Da BOMBer!

Red for speed...

When suspension forks started becoming popular reliability wasn’t great. Blown up oil dampening cartridges were a regular affair and it really made you love/hate your forks. The Marzocchi Bombers were the first forks I owned that were, well – bombproof. Their open oil bath coil spring design meant they needed very little maintenance and didn’t fail nearly as often as the stuff by other companies like R*** S***. I had two different flavours of Bomber forks on my MTBs back in the late 90′s and they left me smiling. Eventually the lightweight of air springs took over and these forks became obsolete. I never had a good experience on modern Marzocchi products and pretty much have ignored them since my Bomber days.

I can't wait to drop a Bomb or 2...

As I built up my Surly 1×1 MTB recently I pondered the idea of adding some front suspension to it. I’m no stranger to riding rigid MTBs. I pounded stiff framed fat tire rigs up and down the trail for the better part of a decade. Having said that I am not a luddite. Suspension is popular for a reason – it lets you ride faster, with more control and better comfort. Checking the specs of my 1×1 I found it is suspension corrected for an 80mm travel fork which is really short travel these days for a 26″ wheeled MTB. I regretted not keeping any of my old forks around and figured I’d troll EBay and the LBS to see if someone had a decent old skool fork I could have cheap.

This was my only bike for many years...

Then it occurred to me that I overhauled a Santa Cruz Heckler for my buddy Sean and pulled an old Bomber from it. I couldn’t remember if I had kept it or passed it on at the time. So I went hunting in the garage. I was really happy to find it leaning against the wall in a dusty corner of the garage. A quick inspection revealed a well used, but seemingly still serviceable 75mm-80mm fork with disc brake tabs as well as v-brake posts. Score!

7" of steerer tube is enough for the 1x1...

I’m going to ride the 1×1 rigid for the next while until I head to Baja for X’mas. That will give me an opportunity to experience the 1×1 the way Surly intended it to ride. While I am doing that I’ll see if I can find someone who can service the Bomber for me. In the new year I’ll install the Marzocchi on the 1×1 and ride it as a hardtail for a spell. I’m guessing I’ll like it better with some squish up front, but there’s no way to know without trying.

Surly Black Ops 1×1 Mountain Bike…

It's rigid and black and beautiful...=-)

Riding with Scott and Aaron on their hardtail MTBs has shown me that my XL sized Santa Cruz Nomad isn’t the best weapon for tight twisty singletrack where the speed never climbs to warp levels. I love my Nomad and won’t be getting rid of her until she dies of natural causes, but I wanted to try something more nimble that better suits the realities of mountain biking in the Forests of Endor.

Shimano XT + Mavic XC717 front wheel...

Thing is I didn’t have any desire to buy a new MTB so I looked around the garage and decided I’d try franken-building something. I stole the front wheel from my Surly Big Dummy as I had a dynohub wheel I had planned to install anyways.

160mm disc up front...

Avid 160mm disc rotor from the Big Dummy. Shimano SLX hydraulic brake that I bought for my CETMA cargo bike, but never installed. I was going to use it on my Pugsley, but stuck with the tried and true Avid BB7s on the fatty. So that freed them up for this build.

Jonny Tomac pro-model rubber!

Kenda 2.35″ Nevegal with stick-E rubber compound to get some traction in the slick forest.

Lots of room in there...

If this experiment proves successful I’ll be looking for wider rubber to add some float to this rigid frame…something between 2.5″-3.0″

38T x 16T...

The Shimano Deore BB/crank from the fixie build lives on with a Thorn 38T chainring. I may go lower in terms of my gearing, but I had the 38T ring so we’ll start there and stay legal!…=-)

IGH bling...

Of course having a spare disc ready Rohloff IGH built up into a nice Velocity Aeroheat wheel from the CETMA was the critical element in the whole plan. I had a spare Rohloff disc rotor so I was golden. Note the Surly Tugnut to keep the wheel from sliding in the horizontal dropouts due to my massively powerful chicken legs. No need for a chain tensioner on the 1×1.

Slick Rohloff setup...

I used a Monkey Bone disc adapter & Rohloff OEM2 axle plate to keep the IGH from spinning. 160mm Rohloff rotor and external gear mechanism is normal fare for a mountain bike. I used a Nashbar allen bolt semi-QR skewer so I could tighten the wheel up better than a QR. We’ll see how this works.

Where did I go?

I see some night winter MTBing in my future so I left one light on the 1×1.

Right hand control setup...

I had a previously hacked set of Ergon Grips I threw on the bike with some rubber bar ends and the SLX levers. I managed to cable the Rohloff backwards so gear #1 is the hardest and gear #14 is the easiest. Since it works fine I’ll just use it like that.

Time to break you in!

I kept the very very very hard narrow Brooks B17 saddle from the fixed 1×1 build. I figure I’ll break it in MTBing or die trying…=-)

Black is back...

You’ll notice in the top photo I’ve added a rear clip on fender to the downtube mounted splash guard. This should keep the Brooks from self-destructing and keep my back from sporting the brown MTB strip of shame.

My plan going forward is:

• ride the 1×1 rigid and see what I think
• consider a short travel suspension fork if I can find one that’s reasonably priced [EBay?]
• try some wider rubber
• try some lower gearing

Is that all the rubber you got?

If I’m happy I’ll keep tweaking and riding her. If it’s not a fun setup I’ll probably strip her down and return the parts to the spares bin.

You might be thinking what about the Pugsley as a rigid MTB? I’ll be testing out the fatty this winter as well. I’ll end up using whichever one makes me smile the most.

This was what the 1x1 looked like when started the MTB build...

Surly 1×1 Frame for sale…

Black and white...

I’m selling my Surly 1×1 frame/fork with headset installed for $300.00. I’ve come to the conclusion I need the next size up in frames. The frame is in excellent condition. It’s been stored inside and seen only short distance rides around town. I’m open to selling the whole bike as it’s a pretty slick unit. I get tons of compliments and always end up stopping to chat with folks on every ride. If you are interested in the complete rig drop me a line and we’ll talk price.

Back end...

My review of this bike is here.

My MK2 upgrades are discussed here.

My Flickr photos are here.

Front end...

If you are not familiar with the Surly 1×1 here are some quick facts:

• steel frame
• disc and rim brake posts
• horizontal dropouts for fixed gear/sing speed or IGH use
• no derailleur hanger
• makes a great rigid MTB, commuter or expedition touring bike
• room for fat 26″ x 2.5″+ rubber
• can run 700C wheels with narrower rubber [28-35mm] and disc brakes
• very versatile

Surly 1×1 Moment…

...loving the fixed gear.

How many bikes do I have?

Surly 1x1

Santa Cruz Nomad

Surly Pugsley

Bike Friday New World Tourist

Surly Big Dummy...

Bike Friday Tikit...

Surly Long Haul Trucker...

Click on any photo to see more images of that bike…

Spring is here…

The leaves are green and the sunny is shining...

and it's snowing...welcome to Alberta in late May!...

Beer there done that…

Surly 1x1 street art ride...

I always thought the bike component beer openers were useless poser gimmicks – until today!

Surly Tug Nut to the rescue...

My friend James’ art.

My friend Dela’s mix.

I’m glad it’s spring…=-)

Surly 1×1 Fixed Gear Mk2

My Surly 1x1 fixed gear Mk2...

I’ve been posting about a Surly 1×1 build over on my Bow Cycle blog.  You can see the Mk1 version below and the new Mk2 version above.

Mk1 version of the build...

My initial goal was to use mostly parts that I had in my spares bin.  Once I had tested out the fixed gear concept for several weeks and liked it a lot.  I was willing to invest some $$$ as there were a few things I wanted to change.  I should note that I sold a frame and carried the money over to my LBS to pay for these upgrades.  The total was exactly the cash I had in my pocket from the frame sale, to the penny, so clearly the Universe is stoked about this bike!….=-)

Velocity B43 rims...deep and delicious!

The biggest change was getting the wheels [kept the previous hubs] relaced to Velocity B43 deep V rims.  This is partially functional in that the BB is a lot higher so I can corner much more aggressively.  And partially aesthetics – the bigger wheels with skinny rubber fills up the frame a lot nicer than the 26″ wheels did leaving enough room for some fenders.

Triple PB Superflash for mega visibility in all weather conditions...

I also added:

• All City pedals
• 2 more Planet Bike Superflash red blinkies [total of 3!]
• ground off a tab on the Surly Tug Nut chain tensioner so I can access the drive side rear fender mount.
• Planet Bike fenders

Ground down Tug Nut so I could mount fenders...

I do have a few Mk2.1 upgrades still planned:

• toe clips and straps
• higher quality 32mm tires

Front end...

I’m finding that the bigger wheels and resulting bigger gear take a bit more effort to spin up to speed, but once I’m there the bike wants to cruise like a steamroller.  With a higher BB and heavier wheels the bike isn’t quite as nimble as the previous version, but having a ton of cornering clearance is well worth the trade off when you cannot stop pedaling and need to lean the bike over.

Mec grips...

I must admit the white MEC grips are pretty, but not as comfortable as the Ergon Grips they replaced.  It’s only a matter of time before I swap the Ergons back in.  I’m running 28mm Continental Ultra Sport tires which are a good value at $24 each, but I would like something a bit more supple and a bit wider.  I’m in no rush, but when I come across some nice 32mm tires I’ll swap ‘em in.

Back end...