My project: Surly

Surly disc trucker

I promised myself to publish a post depicting time when my companion  was "born" out of carton.  My previous  bike,  Gary Fisher mtam* was a 29er, a mountain bike build on an aluminium  frame.  On New year's day while cleaning my machine I had discovered worring  signs of metal fatigue. I spotted 4 different cracks,  hair size by the head tube on welding lines.  This wasn't  a laughing matter and instantly I had reached a conclusion.  New frame is need it! From the beginning I planned to salvage some of the parts as they were recently fitted.  It was then when,  an idea of having my bike self-build,  according to my specification.

For this trip decided to opt for a touring frame,  preferably  a steel.  Then I came along Surly's frames available online,  ideal solution for my project.  Though for my height, only 26"wheel frame was a right move.  

Then next,  wheels - I wanted to build my own set, therefore I would learned principles of wheel truing while on the road.  Then some serious calculations what length do I need.  Rims where the same only dimensions of hubs changed slightly length of spokes. As a result, in total four lengths of spokes been used.  Regarding  spokes all of them made by DT Swiss,  Interestingly those used as rear wheel ones were triple swagged and slightly reinforced than the front ones for an obvious reason. 

Brakes,  well as the expected terrain to be hilly and shear weight of Surly and loaded gear I opted for disc brakes. Mechanical ones made by Avid like, model BB7 are  well tested examples. 

Tires,  Schwalbe with huge range,  starting with Marathon sets an excellent benchmark for a touring tire. Though I have tried Continental Top Contact which was too heavy.  Hence my choice,  foldable Schwalbe Dureme. 

Miscellaneous items would be Tubus  racks, SKS mudguards and last but least awesome Brooks saddle.