The Surly Steamroller suddenly made a comeback.
I honestly thought it would’ve been better if it never came back, making it a legendary frame. That’s just a contrarian opinion I’m having now that it’s made a comeback.
They now even have cable guides on the top tube…
The Steamroller is a very special bike to me, so this review may be a very opinionated one.
I Started riding track bikes with a keirin bike, which I broke for not treating it nicely. Then I got the Steamroller, which I also broke. After that, I picked up the Brooklyn Machine Works Gangsta, then got the Fairweather Track, which felt weird to me.
I got myself another Steamroller, then tried the All-City Big Block. And then I ordered myself an Indy Fab frame, that perfectly fits my body, then eventually got a Mash Steel since I wanted to reminisce the old days. Finally, I got the T.I.E which is the frame I designed myself.
One thing I’d like to say is that the Steamroller has something special that I couldn’t experience from all the models listed above.
“Something special” is a very vague word, but I used the expression since there’s a lot complex elements to this feeling I feel on this bike, such as the balance of the angles, lengths, and strength of the tubes that make up the frame is what defines a bicycle, and the Steamroller had a one-of-a-kind combination of these elements, and I suspect that hasn’t changed to this day.
In fact, I think its design was so unique among fixed-gear frames from the moment it was released that there simply isn’t anything else like it.
The founder of Surly talked about that in this video,
And this explanation of the frame by our staff Supply is very accurate, it goes;
“If you know a lot about bikes, you may notice that the geometry of this frame is closer to a road bike, rather than a typical track frame. This goes the same with how it rides.
This may depend on how you build the bike, but I feel like the Steamroller is a very average bike. It doesn’t have an outstanding features that boost performance or anything, but it’s really easy to ride. It feels nice and comfy, as it should on a steel frame.
It’s a single speed frame, so you may want to ride it with fixed gear, but I would recommend riding this bike with freewheels.
It doesn’t have a lot of braze ons and eyelets like other Surlys. You might able to put racks & fenders if you put in the work, so I encourage you to try it. You could even do some wacky experiments with it, if you really want to.
Just give it a try🔥”
Yes, it’s just an “average single speed frame that is super durable”. There’s no accurate explanation than this, in my opinion and I think that this is what is special about the Steamroller. It made us very sad when we first heard that they would be discontinued.
We were just wishing for them to continue making this simple and primitive bike, no matter how the world moves on.
I imagine a lot of riders around the world had the same thoughts, and it makes me happy that Surly had made the decision as a result. I guess I am stoked about the comeback after all. I’m thinking of riding my Steamroller with 700C wheels to feel the authentic Steamroller feel, soon.
One more thing I’d like to say…
The tire clearance for this batch is a bit smaller than the previous batches.
Back when I took on that 650b wheel conversion experiment and was convinced it would work, the selection of tires and rims became much more limited with this revived frame. That’s an undeniable fact.
Let’s go back to basics and build it with 700c wheels, but if you’re the kind of contrarian who won’t listen to reason, give it a try.
I think the combination of this and this might work for 650B conversion. The BB would become super low when mounting tires thinner than 47B, so I advise you not to do that.
