What Makes a Surly a Surly?

I love my Pacer, and I’ve got to say it’s by far our most overlooked bike.  It’s funny cuz, I couldn’t imagine myself on any other “road” bike.

Which I get is what I’m “supposed” to say, but I rarely do anything cuz I’m “supposed to”

I never wash my hands after I pee, especially if there’s a sign that says I’m supposed to.

At any rate, the Pacer

I find myself thinking a lot about this bike, and why it is that most folks tend to look the other way when they see one.  I supposed there’s the obvious, it’s steel, heavy, pipe-metal (only one of which I think of as true)(as a big fat dude, there are not a lot of bikes I think of as heavy), but what lies underneath.

It’s the bike that I feel like most people need (if they want a “road” bike).  Most of those bikes I’ve ridden kinda beat the living crap out of me. Sore elbows and hips and knees and wrists and (sure I might be the problem), but when I’m on a Pacer, the steel softens the ride (and the GAINT 700 x 35 tires don’t hurt either).  It’s also fast as hell, and an awesome climber.

My title is: “What makes a Surly a Surly?” And I what I’m getting at (aside from steel, everybody knows a Surly is steel) is that it has a lot to do with tires.

Fatties Fit Fine

What other road bike can you get 700x35s on? They are few and far between.

And the Pacer isn’t a gravel bike (though that’s one of the many things I use mine for) and it’s not Cross Bike (again though, look at those tires).

It’s a road bike. It’s got that geometry. It’s an all day riding road bike. It’s not a racer (though if you check the image dump page you’ll find a lot of them built that way), but it’s still plenty fast, it’s a bike for riding and riding and riding and riding.

It’s also for riding.