Surly Steamroller

Surly Steamroller ini sebetulnya bukan sepeda saya, tapi sepeda istri saya. Karena entah kenapa dia lebih suka single speed daripada multispeed. Gayung bersambut, seorang kawan menawarkan kami sebuah frameset Surly Steamroller dengan ukuran kecil.

Secara spesifikasi, berikut adalah sedikit kutipan dari website Bali Mountainbike selaku distributor resmi Surly di Indonesia:

Listen to veteran fixed gear riders long enough and they’ll start to wax philosophic about fixies, how the bike is an extension of one’s body, how the simplicity and the silence are pleasing to the senses, how riding one is at first unnerving and later addictive. As we have said since we introduced the Steamroller frameset, we won’t try to convince you that riding ‘fixed’ is better or special or why you should try it. You’ll have to determine that for yourself. But whether you’re old school or new hat, you’d be hard pressed to find a better canvas to build your ideal street machine.


It’s made from Surly 4130 CroMoly steel because steel is durable and responsive, things we like and we’re pretty sure you do too. Its geometry is tight compared to road frames and relaxed compared to twitchy track frames. It takes big tires because big tires make sensetire casings flex before the frame. It’s got almost no ‘features’, no pump peg, no housing stops, no cell phone or GPS mount. Just a set of water bottle braze-ons. Well, it does also have a nice brazed fork crown we think looks pretty snazzy. If you’re like us, you may consider less tangible elements (such as ride quality) to be features, and it’s got these in spades. This is a frame meant for riding. Everyday. It was designed by cyclists for cyclists. It’s most at home on the street, but it’s also track legal and does a pretty fair job on trails too. It’s a fixed gear frame in the tradition of fixed gears, before there were freewheels or handbrakes (effective ones, anyway), harkening back to a time when big tires weren’t a design feature but a necessity, when a ride was an adventure


But hey, don’t let us convince you. Try one out. It may just become your favorite bike.

• Tubing: 100% CroMoly steel. Main triangle is double-butted. TIG-welded
• Rear dropouts: Investment cast Surly track dropouts, 120mm spaced
• Brake compatibility: Standard reach post-mount road calipers, but there are no stops for housing
• Braze-ons: None, baby. Pure. OK, we put one set of water-bottle mounts on the seat tube ’cause we’re not camels
• Seatpost diameter: 27.2mm
• Seatpost clamp: 30.0mm Surly stainless, included
• Headset: 1–1/8" threadless
• Bottom bracket shell:  68mm wide, threaded English 1.37" x 24t
• Tire clearance: Room for tires up to 700 x 38mm. Individual tire and rim combos affect tire clearance, but figure on being able to use tires up to 32mm with fenders (p.s.- use clip-on fenders)
• Chainring clearance: Heavy manipulation of the chainstays gives room for a 50t ring while maintaining chainline. Track crank-compatible.
• Colors: Grey-Green or Black
• Weight: 56cm = 2000g (4.5 lbs) Fork - uncut = 850g (1.9 lbs)

Surly Steamroller ini banyak mendapat review positif di berbagai media, beberapa diantaranya adalah Bike Radar, John Prolly, bahkan mendapat point 4,43 dari 5 di Roadbike Review, dan juga di Sheldon Brown.

Hampir setahun Surly ini berada di tangan kami. Secara umum banyak yang salah paham bahwa Steamroller ini adalah frame track (Track Bike) hanya serta karena drop out belakangnya Track End. Bukan, Steamroller tidak memposisikan sebagai frame track (untuk balap di velodrome), tapi lebih kepada frame urban atau frame commuter yang cukup solid dan nyaman, dibuktikan dengan clearance ban pada fork dan rear triangle yang cukup besar (hingga 700c x 38).
Set-up steamroller saya adalah sebagai berikut:

• Frame: Surly Steamroller size 49 (S) 4130 Double butted chromo w/ Headset Ritcheycomp + Fork Surly.
• Wheelset: Rigida DP 2000 rim w/ Novatec Hub (fixed 17t, freewheel 18t) rear, Shimano Tiagra front
• Tire: Kenda Hybrid 700c x 38
• Crankset: Shimano Exage 46t + Shimano UN25 BB
• Chain: United
• Pedal: wellgo + toeclip
• Seatpost, Stem, Handlebar: United
• Saddle: Specialized Evolution (made by Selle Italy)
• Brake: Tektro R350 + BMX lever

Sengaja saya maksimalkan pemakaian ban hingga batas maksimum clearance ban karena frame ini akan saya jadikan sepeda commuting yang (harus) nyaman. Dengan ban cukup besar saya jadi cukup percaya diri untuk melalui lubang-lubang aspal (aspal Jakarta tidak selamanya mulus), dan lagipula tidak harus memompa sampai 100psi (sebagaimana ban-ban kurus lainnya) cukup sampai 60-80psi.

Sepeda ini beberapa kali saya gunakan untuk century ride dan sangat nyaman dipakai, karena ya itu tadi memang diciptakan sebagai frame commuting, bukan frame kompetisi.