My Surly Steamroller is sorted out as my commuting, city, daily, single-speed, street bike:

The only upgrade that is left is that I plan to add more permanent fenders, to be installed by the Bike Gallery here in downtown SW Portland, probably a set of German SKS fenders that are more permanent than the current set.

As it is, the only changes I have made have been a read Shimano single pivot side-pull caliper brake, the front and rear “temporary” SKS XL Raceblade fenders, a grunty White Industries ENO freewheel, a set of metal-cage MTB pedals with plastic toe clips.

To all of that, I added a simple, black, standard Brooks B17 leather saddle, a front and rear Planet Bike Beamer 3 headlight and a Blinky 3 taillight lights, a little chrome bell, two Salsa brake levers, and lots and lots of reflective tape because one time I went out early not thinking I needed my lights and felt super-vulnerable heading home, so I threw on loads of red and white reflective tape.

Oh, and I almost forgot the most important and essential upgrade.  I added 28C Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires to the whole thing. According to their site:

The SmartGuard layer made from a flexible, special rubber offers particular resistance to shards of glass and flints. Even a thumbtack cannot penetrate this protective layer. The SmartGuard belt does not increase rolling resistance.

In my humble opinion, the most annoying thing in the universe is not having buoyant, durable, puncture-resistant, grippy tires to protect both rims and my progress when I am riding around on them.

And, all of this all locked down with bolts instead of quick-release skewer. Quick release is a real no-no when you’re using a bike in lieu of a car and plan to lock your bike somewhere or another outside a pub or a nightclub or downtown when you’re shopping.

The final purchase, of course, is the most important.  I grabbed a U-lock.  This time around, I picked up a KryptoLok series 2 Mini-7 by Kryptonite. I didn’t need an Evolution Mini and I have gotten smaller locks but sometimes it is really nice to lock up my bike along with the front wheel, for old time’s sake.

Sweet Steamroller Single Speed, originally uploaded by Chris Abraham.

:-( All three bikes got stolen last night. Fuck.

The three bikes in question were my SOMA Delancey single speed and Mark’s old reliable Giant mountain bike, a bike that Mark has owned for probably more than a decade, and a spare green piece-of-shit

Well, I really loved my SOMA Delancey single speed and can highly recommend getting one. Since they sell the Delancey as a frame, I got to build the bike up from the frame, and really bought some amazing components for her.

I really had her dolled up with a Miche crank, a Chris King headset, a Brooks Professional saddle, a Shimano 105 brake, a Salsa stem and seat tube, and a gorgeous wee two-finger brake lever.  She was nimble but she was not a fixed-gear bike, she was a single-speed.  I will miss her and I am sorry that she was stolen.

May she rest in peace.

My Steed Tied Up Outside, originally uploaded by Chris Abraham.

Sometimes when I ride a lot or if the bike is super-wet, I will tie her up outside. Here’s an example of Dalancey tied up outside. You can see that I have Germanized her with fenders for the rain, mounts for front and rear lights, a bell, which is required, and a big-ass-lock, because even though Germany is super-save people do steal bikes, especially pretty girls like my exotic single speed.

My Single Speed Has New Fenders, originally uploaded by Chris Abraham.

I now have officially turned the Delancey into a proper German-spec bike. The final straw towards this goal was a set of fenders, to protect me from a dirty, wet, crotch when I ride around in the rainy days that are common in Berlin. Is this cool or did I just take all the sexy out of the poor single-speed? Turning a racer into a mule?

My Pretty Fahrrad, originally uploaded by Chris Abraham.

Since I don’t have a car in Berlin I flew over my bike, a SOMA Delancey single speed with a Chris King headset, Miche Pista crank set, a Salsa stem and seatpost, and an awesome copper Brooks saddle. Not a fixie but single speed with a front brake, a Shimano 105. Thank you to the guys from Capitol Hill Bikes who helped me build her up from the frame and fork.

]]> http://chrisabraham.com/2008/02/17/my-pretty-fahrrad/feed/ 0 http://chrisabraham.com/2007/06/15/my-next-bike-is-a-soma-delancey-single-speed/ http://chrisabraham.com/2007/06/15/my-next-bike-is-a-soma-delancey-single-speed/#comments Fri, 15 Jun 2007 11:47:21 +0000 Chris Abraham http://chrisabraham.com/?p=4022

When I wrote, My Next Bike is a Surly Steamroller Single Speed, I lied. There are just no Surly Steamrollers available, so I ordered a Soma Delancey single speed instead, which is going to end up being a very dear and lovely bike to own… this is just a stock picture of the bike. I will post real picture when I get it.

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