Surly Midnight Special Rival Bike 650b Black - 46

Today’s road bikes are tricky little buggers. Sure, there’s still a place for super narrow, pizza cutter-esque tires that save watts and shave grams or whatever. There’s probably still even a place for a road racing bike. Those places still exist. We just don’t know - or particularly care - where they are. When it comes to road bikes, we just want to toss a few bananas into our pockets and see where the road takes us. We seek out varied surfaces on our rides and frequently go from pavement to gravel to shittier pavement.

Enter: The Midnight Special - a Road Plus bike designed to provide comfort and speed on those all-day rides that etend well beyond fresh pavement. It rides like a cloud on smooth pavement. but that’s expected. Any bike can do that. Where it truly shines is on pot-holed, deteriorating pavement and the occasional long stretch of gravel. The Midnight Special’s 650b Road Plus tires eat up road chatter and absorb all the bumps in the road like the champion it was designed to be.

If you’re some masochist who is unfazed by the thought of a bumpy, chattery eight-hour road ride, you should know that the benefits of Road Plus go beyond just comfort. They also create a wider contact patch, thereby increasing your traction. And traction is a good thing. Additionally, higher volume tires allow you to better fine tune your tire pressure on varying surfaces. Let a little out on bumpier roads and pump those suckers up on smooth ones.

Components

Headset: Cane Creek 40, 1-1/8"
Brakes: TRP Spyre, 160mm rotors
Brake Levers/Shifters: SRAM Rival 1 11-Speed
Stem: ProMax, 31.8 4 bolt
Handlebar: Salsa Cowbell 3
Grip/Tape: Black Cork
Saddle: WTB Volt Sport
Seatpost: Promax
Crankset: SRAM Rival 1 40T
Bottom Bracket: SRAM GXP
Rear Derailleur: SRAM Rival 1
Cog or cogset: SunRace 11-42t
Chain: KMC X11
Wheels: Novatech D791, 12mm Thru, 32H, Novatech D792, 142mm Thru, 32H
Rims: Alex Adventurer 2, Tubeless ready, 32H
Tires: WTB Horizon, 650b x 47 Tan Side Wall