ICT rotting out (or ANY other ferrous frame), I can almost guarantee it was used on the road, with all the salt and fracking brine that comes with that territory.
That said, agreed, Surly hasn't had a good idea (or any, frankly) since Sov left, but "hey, look, we offer the Preamble in drop and flat bar configs, aren't we clever?"
Yawn, another hybrid, err, Garvel, errr, CX, errr, skinny MTB with smoother tires, and everything old is new again.
The industry writ large, got burned by not being the first to offer, 29, then Fat (i'll ignore 650B since most folks were never that excited about 'em anyway), and have spent the last decade licking their wounds, waiting, or actively trying to produce the next big thing so they can print money like they used to.
But mid sized independent shops are being run out of town, major brands are selling direct to consumer (in direct competition with their own dealership network, regardless of the sunny partnership crap they spin), and what we're seeing is all this crap coming home to roost (plus residual pandemic issues).
The industry as we knew it, is gone. Creatives within it (which used to be the drivers of most innovation) are gone.
What's left, is an industry trying to figure out how to monetize a bike boom that lasted two years, since the future otherwise, is the resumption of the decline in interest we've been seeing for the last 15+ years.
But hey, new bikes are $15K, a beginner MTB that you'd actually ride in the woods, is north of a grand, and below that, just shop at your local big box store. So we've got that going for us, right?
As for QBP/Surly et al?
When Steve Flagg stepped down and handed over the reins to some Dial Soap salesman in a suit, everything went to hell in a handcart, and quickly.
Talent ran for the hills. The human touch they used to have, is gone. CS agents who would go above and beyond, are now few and far between. Innovation in their house brands, hit a wall. Brands that were cool, and perhaps quirky, were dropped. Everything coming in, brand wise, is huge corporate crap. Colors, choices, sizes, styles, all have been massaged to the minimum needed to say they offer a "range of products".
The new management at Q, has ruined the company.
But hey, their Diversity portrayal is doing well, lots of POC and women with piercings and ink are now commonly shown in the pics on their site. Nothing against that, obviously, but it's one more sign that management is paying attention to the bigger picture, while the smaller details that actually made them a decent company, get snipped and trimmed into oblivion.....
It's sad that the only positive thing they've accomplished is showing that there are more folks that ride, than white dudes and their occasional girlfriend.
