2001 Surly 1x1

[sworley]

Maybe not quite vintage but I do believe this is a future classic, if not already among some circles. Rat Ride, later Surly came on the scene in the late 1990s as a QBP sub-brand and really was a different animal in both marketing and products.

I picked this bike up in Madison, WI this winter as I passed through helping my wife ferry her new car home. The bike was a pretty meh build and had seen some heavy use in salty conditions but had 1x1 branded front and rear hubs and two sets of high end tires. I also liked that the steerer tube on the original fork was uncut. It had good bones.

 

[sworley]

Right off I sold the meaty but heavy Surly 27tpi tires for a decent recoup and brought over the Salsa Shaft seatpost from my wife’s Bianchi San Jose. The Salsa bits are fitting as they are another QBP brand.

Lightweight Michelin tires from an old Kona Humu were brought over for the time being. I am unsure if I’ll run these or the Schwalbe Big Apples that it came with.

This is an early 1x1 as evidenced by the “Sub 110” frame dropouts.

 

[sworley]

Next up was taking the bike down and washing/waxing the frame. Surprisingly the bike’s paint was in pretty good condition and shined right up again.

I sourced a matching rear Shimano Deore brake, Avid levers and true to the 2001 Surly catalog feature, Big Cheese (yet another QBP brand!) grips.

The plan is to make a “basket bike” - an around town utilitarian bike that’s as at home riding single track as it is hauling a 12 pack of beer home from the gas station. Stay tuned for more updates, thanks for reading!

 

[Guest2]

I love it, great bike!
Even has the Lonestar "signature" grips!
Very cool, buddy

 

[sworley]

Fresh 9mmx1 front axle nuts came in allowing me to mount the Wald basket. The original nuts were extremely rusty. The rear nuts cleaned up after an Evaporust soak.

I was able to get an amazing deal on some vintage Race Face Turbine cranks with the RF BB on eBay because a pedal was stuck in em. Took it to my buddy with pro level tools and five minutes later was set to jet. This crankset/BB was noticeably lighter than the TruVativ parts removed.

Next up I need to source a 94 BCD chainring and likely will borrow the White Industries freewheel from my Karate Monkey to test it out. Then some brake cables and I should be rolling!

 

[sworley]

All up and running. I could only find a 34t 94 BCD chainring so I bought a 16t White Industries freewheel for a slightly taller road gear. Terrain is pretty flat here so more road speed is a good trade off. I love this thing!

The bike was missing its headbadge when I bought it, so got that squared away, too.

 

[Ricker]

I like the cars-r-coffins sticker! I still have two ratty t-shirts and I used to put those stickers on everything! I had an old 1x1 - comfy cruiser- Nice project

 

[MonkeyWrenching]

I'd love to find me a rat ride one of these days, sick build

 

[sworley]

Actually used to have a '98 Rat Ride back in 2013 but sold it, like a bonehead. Luckily, my friend loves it and has kept it all these years...

The 2009 1x1=11 bikes pop up for sale occasionally. Another one of my friends bought one of those framesets back in the day for a custom 1x1 build as they do not have the canti bosses for a cleaner build.

 

[sworley]

Been playing around with gearing, 34t was just a tish too low. I just installed the 36t with the 16t rear and it’s much better!

Another recent addition was this NOS Salsa top cap. Little details…

Buying a bike is always a gamble, we’ve all been there. I was unsure if I’d like this bike or even ride it much as I have a single speed Karate Monkey that I love. But this thing has been a GREAT purchase!