# My Prepper-themed Surly Big Fat Dummy



## 1x1_Speed_Craig (Jan 14, 2004)

I built up this Surly BFD from a frameset earlier this year. I won't bore you with every mundane detail, but it has a mix of RaceFace, Chris King, SRAM, Thomson, DT Swiss, Big O Manufacturing, and of course, Surly parts. The drivetrain is SRAM GX 1x11. It's the first geared bike I've built in 15+ years, as I've been a single speed/fixed gear guy for many, many years. the gears are a blessing on this chubby ol' bike, though. 









I wanted a bike I could use for around-town errands, but also use for bikepacking and/or as a way to carry prepping gear (non-motorized bug-out vehicle or BOV). The frameset came with the Dummy Bags, which should carry a fair amount of stuff. The left-side Dummy Bag is currently removed so a local company, Three Toes Threadworks, could take measurements for some additional storage bags I'm having made to make use of the ample frame space. Those bags will be coming soon.

While I love the bike overall, I'm not a huge fan of the ultra-slack headtube angle, as it makes the steering feel a little "floppy" (I ran into the same thing with one of my former Cannondale mountain tandems). I originally had a Surly 24-pack rack and Surly Porteur House roll-top bag mounted on the front of the bike, but it exaggerated the floppy steering. I replaced the rack/Porteur House bag with a lighter Revelate Designs Handlebar Harness and Salty Roll dry bag (not shown).

The good news is that I was able to mount the Porteur House bag sideways on the rear deck with no modifications other than the addition of two ~3" pieces of 2-sided Velcro tape. This allows for 8 total mounting points for a _very_ secure load. The Porteur House has urethane coated, water-resistant nylon stuff sacks in each of its compartments, and offers a TON of storage space.

One other great addition I just made was a SWAG Offroad Ammo Can Mount for the rear deck. I'm familiar with these guys from many years of Jeep rebuilding, and this lightweight aluminum mount works great for this application. When it's not locked, you can remove the ammo can in about 10 seconds...maybe less.

And here it is on a recent ride on the North Country Trail (NCT).








In keeping with the Prepper theme, I have some military ULCANS camo netting that I'll be using to make quick-attach covers for the side bags. I just have them rough-cut at this point, but it looks pretty good with the bike's Cromwell Green color.

This is one of four Surlys in our garage. Clearly, we like their bikes, and also their great sense of humor. They just make stuff that works.

Craig


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## Horror Business (Jan 7, 2009)

That's a pretty crazy bike. Congrats!


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## gdb85 (Mar 4, 2017)

The latest edition of "DIRT RAG" has a write up about this bike. One of the trail stewards in central Pa. put it through the ringer for four months as a trail maintenance rig. Interesting...


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## jamiedyer (Jun 24, 2008)

Have been following your posts on the FB pages and must say this is one great build and it's great to see a BFD being used to full advantage. Really liking this build and rides. 
Happy trails

Jamie

** lol, just noticed I put an almost identical post in the cargo bike picture thread back in November  Clearly it has a lasting but consistent thread in my head


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## 1x1_Speed_Craig (Jan 14, 2004)

Horror Business said:


> That's a pretty crazy bike. Congrats!


Thanks, Horror Business!



gdb85 said:


> The latest edition of "DIRT RAG" has a write up about this bike. One of the trail stewards in central Pa. put it through the ringer for four months as a trail maintenance rig. Interesting...


Sounds like a perfect use for the bike. :thumbsup:



jamiedyer said:


> Have been following your posts on the FB pages and must say this is one great build and it's great to see a BFD being used to full advantage. Really liking this build and rides.
> Happy trails
> 
> Jamie
> ...


LOL. Great to see you here (too), Jamie. There's more in-the-works...a couple custom-made bags, better chain management, and some good prepper-themed accommodations.

I've been enjoying your pictures riding with your son, as well.


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## 1x1_Speed_Craig (Jan 14, 2004)

Here's custom bag #1 from local Grand Rapids-area bag maker Three Toes Threadworks. This is just loosely attached in this photo, and it also has webbing for 1-2 straps around the seat post. The inside is a high-visibility orange, and there's some webbing on the underside of the bag to help me make better use of the space directly underneath (I can strap some sort of dry bag/roll on the underside).

P.S. - I borrowed the pedals for my SS Pugsley, and the chain is removed because I thoroughly degreased and waxed it. I still need to clean the cassette/derailleur before reinstallation.


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## ColonelSanders (Jan 15, 2018)

1x1_Speed_Craig said:


> Here's custom bag #1 from local Grand Rapids-area bag maker Three Toes Threadworks. This is just loosely attached in this photo, and it also has webbing for 1-2 straps around the seat post. The inside is a high-visibility orange, and there's some webbing on the underside of the bag to help me make better use of the space directly underneath (I can strap some sort of dry bag/roll on the underside).
> 
> P.S. - I borrowed the pedals for my SS Pugsley, and the chain is removed because I thoroughly degreased and waxed it. I still need to clean the cassette/derailleur before reinstallation.
> 
> ...


Great stuff you are doing with your Surly. :thumbsup:


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## 1x1_Speed_Craig (Jan 14, 2004)

Thanks, ColonelSanders. :thumbsup:

Here's a little update, and some more pictures of my custom bags from Three Toes Threadworks. They've proven very handy for storing small items, and make great use of the space.

The winter pic is from a ride a couple weeks ago at a local MTB trail called Luton Park. It was a beautiful ride, despite the 10-degree temps here in Michigan (even colder today than that).

Craig


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