Ogre Intorduction

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Here we are,

Finally decided on the Adventure / Tour bike I plan to use as I begin a new phase of my riding adventures. Over the past few years, I have been a roadie who would train and ride many of the organized rides. These typically include club rides, centuries, The annual Seattle to Portland (STP) ride, and various local routes. While this is fun and in many ways rewarding, it does fall short of getting me out to some of the more remote locations. I am really looking forward to embarking on many Bikepacking adventures along with multi-day road touring.

So, while there are any number of choices when it comes to bikes, I read lots and lots of online accounts of who was riding what and where with an eye for those doing much of the same mixed adventures. Turns out that for me, the choice was fairly narrow since I was set on finding something solid, reliable, and proven to perform in the role I had in mind. So, I chose the Sulry Ogre. I am starting with a standard full build, but of course as time progresses, things will change up a bit I’m sure. I certainly could have gone the full on custom at the onset, but knowing the components they choose to build these with are robust and readily available, I saw no reason to go nuts.. well not yet anyway.

Here are the original specs on the bike.

 

  • Frame: Surly 4130 double-butted CroMoly steel frame TIG-welded
  • Fork: Surly Ogre, TIG-welded 4130 CroMoly, 80mm suspension corrected, tapered and butted straight blade. Low- and mid-blade fully threaded through-blade rack eyelets; fender mount eyelets at dropout.
  • Fork: 1-1/8″ x 260mm threadless steer tube, 51mm disc mount (203mm max. rotor diameter), removable cantilever pivots, line/housing guides; two sets of bottle cage mounts, each height adjustable (note: cages cannot be used on fork with some racks, and vice versa)
  • Seatpost Clamp: Surly Stainless Included, 30.0mm
  • Crankset: Shimano FC-T551, 26/36/48t. Black
  • Bottom Bracket: Surly Enduro, Black
  • Front DerailleurShimano Deore FD-M616, 28.6mm. Top-pull
  • Rear Derailleur: Shimano Deore RD-MT610-SGS, 10-speed
  • Cog or Cassette: Shimano HG-61, 11–36t
  • Chain: KMC x10, Silver
  • Headset: Cane Creek 40, 1-1/8″ threadless. Black
  • Brakes: Avid BB7, Cable actuated. 180/160mm rotors front & rear
  • Brake Levers: Avid FR-5, Black
  • Shifters: Microshift SL-T10, Shifts pretty awesome
  • Stem: Kalloy AS-008, 31.8mm. 4-bolt. Black
  • Handlebar: Jones Loop, 710mm. Anodized. Black
  • Saddle: WTB SST Comp, Steel rails. Black vinyl. Feels pretty o.k.
  • Seatpost: Kalloy SP-342, 27.2mm. 350mm. Black
  • Hubs: Shimano Deore Disc M525, 32h. QR. Black
  • Rims: Alex Adventurer,
  • Spokes: DT Swiss Champion, 14g
  • Tires: WTB Nano Comp, 29 x 2.1″

I have since changed the following:

Upgraded seat to a Selle Anitomica NSX
Upgraded grips to Ergon GP1 Leather
added Shimano SPD/flat pedals
Swapping tires to Big Apples for the Tour.
Added a Bar Fly Bags Banana Hammock
Wrapped the bar with Brooks leather bar tape
Added Planet Bike fenders

 

 

Out of the gate, I am already preparing for my first multi-day tour taking place this year. In early May, I will be joining my brother and riding a portion of the Adventure Cycling Association TransAmerica Trail.

Section 12 – TransAmerica Trail

Our ride will actually start near Ft. Wayne Indiana, heading south to Wythewille Virginia. With a short connecting leg up to  Christinaburg, we will ride the last section of the TransAmerica Trail from there to Yorktown. We plan to continue on to our rides end at Virginia Beach. One nice feature of this trip will be us having full support the whole way since my brother’s wife has volunteered to SAG for us. I am so looking forward to getting out and putting down some miles!