After much hand-wringing, I finally settled on and ordered a new bike last week. Here’s a rundown of what I’m getting and what I’ll be running:

Frame: 2004 Surly Steamroller. 56cm. Gray. That includes the Surly Steamroller fork as well.

Wheels: Rear will be a Mavic MA-3 rim laced to a Suzue track hub with a Surly cog. I thought I was going to be able to get the rim laced to a Surly New Track Hub, but alas, QBP didn’t have them. The front wheel will be cannabilized from the old cyclocross bike — a Mavic MA-3 rim laced to a Shimano hub.

Cranks: Still some hand-wringing going on here. It looks like I’ll be using a set of Truvativ Elitas taking from the ‘cross bike, with a new Truvativ ISIS drive bottom bracket. This is probably the cheapest option, as Gerry Kraynick doesn’t have any road cranks in stock at the moment.

Handlebars/Stem: My Nitto track drops with a Bontrager stem. The new Steamrollers use a 1 1/8″ threadless headset system, and I had the Bontrager lying around. It’s not as old school as the Nitto stem on my current ride, but the stem is nice.

I should have all the parts by the weekend, so I could riding it as early as Monday. A few shout outs to people that have been really helpful:

* Steve, for getting me most of this stuff at pro-deal prices.
* Mean Todd at WebCyclery for helping out with chainline questions revolving around my choice of cranks.
* The boys at Surly for their help with the above issue as well.

Posted on 22 September 2004