woods.

We got up to the farm around 10:30 on Friday morning and I started putting together my Dad's new stand. After about a hour it was complete and we were hauling it down to the river.

Ready to go up

The stand went up pretty quickly and we were heading back to the house to get the other stands.

We drove over to the other side of the property to set up the two other stands and came across a bald eagle, falcon, and two ravens sitting on the side of the road staring down a flock of about 20 turkeys. I'm not sure how it all turned out.

After the stands were set up we went back to the house to get my gargantuan stand. It has a nice seat that can swivel 360 degrees and is very comfortable. This required 4 people to set up. So we had to wait for Roger and Matt to help us stand it up. 

Saturday morning we got out of the house a little later than  I would have liked, but oh well, I should have set my alarm. As I was walking to my stand I stirred up 2 does that were walking at the edge of the field, then as I was walking through the woods I scared up 2 more. 4 deer before I even got in the stand. I thought that I may have scared them all away for the rest of the weekend. Nope.

I got in the stand and took the strap off of my gun and sat down. Then a nice 6 point buck came strolling through. I quickly put the bullets in the gun and took aim. The deer was looking right at my and when I fired he hit the ground immediately and started flopping around like a fish. He then attempted to get back up but fell over again and didn't move. I sat thee for a second and made sure that I had clicked the safety back on when all of a sudden the deer got up and casually walked away. It all happened so fast I didn't know what to do. By the time I got my gun up he was out of sight. I got out of my stand and proceeded to look for him for the next two hours. Having not found him I returned to my stand to sulk. I say a few more does, but nothing worth shooting. 

When I went in for lunch Matt had shot a deer and thought that it may have an extra bullet hole in it. Matt's stand is a good 1/2 mile from me and I thought there was no way the deer would make it that far, especially after crossing the river. I went to take a look at it and sure enough it was the deer that I had shot earlier. It had a hole just to the right of his windpipe and the bullet exited the back of his neck just above the shoulder.I couldn't believe it. One inch to the left and his windpipe is gone. Slightly steeper angle and his shoulder is toast. As it was, it was a flesh wound. Such is life.

My view for  the weekend

Saw this when I was walking around the woods

Saturday afternoon I saw maybe 6 more does. This seems to be the case every year. I see way more deer than anyone else, but bucks seem to not like the area. At about 4:30 I heard some shot from my Dad's stand. He shot this guy (pictured below) just before dark. I walked over to check it out while he went to get the 4 wheeler. Not the biggest deer ever shot, but it tastes good.

Sunday morning I got up a little earlier to try and give myself a little more time in the stand before the sun started coming up. I started seeing a few does here and there and could make out a few deer across the river but they were too far away for me to identify or shoot.

We ended up going 3 for 4. Nothing monstrous, but a nice haul.

Maybe next year will be my year.