Cross-Check complete bikes are now in stock, both Misty Mountain Grey and Deeper Shade of Black colors are available. To tall people, sorry, but the 62cm has not materialized yet. ETAs on those will be posted here when we get that info. If the mass exodus of Long Haul Truckers from here earlier this month was any indication of the demand for these, they probably won't last very long. So go talk to your bike shop person today if you were thinking about getting one. -----

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Product Developement Updates Big Dummy- Our Xtracycle compatible cargo frame is coming along well, although a bit behind schedule. We just received our 3rd set of prototypes last week, so I've got enough miles on it to know all the small changes made from the 2nd to 3rd protos was successful. One thing I'm very excited about is the geometry of this framset, as I can go from no-handing 5 city blocks to weaving through traffic to tight singletrack to hauling 15 gallons of beer with equal performance results. Dave is building his up as I type, so I hope he gives it the fist-in-air of approval soon. Kipchoge Spencer, co-founder of Xtracycle, once asked why I don't ride it everyday. I chuckled, because at the time two or three hauls a week was enough to get everything I needed to/from everywhere I went. But a few months after that conversation, I found myself over the long bike every single day. Not only was it fun to ride, but it wasn't that much slower than my Long Haul Trucker and it allowed me to randomly pick stuff up on the way home, which seemed to occur at least every other day. When you have the right tools, you'll find a way to utilize them. It's to the point where if I had to give up all my bikes except one, I'd keep the Big Dummy. Mr.Whirly- My grandma referred to things that took a long time to evolve as "slower than molasses in January". The same could be said about our upcoming crankset/bottom bracket combo. The bad news is we're probably not going to see this crank until, you guessed it, at least January. We've been riding our prototypes since early spring and I've got about 3,000+ miles on mine with very good results. A few tweaks here and there, getting the final production tooling dialed in and we should be OK to start production. I really like the versatility, durability and overall aesthetic of this crank. So despite the slow developement time, I'm quite excited about this coming out. We hope it's worth your wait. -----

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In Memory Of Eric Lappegard We were saddened by the news this morning of Minneapolis-based messenger/artist/friend Eric Lappegard's passing. Eric's nickname was Vegan Ninja, and he wrote a regular comic strip titled "schmapples" that he showcased on his website. His family also set up a Caring Bridge website to track his progress. You can read about him, see pictures, and read many messages sent to he and his family by those who loved him. You can also send a message to his family if you feel so inclined. The people of Surly send our condolences to the Lappegard family and all who enjoyed Eric's wit and charm. He will be missed. -----

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New Stuff You Can Waste Your Money On Now In Stock! We just received some new soft goods, so now that we've done our part we expect you to do yours. The first item is a new T-shirt. It's called the Midnight Flowers shirt, but all you'll need to remember is that they come in three styles: Kid's (Youth) S, M, L Women's (grrrls) S, M, L and Adult(dudes) S, M, L, XL. $20 There are a variety of colors as well, so hopefully some of them will make you happy. The second item is a wool hat, made for us in the U.S.A by Walz Caps. There will be another style coming in a couple of weeks but right now we have the all black felted wool ones in S/M and L/XL sizes. When you enter this item into your replenishment software you'll need to assign a cost of $30 to it. The new style will be white with blue racing stripe, and it will be limited to around 200 caps. Once those are gone we'll have another new one for your consumption pleasure. Happy weekend everybody. In the words of the immortal Kevin Cronin, "Keep pushin' on!" -----

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Me and the lady, we had a plan. Get up early Sunday morning and go for a somewhat extended ride. Maybe 30 miles out, have some lunch, then ride back. Take as much of the day as we needed because most of the laundry was done and the rest of the projects could wait. No problem. Well, there was one problem. For some reason the cat didn't want to get up. She didn't start walking on our faces and meowing at her usual oh-my-god-what-time-is-it hour, a time so early that in winter it's still completely, utterly dark. Instead she was all snuggled up and purring sweet. Like a dog watching you eat a sandwich, cats have the ability to turn on the cute when it serves them, which means we didn't stir. We were still stewing in the aftermath of the weekend and had not rested up from the previous work week. I remember getting up at one point to, uh, reconnoiter the bathroom and upon returning to the sheets I crashed back into the sleep of the dead and awoke several hours later at the crack of noon. ("Oh my god!" my brain cried when I looked at my watch, then slammed the door as it stormed out. It has not been heard from since.) Not being easily detoured from our purpose, we spent the next 2 hours getting ready...I did some housework, went back inside and got my clothes on, made sure the water bottles were filled up, and I put the final touches on my lady's Cross-Check, a nice original blue one which has been a single speed the entire time she's owned it. We're headed out in a week or so for some sort of hilly 60-70 mile days and although she doesn't really need gears, I thought she might like a little something extra. Despite my early nostalgic insistence of the superiority of 7 speed thumbshifters, in practice this option did not suit her so we started over with 9 speed Rapidfire. Sunday was the day to try it out. The shifter worked smashingly, and although we put in about half the miles we had originally intended they went mostly flawlessly. We felt good. We got home, showered, and thought about what to do for dinner. I asked her how she liked the shifter. Her answer made my heart leap, my blackened lump of a heart, my oxygen-starved charcoal briquette of emotion. "Yeah," she said, "I can see where gears are good, and I'll use them on this ride. But honestly, it just doesn't feel as natural as a single speed. I'll never give up my single speed." That's my girl. Baby, I love you. -----

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