zazenzach

I know Surly isn't c&v, but the brand seems to have a lot of appreciation among c&v types. What exactly is the appeal? From what I can tell, they're all generic TIG welded 4130 frames, probably sourced out of asia. They might be utilitarian, but I don't see anything that justify their price.

texaspandj

I've often wondered the same thing. Waiting for responses.
Guesses would be, new steel, relaxed geometry, trend following, and slight elitism. Just guessing though.

dim

If you get one that fit's you properly, it's the quality of the ride .... put decent tyres on and it rides like a cadillac .... I have a LHT, and it's my favourite bike for longer rides .... I could easily ride 10 hours a day on mine .... not the fastest, as mine is heavy (racks, pannier bags, stainless steel mudguards and wide tyres ..., but on a flat road with little headwind, and I cruise at 27-28 km/hr all day

KonAaron Snake 

First their prices are pretty decent comparative to aluminum. Second, they have lots of interesting design features and have created niches. Fat bikes? Surly. Third, because it's a QBP brand, you can get them in nearly any shop.

Not everyone wants to buy a used bike, change parts, overhaul it...etc.

MiloFrance

They also practice what they preach. Cycles made by cyclists for cyclists.

oddjob2

+1 ^ @KonAaron Snake

Value is good, "be cool hipster" focused marketing vs. Lycra push, a favorite among undercompensated bike shop mechanics, component selections are good on complete bikes, frame only availability too.

gomango

I live in Surlyland.

Every mechanic I know has owned or does own a Cross Check.

I've seen them built into a dizzying array of combos.

Frankly, the CC makes a great lower cost commuter and it looks decent with fenders and wider tires. imho

The only knock for me is the amount of spacers one needs to get these to fit.

If they'd put a decent head tube on that thing I'd likely own a canti version CC.

FWIW My ECR is very close to owning a pack mule.

Don't have to feed it though.

I ride it much more than my Fargo at this point and I have decided it is virtually indestructable.

Lazyass

Nothing special about them at all. But they are good quality steel bikes for decent prices which is rare today. I wouldn't mind having a Pacer at all. But I would get a Black Mountain Cycles frame before the Surly.

gomango

I've got a BMC Monstercross and I think it's the best new frame value going at $600 or so.

I've got Soma Vitesse SL 700x42s on that beast and it's big fun for the $$$$$.

Also, don't forget about the Twin Six Rando at the same price.

They give the CC some genuine el cheapo competition.

Barrettscv 

When Surly became popular most of the big cycling brand names had abandoned the steel touring and mountain bike product category. Retailers mostly ignored the few touring models from Trek, Jamis, Bianchi and a few other.


Surly offered the Long Haul Trucker that filled this important niche. They also promoted the bike on-line with touring and commuter cyclist. It became a big success because it would accept 700x38 with fenders and you could fit even fatter tires without fenders. You could also pack 50 Lbs of touring gear and the bike didn't flex excessively.


Surly bikes were not expensive 12 years ago, a Long Haul Trucker could be purchased for $1100.


They also produced the first Fat bike.


Now that "Endurance" and "Gravel" bikes are gaining popularity Surly has credibility with cyclist looking for alternative cycling designs.


.

Pemetic2006

I hear they make great beer.

TenGrainBread 

I used to own a Pacer before replacing all my "new" bikes with vintage.

Good bikes with decent spec for the price. To you and me they are overpriced considering ease of access to lugged, lighter-gauge vintage bikes, but we sometimes forget that knowledge of good vintage models and the mechanics to recondition them is not something that most people have or want to spend time learning.

Besides Cannondale hybrids, the bike we sell the most of at my shop is the Trucker. They have some hip cache but also are a transition point from flat bar hybrids to drop bar bikes for many commuters. You'd be hard-pressed to find a more upright/comfortable drop bar bike for those used to hybrids.

RFC

If you are primarily concerned about aesthetics, then stick with classics, lugs, etc. Performance is a different matter. I own several lower cost TIG welded bikes (Surly CC, BMC Road, 2007 Schwinn Madison) and they all ride better than any classic bike I own or have owned. Due to modern steel, construction and threadless headsets, they are much stiffer and more responsive. I have been riding my Surly CC as a SS bomber and, this fall, will convert it to a big tire gravel bike.

TenGrainBread 

Sorry, but I don't think this is true. The Surly bikes are sometimes stiffer than vintage racing/touring bikes because they use pretty thick tubing, which I would not call a performance advantage. My Pacer, their sportiest road bike with the highest spec (full 105) of any of their models, was 22 pounds, which is on par with or heavier than most high quality vintage lightweights. There is nothing special about the frame construction. I suppose a 1 1/8 headtube and threadless cockpit can be a little stiffer than threaded, but the difference isn't that noticeable unless you are "droping the hammer". 😉

I think where you would go to Surly that vintage cannot provide is their fat bike/atb models.

USAZorro

Good bikes at a reasonable price - if they meet your needs. They thought out a lot of the smaller touches for a touring bike on the LHT. Not bad for a durable touring bike. Lacking in several respects if you get one hoping to build it as a randonneuring machine.

repechage

The folk I have seen redoing unsupported touring have all been on Surly Long Haul Truckers. Various builds.

In looking at the geometry and fittings I can see why.

RFC

I respect your thoughtful opinion, but larger tubing, such as on Madison, will make a difference in performance. The original CC's were made out of 531 tubing, but because so many of them broke, Surly switch tubing. Regarding weight, my BMC Road is 19.5 lbs without going to weight weinie parts.

On the issue of stiffness, old Cannondales are my favorite C&V bikes, which is why I have kept my 1990 ST600.

old's'cool

I'm attracted to the LHT as an ultimate commuting platform, but it's priced out of my league, considering what can be done with vintage touring bikes.

TenGrainBread 

The original Cross Checks were made with Reynolds 631 tubesets and were switched in the early 2000s to Taiwanese 4130 because the tubing was cheaper, not because the 631 frames were failing.

I think what you are talking about with "larger tubing" is oversize diameter tubing, which contributes to stiffness. The LHT does use oversize tubing, but not in order to use a lighter gauge while maintaining stiffness, but rather to ensure the frameset's durability, as it is intended to be suitable for heavy-duty touring.

If you weigh an LHT frame along side a good quality vintage touring frame, I think you'll often find the LHT to be heavier. There's nothing wrong with that, but it does negate any claim that the Surly bikes have some sort of performance advantage (with regard to speed?) over vintage bikes.

poprad

I can explain the appeal easily; I have a bunch of bikes (13 or so...) but own two Surly CCs. One stays at the in laws on the west coast, the other is my daily commuter. It's the Glock of bikes; use it and forget it except oiling the chain. Everything on it is new, so nothing breaks, it all works and looks kinda vintage, even if it's not. With a rear rack and single side Ortlieb bag it carries everything I need for work, without having to put a rack on one of my nicer bikes. It cruises like a destroyer on Schwalbe Marathons, and has never let me down and late for work.

On weekends I'll take out my vintage CDale, Raleigh, IRD, Colnago or other, then carefully wipe it down and hope nothing expensive busted. The Surly? I ride the stuffing out of it, wipe it down at least semi-annually, and appreciate it's relative indestructibility. Oh, and final thought; I never even think about locking it up in town. Gets scratched at a lockup? No biggie. Gets stolen? Unhappy but not crushed that I lost one of my garage queens.

Slash5

I own a couple and the reason I own them is that Surly was the only manufacturer making that style of bike. They are willing to try something new and work with it when everyone else is building the "me too" stuff.
My Pugsley fat bike and my Krampus 29+ were the only game in town when I bought them. Got to give them some credit for that.

chewybrian 

I rode a couple series, a 1000k and a triple century on my LHT. You are right, it's not perfectly suited, but I got through. Seeing that I completed my first series on a Gary Fisher, it was an upgrade for me.

The LHT is a heavy tank, but I got decent specs for a $1000ish complete bike, and it is still going strong 50,000 miles later. It does handle a big load well, which is the intended purpose, I guess.

Velocivixen

In 2011 I bought a new, Robin's Egg Blue Cross Check for $1049 (Oregon has no sales taxes). I immediately removed the decals (not clear coated), put on a Honey B17, SKS Longboard fenders in "Creme", a Crane bell....you get the idea. It looked "vintage-esque". Rode it a lot.

Last year I returned all the original components to it, removed fenders, etc. I kept it in pristine condition. I sold it for $950 in a week on the local CL. No questions asked. So, in my mind, I essentially "rented" that bike for four years for $99.

I now own a 2015 Surly Straggler - 650b & disc brakes, in "Glitter Dreams" - metallic purple (Surly folks tell me this was a custom color, so no RAL number). Out of 9 bikes, it's my only brand new one, although a Troll is in my near future. It's nice to have one brand new bike - I know it's history, everything works (although I've upgraded brifters for cleaner cable routing).

Bikerider007

I know nothing of Surly but any ad for the Long Haul Trucker has made me open it. Cool name and marketing don't hurt the brand in addition to the fact many rate them as good to very good.

mikemowbz

I think this pretty much sums it up.

Some folks may talk them up beyond what they are (I've heard it done), but most reasonable folks see a decent platform in steel, at a decent price (for new product), and the kinds of niche offerings and useful features across their lineup that suit a particular need for many. Buying new, you can spend a *lot* more than US MSRP on a Surly, and procuring one is never an overly challenging proposition.

They're nice looking bikes, for the most part, and practical.

As for the last point (or the last two?) on the list, both yes and no.

Some of our local shops do pretty fancy builds with the Surly frames as platform, and folks pay for these - even though there's actually a premium to be paid for Surly stuff here in Canada due to the fact that the bikes incur extra costs going across the USA/Canada border. So some must perceive these as something with an extra reputational sheen to justify the price...

That said, those "One less Surly" stickers are totally a thing.