far cry

i got a wild hair. being in a position where i need to shrink my stable of bikes i decided to try something different. i have been riding the surly per it's design, minus brakes and coasting. it is a perfect 26" wheeled machine.

i had a pair of weinmann 700c track wheels from a khs flite and decided to mock them up on the surly. since brakes aren't a problem i was more concerned with fit, tire size, gearing, etc.

being that surly is surly - everything fit. i was really happy this morning when everything came together and, aside from the wonky chainline due to the 135/120 difference, everything looked on the up & up.

once i arrived at our trails i figured i would ride pate trail, since it starts closest to the parking area and if any adjustments are required it returns you close to the parking area also. the trail is just around 2 miles. i rode that entire trail at 40psi, which ended up being fine for the front, but way too low for the rear; before i could get back to the 'napper van to make adjustments to my air pressure the lockring stripped off of the hub!!! this was mechanic installed and then this morning doubly tightened to make sure the lower gearing/higher torque "wouldn't" be an issue. regardless.

what is the point??? well, don't expect cheap formula hubs to stand up against off-road use. also, you can convert your 26" 1x1 into a 700c machine if you're running fixed with no brakes or if you're running discs. also, don't run cheap crap off-road - there is no replacement for quality stuff. i have been riding a surly fixed hub for a long time and it does nothing other than work. phil makes a new iso bolt on fixed hub, which is probably really nice, but equally as expensive.