New Bike

I knew that I wasn't going to ride the Allegheny and C&O this summer on any of the bikes I currently own. My fixie track bike (that I converted to single speed w/coaster brakes) would have been too uncomfortable and there's not a lot of room for tires bigger than 700x25. My Cannondale 1fg ss with 26" wheels is suffering from a severe case of cannibalization. My Redline Monocog Flight 29er ss would be a perfect choice, but I am doing a 12 hour race in May and hopefully a couple of other local races and switching tires, chain rings, and various other parts back and forth do not seem that appealing.   So, in my typical (ir)rationalization fashion, I purchased a Surly Steamroller. Jenson was selling the 2009 model for $599. Not too bad of a price, I've seen the 2011 frames alone in the $400 range.  I did make some upgrades using parts I had on hand (salsa stem, salsa seat post, salsa poco drops, fizik arione saddle and ritchey speedmax 700x32 cross wheels with slime tubes). I bought a shimano dx freewheel on the cheap compliments of ebay to use with the flip flop hub. I am running it as a single speed bike at the moment, but like the option to go fixie at any time. I've only ridden it three times so far, a total of about 50 miles, but so far I am super pleased. There's no denying the feel of 4130 steel. I like the road bike geometry and the ritchey speedmax tires do equally well on pavement as well as dirt. Not sure about the 47:19 gearing, but will have to do some longer rides to see how it feels. Riding here in Virginia Beach, I would much rather gear towards a slower start and faster cruising than the other way around.  Not sure what I am going to do about the Allegheny and C&O, although from what Ive read, the grade is only 1.5%-2%. More on that later.