Tall and leggy riders, like me, may find the headtube tube on the short side, as is the case with many bikes on the market.
The WTB rims are tubeless-ready but the stock tyres aren’t, so you’d need to invest in some new ones if you’re setting it up tubeless. Outdoor Gear Lab. In terms of wheelset sizes and options, versatility is the name of the game.

This can be more comfortable, but it makes the bike much less aerodynamic than the Surly.You want a bike that’s versatile enough for a variety of different terrains.You want to be able to completely customize your bike and you’re pretty good with bike knowledge. This means you can fit parts you may well already own, or bits and pieces that are easy and cheap to find both new and second hand. The reason for the longer seatpost is down to the extreme slope of the top tube in order to accommodate shorter riders, which results in a much shorter seat tube, and therefore leaving more seatpost exposed.I spoke to Trevor Clayton, Surly’s ‘pusher man’ (sales dude), during this initial setup to air my concerns and he said: “We make recommendations about our general bike fit based on ‘the average person’ spanning the height ranges we chose based on our experience and survey data collected.” This was meant to be a good starting point but obviously everyone is built differently! It also has several three-pack mounts.As for Steamroller, it is a dedicated single-speed commuter bicycle. It’s a size that will work for most statures, it rolls well, and it’s easily found in many parts of the world.Surly’s unconventional choice of dropout spacing and style – on first appraisal, at least – is also designed with versatility in mind. The Surly gives you the best of both mountain bikes and road bikes: you get fast handling that you’d look for in a city bike, while achieving stability as well as comfort that you’d want in a mountain bike. $925–1149. The front end is nice and high too. The Bikepacking Journal is our printed collection of inspiring writing and beautiful photography.Spanning 160 color pages, the third issue of The Bikepacking Journal is our biggest to date and continues pushing beyond inspiring stories and photography... Cass Gilbert reflects on how slowing down and thinking about the foods he eats gives him a deeper connection to the people and places he encounters while traveling….In this feature, originally released in the Issue 02 of The Bikepacking Journal, Franzi and Jona pedal into an unknown wilderness in the high Alpes Provence...For $1,200, Surly’s Bridge Club claims inclusivity as well as versatility. Non-storks will delight at the low standover on smaller frames, making this bike well suited to shorter folk.While we’re on the top of frame sizes, aspiring bikepackers will be pleased to hear that the rigid-specific frameset translates into a framebag size that’s noticeably larger than that it would be otherwise, had the Bridge Club been designed to accommodate a suspension fork. Had this bike been available when I first started off-road touring – back when I was blissfully naive to the ‘benefits’ of spending thousands of dollars on a bike – I’d have jumped on it, no questions asked. You probably see where I am going with this- this bike is not winning any weight-weenie banter at the local bar.
However, we have also looked at alternatives in case the Cross Check does not impress you or if you need a spare bicycle. A larger size would result in the top tube being, ahem, a little too close for comfort. This takes in a lot of the terrain our small island has to offer, including pothole-riddled roads, canal towpaths, fire roads and bridleways, and some tame singletrack. Available at Bike Attack Santa Monica, Playa Vista, Culver City, Los Angeles. The Ice Cream Truck is as solid as your PE coach, yet flexible and nimble like your French teacher. For hilly Bristol (and particularly the steep area I live in), this is actually a really nice setup and there’s a pretty versatile range of gears that should suit most types of riding.

It is ideal for winter commuters and minimalist commuters. In practice, however, the tire profiles looked and felt good. As for running quick release wheels rather than thru axles on a dirt road touring bike, I have no issues there. Surly Wednesday review. The bike’s fork crown has mounts for Surly’s excellent 8-Pack Rack, to which I zip-tied a Wald 139 basket most of the time. It will, however, run a 135mm Rohloff Speedhub with a Monkeybone and a chain tensioner, thanks to a mount for an OEM 2 axle plate and dedicated cable routing.

This monster of a machine is a plus-size tyre touring bike built for dirt roads and is dotted with barnacles ready for racks, mudguards, anything cages and just about everything else you can get away with strapping to it.As for the Bridge Club? Go with a set of 700c wheels and a triple chainset.Within the Surly touring line, the Bridge Club sits at the entry level, though this doesn’t mean it comes with an entry-level price tag.

Depending on the particular brand and model, I expect a 2.6″ tire would be about the bike’s sweet spot. Sure, I’d like to have seen tubeless ready tires and sealed bearing hubs to complement the stock wheels. This shorter length produces more aerodynamics in the bike, but again it’s a really small difference.The Diamondback bike has a frame made out of carbon fiber.

I’d argue that most people likely to buy a budget-priced bike may not be so astute. Fit a 1x drivetrain, on the other hand, and you’re likely to experience the chain rubbing the tire in the lowest gear, collecting mud and muck in the process, which is where the Boost spacing comes into play. Our test bike is a 56cm (22in) with a horizontal top tube length of 58cm. But these are minor complaints and when I'm on the bike enjoying the ride it's all good. Features

Although my test bike came with a Truvativ crankset that uses an ISIS splined bottom bracket, the stock version is listed with a 118mm square taper model from FSA, offering a similar, wide-tire-friendly chainline to Boost, albeit on the cheap. The rest of the frame is similarly (and reassuringly) ‘low tech’, like the threaded bottom bracket and 27.2mm seat post diameter. There’s a size for all cyclists between 150cm through to 200cm.– 26″ …