Surly Bikes
I know there is a lot of hype lately surrounding our new product, and I won’t really go much into that at the moment (bummer, I know). Well, I will a bit, just not any of the frames and bikes. What I want to talk about is our new 26” Rabbit Hole rims and the Dirt Wizard 26x2.75 tires that we mount to them (for one of those aforementioned new products).
One of the things I really love about Surly, (and always have, even long before I was grafted onto the collective) is the consistency across their product offering. I like big tires and have always run the fattest tires I could on any given bike. I was one of those people who cut the brake studs off my 1x1 so I could fit Marge Lites on it.
Enter Rabbit Holes, these rims are 50mm wide so you don’t have to cut the studs off your 1x1 or even, if you really want to, your (dundunduh) Big Dummy.
Behold and even bigger dummy has arisen. I fit the Rabbit Hole and Dirt Wizard on the back, then (just cuz I could) put a Marge lite and a Moonlander Fork (front end off the 1x1) and tah-dah.
Clearance is less than ideal for all the things I like on my dummy, like fenders and what nots, but it looks pretty sweet, and it rides great, especially off-road. Getting the weight low remains the key to steady loaded movement, and that is certainly more of a challenge with this rig. However the fatter tires offer quite a bit more stability so with careful loading it’s a wash, and over loose sandy terrain it rides a bit better.
Clearance is also less than ideal in the "chain-rub" department. Even with an OD crank, the chainline is just so long that the chain rubs in the granny. Of course with the OD the small ring is a 22, so I rarely use the granny.
If chain-rub is super unacceptalbe to you, you should not do this. You probably shouldn't do it anyway. It's certianly not what the bike was built for. If it was, though, what fun would there be in that?
Variety is the spice of life, even if sometimes that variety voids your warranty.
Until next time, get out and ride!!