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Surly Straggler

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#2,442 ·
hamsterspam said:
vik what kind of red flashy light is that and how did you mount it? i have a gino light mount on the back of my straggler and that seems to work but it would be nice to find a light that would strap straight to the stays...
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Image


Planet Bike Superflash. Works great. I like it low as thieves don't seem to like bending over to grab a light and when riding with my buddies the light is less irritating down there.

The flash mode is a horribly annoying strobe so I mostly use it in solid mode.

The light mounted to the Straggler in the image above that you commented on was actually a PB Blinky 7. It's a nicer light for most uses and the flash mode is reasonable so I'll actually use it.

Blinky 7
 
#2,443 ·
never hurts to be seen,or at least attempt to be seen...

seeing your bike is making me remember just what an awesome ss a straggler makes...im really digging the whole brifter thing though,messing around with getting road bars and mountain components to work together was getting annoying...
 
#2,444 ·
hamsterspam said:
never hurts to be seen,or at least attempt to be seen...
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The problem these days is LEDs are so cheap and powerful it's totally possible to have so much light [particularly strobes] firing out of your bike that it's counter productive to being safe.

I drive, bike and walk around town. I've been pretty much blinded and stunned doing all three by riders who either are totally clueless about their lights or don't give a $hit about anyone else on the road/MUP.

It would be like deciding to drive around with high beams on all the time in a car because that's "safer". It's anti-social and blinding other road users isn't actually safer since they have trouble seeing for a few seconds after encountering you.

When driving the thing that I see from the furthest out that immediately says bike to my brain is the really reflective material on vests, jackets and pants. Especially pants or those ankle bands as they have the regular movement from the legs. As a plus those items are cheap and don't ever run out of power. :thumbsup:
 
#2,446 ·
Tubus makes some of the lightest and most minimalist front racks of anyone. I have used my for commuting, groceries, and touring and it's awesome. When you order, let them know what kind of bike you have and they will provide the correct hardware to fit it exactly right. Thus far, I think both front and rear racks have their own pros and cons. I like the low center of gravity of the Lowrider on the road, but I tend to use my rear rack when going off-road to make lifting the front end over bumps and obstacles easier. However, it is kinda interesting being have the front wheel weighted down when going up steep dirt where your front wheel might otherwise lift up off the ground.

Tubus Duo Lowrider Front Rack ? TheTouringStore.com
 
#2,447 ·
hamsterspam said:
never hurts to be seen,or at least attempt to be seen...
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Here in Portland the use of seizure inducing flashing lights is out of control. People run them day or night, on bike paths. It's totally annoying to be caught behind one. Furthermore, I wonder if the blinking lights aren't more dangerous in terms of attracting drunk or impaired drivers like a moth to a flame. Unfortunately, in this case, it's the moth that would likely win, not the flame.
 
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#2,448 ·
dfltroll said:
Here in Portland the use of seizure inducing flashing lights is out of control. People run them day or night, on bike paths. It's totally annoying to be caught behind one. Furthermore, I wonder if the blinking lights aren't more dangerous in terms of attracting drunk or impaired drivers like a moth to a flame. Unfortunately, in this case, it's the moth that would likely win, not the flame.
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a bad way to think of it maybe but if you dont have the lights and do get hit then its even more likely that you will get screwed by the insurance companies...sadly in most states a motorist can kill a cyclist and not even get a frickin ticket!
 
#2,449 ·
hamsterspam said:
a bad way to think of it maybe but if you dont have the lights and do get hit then its even more likely that you will get screwed by the insurance companies...sadly in most states a motorist can kill a cyclist and not even get a frickin ticket!
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I run my high powered lights on solid and I aim them in a reasonable direction. For my headlights I use German lights with a vertical cut off like a car low beam so the light is mostly down on the road and not into the eyes of oncoming riders/drivers. These lights are great for visibility and put more light where you actually need it - down on the road.
 
#2,450 ·
hamsterspam said:
a bad way to think of it maybe but if you dont have the lights and do get hit then its even more likely that you will get screwed by the insurance companies...sadly in most states a motorist can kill a cyclist and not even get a frickin ticket!
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I'm not talking about not running lights. I'm talking about not running them in strobe mode. And especially on bike paths.
 
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#2,451 ·
im fortunate to live in a small city/large town and be on my own schedule so i can generally avoid the most trafficked part of the day so i feel something more akin to pity for motorist rather than annoyance...the traffic isnt that bad here and the town isnt that big and theres almost always a less trafficked route to get to any place,or a bike path or at least marked bike lane and even better ditch banks to ride,so in that regard its a reasonably friendly place to ride bikes without getting into the sort of bike based douch-baggery you see in places like boulder or portland where you have loads of "im a bike commuter so my sh*t doesnt stink organic hand woven hemp shopping bag types" which is all great and everything,god bless people for leaving the cars behind for whatever reason,but golly hipsters can be annoying!

lol,sorry,im blathering here,not to be taken seriously...

riding bikes is fun aint it? i sure do like my straggler,made riding on the pavement fun again for me...roads were just something i dealt with to get to the dirt before the straggler...i really like going out with no particular route in mind on the straggler and just seeing where i end up knowing i can stitch together roads,trails,or whatever and somehow it all works out...
 
#2,452 ·
dfltroll said:
I'm not talking about not running lights. I'm talking about not running them in strobe mode. And especially on bike paths.
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i take it with a grain of salt but the science does suggest the strobing does make you more visible...possibly because its so annoying...i agree,on a nice bike path system the strobe thing is annoying,and except at night probably not needed,but even then a solid light is more than enough...out in traffic,strobe your little heart out,wear hi vis clothes,anything really,roads are scary places...
 
#2,454 ·
Dirty4130 said:
Tubus makes some of the lightest and most minimalist front racks of anyone. I have used my for commuting, groceries, and touring and it's awesome. When you order, let them know what kind of bike you have and they will provide the correct hardware to fit it exactly right. Thus far, I think both front and rear racks have their own pros and cons. I like the low center of gravity of the Lowrider on the road, but I tend to use my rear rack when going off-road to make lifting the front end over bumps and obstacles easier. However, it is kinda interesting being have the front wheel weighted down when going up steep dirt where your front wheel might otherwise lift up off the ground.

Tubus Duo Lowrider Front Rack ? TheTouringStore.com
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Throwing it out there that if you're looking at the Tubus Duo and lowrider racks in general, the Salsa Downunder was totally plug and play on the Straggler. I loved mine until I got hit by a car on my Straggler, that rack and my old bars were the only casualties of the collision (thankfully). Trying out something different with the 24-pack rack this time, havent had a chance to install it yet.
 
#2,456 ·
I'm getting whiplash. Can't keep track of which rig Hamster is running this week!

But, the Straggler continues to gnaw at my mind.

There was talk about the Karate Monkey being made into t a drop bar.
I have a great old Monkey. Ran it drop bars for a few months. it was hard to keep enough weight on the F wheel when cornering. But, admittedly I was running a too long stem then.

The idea of taking that old Monkey and making it into a burly wannabee straggler is appealing.
Please keep us posted on that. If'n you start a new thread, please let me know.

-JCBones.
 
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#2,458 ·
Yeaa..... Something like that indeed.
How's the reach?

Going from anything dirt fun to anything drop bar makes me wonder why road-ish bikes are always so umcomfy (leaned over too far).
The Monkey would have the proper seat/bar relationship, but maybe is a bit long?

Guess I'll check some numbers to see how different they are/aren't.

-JCB
 
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#2,459 ·
im 6'6" so even an xl karate monkey was always a bit tighter a cockpit than the other bikes,but that said i will likely pick up another short/lots of rise stem like the one on the straggler to bring the bars back/up by about 20mm since im old and dont like to hunch over the bars...but aside from that it did good yesterday on a 30 mile ride,i had some hand numbness for part of the ride but i think raising the bars a skosh will alleviate that...
 
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