Meet Tank

The new mountain commuter, Tank. A Surly Cross-check 56cm frame/fork with a Brooks B17 standard saddle, On-One Mungo Mustache bars and bar end 8 speed shifters, Panaracer Fire Cross 700 x 45mm tires, and overly beefy wheels (three year old XT mtn hubs and Salsa Delgado cyclocross rims), and a mix of old crapped out components all of which I pieced together from my years of caching components. Thanks to friends in high places, I was able to build it for less than $500 (including frame and fork)!

The Shimano XTR 950 cranks from circa 1995 I got when racing for Moots are still sweet. The tires, as you can see above, don't roll all that fast but are true mountain commuter tires - I can ride most any trail and cruise the dirt roads in style. They're the largest that can fit in this frame at about 1.7's and that's all it needs. I can barely get the wheels out actually with the long canti brake pads so that is a must fix.

I've been wanting to make this bike for a long time. Ever since reading Grant at Rivendell and wanting an All-Rounder or Atlantis but never being able to afford the tall price tag, I feel that now i have a good trade off for that kind of bike. It has fender and pannier eyelets all year commuting and touring - it's a true all-rounder. Someday, yes, maybe for my 50th birthday I will be willing and able to splurge for a Rivendell, but for now this bike will do just fine. I'll likely ride this more than any other bike since most of the rides i do are commutes to work these days. It rides like a "mountain cross bike." It's not light at 26 lbs with everything on it but who cares, it's not a race bike, it's meant to be a tank to take me through rain and snow and whatever else Mother Nature throws at us. I can say this though...in the first two hours my butt was questioning my choice of saddle. But i figure, Brooks has been making and selling saddles to the world since 1866...so they must have something there! I'll post updates on how it's breaking in and after what hour it feels 'broken in'. Right now, it's super slippery from the leather treatment, and hard as a rock.