I figured I should write a brief entry on the bike I'll be using. Before going further, here's a photo of the bike:
It's a Surly Disc Trucker (56cm frame size), which I picked up at a small discount ($1750 vs $2000 new) from American Cyclery in SF as it was a demo/display model. Based on the serial number, the bike was made in 2023. There were a couple very light scratches, but I was happy to put the $250 elsewhere. (Turns out I needed that $250 - more on that later.) Buying the bike from American Cyclery was a pleasant experience; I went for a test ride in Golden Gate Park, felt that the reach was a bit far, and got the stem swapped out for a shorter one at no cost on the spot. In hindsight, I hadn't ridden a bike in quite some time, so I was probably just stiff/inflexible. I will likely get a slightly longer stem depending on what my bike fitter thinks.
Speaking of bike fit, that brings me to the only notable modification I've made: replacing the crankset. My bike fitter strongly suggested I swap the crank arms out for a shorter set, from 175mm to 170mm or below. This seems to be a popular alteration in the current cycling meta, though she said she's been making this recommendation for quite some time. I figured I might as well go ham, so I searched far and wide for a 165mm crankset with triple chainrings. I really didn't want to mess with any other part of the drivetrain (cassette, derailleurs, whatever else...), so this seemed like a reasonable choice. (Maybe it's just me, but finding individual 165mm crank arms that would fit my chainrings was impossible.) After a few days of slightly stressful internet searching, I ended up purchasing this New Albion XDT crankset.
Unfortunately, the bottom bracket that came with the bike measured in at 103mm (spindle length), far short of the 113mm required of this crankset to reach my 47.5mm chainline. This in turn meant I had to pick up a new bottom bracket, so I went with the Shimano BB-UN300. Before I knew it, I had purchased:
- a 15-60Nm torque wrench from Park Tool (I probably could have saved money, but I really didn't want to take my chances),
- a crank remover tool (Park Tool),
- a bottom bracket tool (BBT-22, ParkTool),
- a hex bit set and allen key set,
- digital calipers,
and probably some other stuff I've forgotten.
Removing the factory bottom bracket was a huge PITA. The puny 3/8 ratcheting drive I had got nowhere close to breaking it loose (and yes, I triple-checked the thread direction). What I ended up doing was clamping the bottom bracket tool in a pipe wrench, then using another wrench on the pipe wrench like so:
It still took me well over an hour to get the drive side loose. I'm not sure if it was overtightened or seized but I hope it won't be this bad next time. Here's the final result:
Somewhat underwhelming after the effort, but I hope it makes a good difference in comfort.
With that, I think I'll end this entry. I still need to convert the tires to tubeless, so I might write about that later.