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wonder if you could fit a 105 group set to this bike?

why not powder coat it? :-)

Lovely work......removing the old square taper bottom bracket is a great upgrade...those things are like a solid piece of steel...very heavy....the hollowtech ones are much more rigid too..

What’s the size of your midnight special frame?

Thanks

Absolutely priceless, thanks @TheSlowworms. I've got the same rusty-bar problem with my T6 bike rack and can now repair it with confidence thanks to you. Now I just have to work out whether black will go with Indium Grey 🤣

great vid! personally i think you should definitely go 1x and put a deore rear mech on so you can keep your levers. i dont think the deore has a clutch on it but i never had issues doing something similar on my cx bike. hopenthis helps

I personally use flatheat screwdrivers to take of tires.

It looks awesome! Well done. The speckling from the can could be due to the way you are holding it, ie... pointing it downwards. Or it could be if the can hasn't been shaken enough before use.

Good video!

I have the exact same bike. Same color in a size 50. I run SPD pedals and specialized Pathfinder Pro 650b x48 tires tubeless run at around 35psi with hunt carbon wheelset. I'm 5'7", 150lbs. I also have a hunt 700c wheel set but prefer the 650 b. They may be a little slower but I feel more planted and comfortable. Definitely more fun and makes the bike more of an all-around ride which is how Surly markets it. At one time I had a whiskey carbon Fork. It was lighter but not as comfortable as the surly fork that I went back to and will keep on the bike. The Savings in weight was negligible and to be honest not noticeable. Money I wish I wouldn't have spent. In other words don't try to make it a lightweight racing bike. If that's what you want go buy a lightweight carbon whip . Have fun! Cheers

Nice build ! I plan on getting a midnight special frame soon, i was making a parts list, but I'm not sure what the correct headset would be. Mind me asking what headset you used? Thanks

Replace 2 speed crankset to single speed is downgrade👎

Great video, i plan to do the same with a trek domane al 2. Thanks for the video.

Brilliant

Really nice colour. Coming from the mountainbike world my Surly is my first road/gravel bike. It is so much fun. I prefer it over my other bikes.

Nice home build! I've got a home-built cyclo/gravel/road bike too. Gravel Kings perfect for most off road riding. Rim brake pads can get a lot of rocks embedded. Gotta pick the rocks out once in a while. If you need lower gears, you change to 10 speed with a Shimano Deore 11-42 rear cassette. Keep your rear derailleur as it'll work fine with some used 10 speed road shifters (e.g. 105/Ultegra). You will want to add a Wolf Tooth RoadLink derailleur hanger extension to clear the largest gear. Once you get your bike sorted for the kinds of riding you do, you will discover that most store-bought gravel bikes aren't really much better!

friendly suggestions! (nice build) -Not sure you're meant to put thread locker on the BB. Water and moisture ingress can seize that shell to the threads and make it even harder to come out. I live in Florida and we make sure to grease everything because of the humidity. Would just hate to see you struggle to take that out in a year or so. -maybe you will or did but; put some clear 3m or whatever tape over the exposed metal bits. You don't want a hole to rust through your frame! -in my experience with these kinds of steel gravel bikes; wider= better. MS' can fit a 2.25 I think? Maybe try that out. It's so much more fun! -lower the gearing. a 50/38 is kind wild and probably a little overgeared for a bike that heavy. maybe you're stronger than I, tho. Just feel that 1x works best for stuff like this. anyways, I just felt those ideas would help. Cheers pal

Super nice kit!!

Schwalbe Super Moto 700x40 tires on my Norco Search. Not gonna lie, the motocross like tread pattern had alot to do with the choice. But also, hard to find tires that large and wide that are not knobby gravel/mountain tires.

Three Surlys in the househould. CrossCheck, Orgre and a Troll. Platform pedals on all of the. Thousands of miles and smiles.

Definitely try TUFO tires, their gravel line is pretty amazing! Me personally have Thundero 40mm, so fast and comfy

Oooh Nice

Liked this format of story with bike build. Love the bike. Am very interested with the tyre situation. I am using your exact tyre and finding them to be quite fast (at 27psi front). What's the new tyre? Is it faster? If you make a video out of it, i'll definitely watch it.

Hi do you find this bike heavy.?

I always use flat pedals with my builds to avoid falling over at traffic lights, as for a tyre choice i have just got some schwalbe hurricanes for my bike they have a smooth bit in the middle for road and nobbles on the sides if i was going to do some light gravel paths seem to roll really well 👌

I like my Michelin Power Adventure quite a bit on my all roads bike (42 mm). I also have slick gravelkings (38mm, non sk) on my commuter bike and they’re great in wet conditions.

Great build video. Nice bike. Pedals you could go for mtb spd I would recommend ones that have a cage around foe more support as stops hot spots on feet for long rides. Pd m8020 / ultegra spd which are like a road pedal but use mtb spd cleats. You could use pd a540 shimano they have mtb spd one side and flat pedal other side. Best of both worlds then can wear normal shoes aswell as cleats very versatile. In terns of tyre pressure it's trail and error and personal to rider and bike weight riding condition s etc. I would try 25 to 30 then see how it feels and go up or down by 5 psi at a time to you like how it feels. Hope this helps . Let me know if I can help anymore. Cheers.

Thank you for your video. You are so down to earth and relatable. I enjoyed it all throughout. The midnight looks rad mate! I got a gorilla monsoon , a similar steel frame and love it more than my other “fancier “ bikes. 👍🏽

I'm looking for your new vd.

Swap your crankset out for the GRX600 one and you’ll be perfect. I have a Tiagra/GRX group on two of my bikes and it works flawlessly. Those gear ratios will get you everywhere. 👍🏼

I use Shimano PD-EH500 pedals on my gravel bike. Clips on one side for performance, grippy flats on the other for casual riding. Awesome bike, I really want one myself!

Greetings, the bike turned out great. I like the paint.. and everything else :). English is not my mother language so I didn't catch or you didn't even say how tall you are and what is your frame size. I am in a similar situation, Surly MS is first on my list, but I am not able to try on the sizes. (EU). yours is 50cm!? great video and enjoy the ride..

Ye Thomson stems are cool but better go for a carbon seatpost they much more comfy/better flex. Ritchey superlogic posts are very good and used you can get them for around 100$ ...

I ride an Ibis Hakka with 40mm all-purpose gravel tires. Good for when the ride is 5/45/50 singletrack/gravel/road. Semi slicks are nicer if you almost never touch anything like muddy/rocky singletrack or road a lot of road (but I have an all-road bike for those rides). Nice build though! Color and everything looks great, very proper.

Flat pedals or mtb shoes with spd pedals

Definitely lower the pressure and ride again. 30-40 psi?

Single sided SPD clips. Gravelking SS+ 35 good for road and gravel but not gnarly gnarly gravel. But 700c for sure.

Try using SPDs instead of the road shoe-clips. way more comfortable, double sided clip in, and you can walk normally since they are recessed ;)

Great build I have a group set on an older road bike and looking for a budget Allroad type frame to move it over to. On my gravel bike I’m running gravel kings SK’s 700/43c with 35ish psi in and they are fast enough on the road whilst being comfortable over gravel. I originally run flat shoes on my gravel bike but got fed up feeling like my foot wasn’t in the right place and sometimes being bounced off the pedal when shifting. Ended up with SPD’s and Lake MX169 which are super comfortable, and the only shoes I could find with a natural shaped toe box for my hobbit feet 🦶

why did you put threadlocker on your threaded BB? never use that on a threaded BB, just grease.

SPD mountain bike clipless. I really like my Giro MTB shoes that have laces, pretty comfortable and walk around nearly like a normal shoe.

really enjoyed the video and beautiful bike. love the color.

it's beautiful and the only surly I want (I use on my Fargo 29x2,25 60 psi but I am a fat cyclist)

I have the same tires on my gravel bike, and I have them at about 25-35psi. Really plush. I'm 65kg though. Also you could try getting the Microshift Sword Groupset. The 2x version has a good range of gears in my opinion.

I'd definitely change out the crankset to have lower gearing. The chainline on that road crank probably has a 43.5 chainline and wider GRX chainline will likely suit the rear spacing of that frame. This bike is definitely heavier than what you had previously and that's where the lower gearing will feel more comfortable getting the bike up to speed. I think gearing really should be more customizable - depending on bike type and terrain. Where I am at, a fast hard road ride will average 17 mph due to lots of urban spaces (stop and go) and hill repeats so it makes no sense to have a top gear that will allow me to ride 30+ mph at a reasonable RPM. Also, having smaller chainrings will mean you use more of your cassette's higher gears that remain mostly unused on most bikes. KMC chains are good, they're slightly noisier and don't shift as well as Shimano chains, but they seem to last at least as long. Congrats on the bike - steel is the best material for all around riding IMO and Surly's have a great steel feel to them.

Lovely build! Hope for many happy miles

tire suggestion, specialized pathfinder pros in 38s seem like a perfect all rounder for me where I can go fast but still hit some dirt if I drop the tire pressure. Currently running around 45 psi for road and for offroad I do about 30

I bought a stock MS right before the pandemic in 2020. Have since installed a carbon fork and a set of 700c wheels. It handles really well and I can see it being something I will keep as long as I'm still able to ride. I love the classic look with the horizontal top tube.

Road bikes with aggro geo and narrow tires is indeed not for everyone. My friend thought he'd love his road/cyclocross bike but ended up with sore back after a long ride. That surly will also last longer than any aluminum or carbon frame.