It’s no secret that I won’t shut up about my Pugsley. I love that bike. I ‘ve got three wheels for it. Single, geared and fixed. The fixed is set up with a Surly Dingle-Cog and the free-wheel on the single is set up with a White Industries Dos-Eno. So that means that even though when I run the bike geared I have the crank set up with two chainrings. 30t and 33t. I recently wondered about using our new OD Crank. Even though the idea behind that crank is that it’s a dedicated offset double, that doesn’t mean that I can’t screw around with one and see just what it’s capable of.
So I got myself an OD and two chainrings and started to mess around.
Since the crank is set up to be an offset double, in order to run two chainrings that are as close together in tooth size as a 30 and 33, you have to use some spacers. I used some spacers from a Whirly.
Works pretty cool.
Then, as I sat there staring at the crank with a couple extra chainrings right there in front of me I began to wonder about setting this crank up as a triple. Why would I do that? Cuz. Duh. So I took the granny ring, spaced it out and took a look. I had to abandon the 30t stainless chainring and replace it with an aluminum ring that had recesses in it for the bolt (so the chain can clear the head of the bolt).
Once again it worked pretty well. It struck me as a bit funny that at Surly even when we’re not trying to make something modular that you can use any way you want, that’s sort of what we end up with. Pretty cool.
I love that, because it’s what drew me to Surly in the first place. Utility. I wanted to switch to the OD incase I ever wanted to build a few more wheels for my favorite pony. Now it seams I have even more possibilities. And that’s the way I like it.
Midnight ride in a snowstorm anyone?