While I’m suffering from mild sunburn after spending a weekend on the beach, I’m mindful to remain grateful—in Wisconsin, there’s snow and zero-degree temperatures. This means little riding, but here’s the perfect vehicle to tackle the local trails once the snow begins to melt.
Mark built himself a Surly frame with a Niner fork and, rather than remaining constrained by a single speed configuration, applied a front derailleur to achieve a dual speed setup.
Mark’s original intention was to create a hybrid townie and cross bike, and was successfully ridden as such for a while. Eventually, the call of the wild was answered and the Surly evolved into the dual-speed arrangement you see here.
After much tinkering and tweaking, a derailleur was sourced that could handle the jump between the 32 and 22-tooth chainrings.
An 18-tooth sprocket on the rear provides Mark’s ideal ratio: 32/18 for cruising, 22/18 for climbing.
A Paul Components Thumbie restores the thumb action shifting, while a Melvin provides the necessary tension.
Mark splurged on the Hadley hubs but assures us they’re worth every penny as they’re the smoothest rolling hubs he’s ever experienced.
