Another New Bike (Sort of)

Last spring and summer I did a lot of thinking about how many bikes I own and whether I need to own as many as I do. So I wrote up a matrix of bikes (which will be the subject of another post) and decided that the slot currently occupied by my old garage sale winter beater could be filled by something better and more versatile.

So I looked at what was available and settled on getting a Surly Ogre, with the idea of building it up with parts I already had. Surly had begun ED coating a number of their offerings in 2012, so I emailed to ask whether the Ogre was ED coated, and ended up getting one of the first ED Ogre framesets to arrive in the states.

I also decided to give singlespeeding a try, since maintaining a derailleur drivetrain in the winter can be quite a chore. Because conditions can vary widely, I came up with the idea of creating a dual-singlespeed with two rings on the crankset and two cogs on the cassette body.

So this is what I came up with:

• Ogre frameset, size Large, tan

• Front wheel: Shimano DH-3D71 dynohub with 160mm Centerlock rotor, laced to a 32h Sun CR-18 rim with butted spokes. Handbuilt by my LBS.
• Rear wheel: unknown Shimano 6-bolt disk hub with 160mm rotor laced to an Alex rim. This one was a gift from my neighbor, who took it off some Specialized hybrid.
• Tires: Schwalbe Marathon Winter

• Crankset: Suntour XC Pro square taper 36/34t on a Shimano BB-UN-72 bottom bracket.
• Cogs: 17/19 Shimano 9-speed cassette pair for the moment, will replace with Surly when I decide on a final gear combination.
• Chain: from the parts bin.

• Headset: FSA Pig
• Stem: generic takeoff from a Kona
• Handlebars: Nitto Albatross CroMo 560mm

• Seatpost: Easton alloy 2-bolt (taken off my GT Peace)
• Saddle: Bontrager RLX 146mm

• Brakes: Coda-badged DiaCompe SS-7 levers pulling Avid BB-5 road calipers (the latter suck and will likely be replaced with TRP Spyres)

• Lighting: first-generation Schmidt Edelux headlight with B&M DToplight XS Plus taillight
• Fenders: Planet Bike Cascadia 29er (purchased new and worth every penny)
• Rack: Bontrager BackRack S Disc, gifted from a different neighbor.

That's the current build. My other wheel options include:

• current wheels with Clement MSOs or really any 29" tire I have around.
• Speed Disk wheels with Clement MSO 40s, Big Apple 2.35s or Nokian Extremes
• 26er XT/Rhino wheels with Freddies or Vredstien Black Panthers

I also have an Alfine dynohub and a Salsa Delgado that might become yet another front wheel.

The most unusual feature is a second stem and a bit of 1" aluminum tube from the hardware store to make an accessory mount for lights, etc. A 1" star nut holds the Edulux.



Rides really well so far. Can't wait to see how it does over time.