We think by now, most of you get what Straggler is. It’s a madly versatile bike that can be used for most types of riding and riding surfaces. Better still is that you now have the option of 650b wheel size. 650b wheels were popular for a long time many years ago on ‘Constructeur’ style bicycles and we all know how real shit was back in the day…. 650b wheels strike a nice balance between the benefits of both 26” and 700c sizes. The smaller wheel allows smaller riders to fit well on smaller frames, produces a stronger wheel, makes fitting big ass tires easier and are more agile than their larger counterparts.
Straggler has disc caliper mounts instead of rim brake studs. It’ll accept rotors up to 160mm. The rear dropouts are unique, too. They’re a partially closed horizontal design that accommodates singlespeed or geared drivetrains. They feature stop screws that thread in from the rear to further secure the wheel and to position the rear wheel for optimal shifting, plus a forward-mounted stop screw on the drive side to keep the wheel from slipping forward under the force of your gargantuan legs. The rear dropouts are spaced 135mm instead of 132.5mm like the Cross-Check simply because there are far more options for disc hubs in this spacing.
Straggler 650b has braze-ons for fenders, racks and bottle cages. The geometry is slightly different, with angles and tube lengths very close but not identical to the Cross-Check, but like the Cross-Check it's ready to take you just about anywhere. It’s a day tripper and a weekender. It’s a ‘rough road’ road bike. It’s a cyclocross bike with no pretense about racing. It’s a utilitarian townie. It’s a light-duty touring bike. It’s an all-weather commuter. And when you get tired of one set up, you can swap parts around and turn it into something else. We think that’s pretty neat.
SPECIFICATIONS
Frameset
Frame Surly Straggler, 100% Surly proprietary 4130 CroMoly tubing. ED Coated. TIG-welded. Double-butted main triangle
Fork Surly Straggler, 4130 CroMoly, disc only, lugged and brazed. Sloping crown with threaded eylets, tapered and butted curved blades with mid-blade rack eyelets, dual dropout eyelets
Seatpost clamp Surly Stainless, 30.0mm
Drivetrain
Crankset SRAM Apex, 50/34t
Bottom Bracket SRAM GXP
Front Derailleur SRAM Apex
Rear Derailleur SRAM Apex WiFLi
Cog or Cassette Microshift 11–32t, 10-speed
Chain KMC X10, chain
Components
Headset Cane Creek 40
Brakes Hayes CX-expert, V-series 160mm rotors front & rear
Brake Levers SRAM Apex
Shifters SRAM Apex, DoubleTap® shifter
Stem H.L. 31.8mm
Handlebar Salsa Cowbell
Saddle Velo VL-1353
Seatpost Kalloy SP-368 non-offset (38–50cm); Kalloy SP-248D offset (52–58cm), 27.2 x 300mm, black
Wheels
Front Hub Formula RX25 Disc, 32h. 100mm, black w/QR
Rear Hub Formula RX2611 Disc, 32h. 135mm, black w/QR
Rims Alex XD-E Lite
Tires Surly Knard 650b x 41, 60tpi
