I'm feeling Surly today

My Surly Long Haul Trucker was ready to pick up from Rasmussen's last Thursday. Due to the lovely spring mix of rain, sleet and snow that was blanketing the fair city of Dead Moans, I decided to return on Friday to pick it up. I have used it as my commuting bike the last two days. I also managed to take a nice hour and a half ride on it. My impressions about it so far are positive. Surly really hit the nail on the head when naming this particular bike. You sit high, just like you would in a truck. You get a chance to look around at your surroundings a bit more rather than concentrating on the wheel or the pavement directly in front of you. javascript:void(0)

The bike has a pace and momentum that is all its own. It feels slower to accelerate than any of my other bikes, including the Karate Monkey. Once you get it moving the bike automatically settles into what I consider "the right pace". This pace is not too fast, nor too slow. It's a pace that really makes you think that the time you arrive at your destination will be the right time, no matter what the clock might say. It's also a pace that doesn't want to make you dive into corners aggressively either. Once the bike has the racks on and loaded, or I have the Bob trailer (which my wife told me to order) attached and loaded down, the gearing is going to be about right.

The Brooks saddle and bar tape were two things I changed out from the stock bike. I really like how the honey Brooks B17 looks on the bike, and the extra expense of the Brooks bar tape was worth it to make the bike look complete. The Brooks will take a bit of adjustment to get so it feels good. Everyone complains about how hard the Brooks saddles are, and after my ride yesterday, I can understand it to some extent. However, I also know that issues were related to my position on the saddle, rather than something about the saddle itself. I moved the saddle forward a small amount before this mornings commute, and I hardly noticed it was there. I'll put a few more miles on this weekend and see how it feels. I ordered some nice wide metal fenders from Velo Orange earlier in the week. They should be here on Friday. Having commuted without them in the light snow on Tuesday, I'm anxious to get them installed. They definitely keep the bike cleaner, and my feet drier.