Gather 'round. Take a knee. We have some new bits in stock now: Check out the Blockhead sox. They're angular for your pleasure, brown like all good things, wool like Zito's hair, and specifically designed to fill the void space between your shoes and your feet. What more do you want? Like everything else we do, they are available from your favorite bike shop. Go. Order. Luxuriate. Here's some new stuff that's not in stock yet: Big Dummy Complete We originally posted the picture of the Dummy with Xtracycle's new and very suave centerstand. The complete won't come with that sexy piece, but it will be available from our Longbike heros. Our complete Big Dummy bikes will be available mid to late December. Let your bike shop know you want one. And while you're at it, tell them what a great job they're doing. Running a bike shop is hard. Karate Monkey Complete The Karate Monkey complete 29" mountain bike will be available come mid-December too. It's really quite nice. Lot's of Surly bits on it and available in either Chum Bucket Red with black graphics or Pitch Black with white graphics. How will you ever decide? New Dropouts A bit ago we reported that the Long Haul Trucker and the Cross-check frames would be getting new dropouts. This sent one or two people into some sort of night sweat terror/gleeful dance of joy. Some people thought we were ruining the frames, and others thought we were making them better (is that even possible?) The truth is, the new dropouts will be functionally very similar to the ones you've come to know and adore (dropouts? really?). The LHT will still have vertical dropouts, but will be beefified some and just a touch sexier. Contrary to earlier reports, this one is not a thing we have designed. The Cross-check dropout, on the other hand, has been painstakingly massaged into being by our own Swervy. It's tough, it's fine lookin', and it has a little Surly S on it. Seriously. It will, like the Cross-check dropouts of yore, be semi horizontal with rack and fender mounts, etc. No disc mounts you freaks. Don't get me started. Fixed Disc Hub In the world of blogging and all things bike and bloggy (when bikes are concerned) and blogs - with bikes in them, I often turn to the wisdom of Chris and his henchpeople at Speedgoat. Few times in your life will you find more gooder information and funnytude. We'll have a new hub available this Spring. Here's what Chris had to say about it: "You rare and beautiful fixed gear mountain bikers have officially had your culture, or lack thereof, totally and utterly coopted by a gigantic mega-corporation known as "Surly." From the sheer quantity of velvet/black-light paintings decorating this company's [Interbike] booth, I can only assume that they have nearly endless financial resources, and will soon also offer root-beer flavored potato chips that cause anal leakage. But seriously, at the close of today's stock market, I think Surly is actually larger now than General Motors. Hostile takeover?" Thanks for not interviewing me this year Chris. I mean that both sarcastically and actually. Thanks also for the picture of the fixed/disc hub that I stole from yinz. Stole this one too: Some stuff that's out of stock We've run out of most sizes of Cross-checks and Long Haul Truckers. What can we do? You bought them all. More will arrive in mid-December. Breathe deeply and everything will be ok... except the economy. 'Member that time we was in Napa? Awesome. -----

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"I heartily endorse this service or product!" -Krusty The Klown We here at Surly are proud to call Friends many of the freakier people of this world, fine individuals all who seem so at home in the bell jar of bicycle culture that it may be easy to forget they possess character traits which make them unsuitable for work in the normal channels (traits such as Freekiness, Depressionism, Unbridled Freedom Seeking, Chronic Bicycle Riding, Sideburns, Independence, and Acute Shyness, to name a few), and from this fetid social petri dish periodically surfaces our good friend Luby. When we first met Luby he was still a wet-behind-the-bikeshop weirdo. He quickly moved into a pole position at QBP's Shock Treatment Center, spending a few years learning stuff from B. Rose (who for all practical purposes started Shock Treatment Center), after which he moved to Colorado to work for Maverick (before it got Spotted). Living The Dream is not a unique desire among bike people, but for some the desire isn't enough. Several months ago Luby stepped off the ledge of sensibility, parlaying his considerable expertise, skill, and talent as pertains to bicycle suspension and braking systems into a small business, Dirtlabs.com. And that brings us up to date. Although shilling for others is not the first order of business on this blog, there are occasions when it is appropriate. Luby is a solid friend, knows assloads about whatever technology you're abusing, and he can ride some mean trail too. Send him some love. -----

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Big, dumb problems. I brought them on myself. My Big Dummy's shifting has been all manked up. Ride it 'til it breaks, right? Sometimes that works, but a lot of the time it doesn't. So what did I do? I grabbed another bike -- my fixed gear Cross-Check. I've been riding that for the past two weeks. My Dummy was been my regular commuter all spring and summer long. It made so much sense to ride it everyday, but I was too lazy to get the parts and set the shifting right again. When I did finally make an attempt to get things rolling smoothly, I took the half-ass approach of just replacing the chain. Skippity skip all the way to and from work. No go. Time to ride the Check again for a while. Sure I had other things to do, places to go and beers to drink that all kept me from showing the Dummy a proper dose of mechanical lovin'. But I think after the first week I may have dragged my heels on purpose. 'Cause when one's "backup commuter" is a Cross-Check ... well, let's just say things could be a helluva lot worse. I have been digging that Cross-Check the way I always do. Geez, I love it. The Dummy might be causing me shifting woes but my Fixed-Check ain't got no gears to foul up. Pure, quiet simplicity! Sure, I had to show some moderation when I pulled into the beverage store since two medium panniers were my available loading options; I couldn't haul some large, awkward found items I saw by the curb; I even put off building a friend's bike since I couldn't just lash the stuff in my Freeloaders and go. But I was having so much fun zipping around on the Check, thinking I was riding what has to be the perfect bike. Then, this morning I put the new cassette on my BD. I've been offered the chance to test out some new Xtracycle giblets but that requires a functioning bike, I suppose. I started to get kind of excited as I slid the rear wheel back into the drops, tightened the QR and remounted the V Racks. I was going to ride in cargo-hauling style again after almost two full weeks. Yeehaw! I rolled out of the garage down the alley. Cruising speed was hardly attained on the main road before I realized my neuro-receptors were tingling, my mind was abuzz with the thrill of a crisp shifting long bike between my haunches. There was everything I remembered and more -- glide, smooth cornering and that cushy ride. It's just got that ride. Not to mention options -- once again I could haul whatever the day might pitch in my path. I was giddy as a schoolgirl in a fresh gingham dress. It was raining steadily all the way to work but I sang and splashed and made an extra effort to smile at motorists to show them how much fun I was having -- soaked knickers and all -- riding a bike in the rain. The day started off great thanks to that magical ride. I somehow doubt had my car been on blocks for 2 weeks I would have been so thrilled to drive it again. And it damn sure wouldn't have cost me less than $50 to get it back from a 2 week stint in a repair shop. Have you been postponing your own shot at Big Dumb Love? Well, we just got a fresh batch of 20" BD frames and we're due for an infusion of 18" within a couple of weeks. It ain't rocket science, folks. You wanna save mattresses full o' cash while your 401K rebounds from the wild ride on Greedy Bastard at Six Flags Over Bad Management? Ditch your car, get a bike that can do it all and don't look back. You'll be having so much fun it won't even cross your mind to peek at your retirement account. Best to wait a while on that one. -----

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Hello, Sunshine. -----

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