Concrete Jungle - The Special Surly

I'm not here to educate anyone on the musical style or cultural influence of 'The Specials', merely to showcase a build that I was asked to add the final brush strokes to with custom decals. 

The owner was introduced to the band via his siblings in his teen, and playing it on his Dad's high-end hi-fi.  Growing up surfside in Sydney, the rude boy fashion was popular with surfers and skaters and if you haven't listen to Malcolm Gladwell's 'Hallelujah', you will certainly acknowledge that the music from our teens and early 20s holds an almost eternal influence on us.

Icons on THE SURLY were pulled from the typography, symbolism and style of The Specials which features a design element ubiquitous with speed - the checkered flag!It was only after giving the owner a preview of the bike that I had a brain fart of adding a band of checkers to the rear hub.  Simple, stylish and speedy!   

The Chris King MTN30 are peerless.  Chris (King), if you're reading this - feel free to add this to your line-up of delicious hubs as a limited edition drop.  

Though The Specials are from the UK, the build is dripping with MUSA parts from other brands heavily influenced by music and culture. 

Paul Component Box Car stem is front and centre, with their trick brake levers, trickling down to the Klamper calipers through Yokozuna housing. 

A Thomson Trail carbon handlebar and Masterpiece post also add to the rhythm section on this build.

The Paul Components cranks are just stunning.  Classic in design, beautifully machined and industriously anodised so they won't fade in the sun.  Bolted to them is a Wolf Tooth Chainring, who also provide the pedals, titanium cage, ergo grips and bar ends.

Down the back is a Wheels Manufacturing SOLO XD driver to allow conversion of XD drivers to singlespeed.  I've been thrashing mine for over a year now and love it.   It's been flawless and so easy to install.

An Izumi chain joins the chainring to the cog, ready for all the torque you can muster.

As the sun fell, and someone patted my dog (out of shot) the light changes mesmerised me into a meditative state, recapturing components that now looked different.  Finally, it dropped behind the clouds and songs stopped playing.Look out for this bike on the cobbles of Melburn Roobaix - which is celebrating 20 years of existence.  It'll be on display at Off Course Bike Shop in the lead up!

Build Breakdown:

• Surly Karate Monkey frame / fork
• Chris King Headset
• Chris King 27.5 MTN30 wheelset
• Thomson Carbon Trail Handlebars
• Thomson Masterpiece Post
• Wolf Tooth ERGO grips
• Wolf Tooth bar ends
• Wolf Tooth Ti Bidon Cage
• Wolf Tooth Chainring
• Paul Component brake levers
• Paul Component Klamper brake calipers
• Paul Component Cranks
• Paul Component Boxcar Stem
• Yokozuna brake housing
• Izumi Chain
• Wheels Manufacturing SOLO XD driver
• Teravail EHLINE 27.5 x 2.5
• Surly chain tensioner
• TANGE Bottom Bracket
• Brooks Cambium C17 saddle
• Quad Lock stem cap mount
• FYXO stylin'