Bikes Of 2018: Surly 1 X 1

The 1999 Surly 1x1 as seen in March

The Surly 1X1 wasn't featured in too many "adventures" that I had on bicycles in 2018, but I did ride it a lot. This year every ride was in fixed gear mode too. Because of this I was able to raise my game in terms of skill and comfort with being on a fixie like this.

That doesn't mean I learned any new tricks, I cannot skid, and I don't ride backward or anything like that. Let's be real here! I am not talking about anything spectacular. I just did a lot of back pressure pedaling instead of using the brakes and my curb hopping skill level went up a few notches.

The small-ish gearing made me spin like a mad man, and that was beneficial to how I rode my other bikes. The back pressure pedaling is also pretty amazing. You can really work your hips and legs in your muscles you don't normally use for cycling doing that. But I wasn't bombing the down hills, like I can when coasting, because I never take my feet off the pedals on this bike.

A few changes happened to the ol' 1X1 this year. I switched pedals to the Fixaytion Mesa MP Subzero pedals. A MUCH better pedaling platform than I had been using. I also swapped out saddles, going through an Ergon and finally landing on a good old brooks B-17 Special. I often used a saddle bag and later, a top tube bag, on the 1X1. I'll likely keep those items rolling on the bike.

Future changes in store are that I need to replace the worn bits on the drive train, a new bottom bracket is needed, and I need to clean out the old sealant in the tires and re-up with new stuff. But other than those wear items and regular maintenance, I expect the Surly to keep on truckin' right into 2019.