Customer Interviews: Commuter & Trail Rider Dylan Menges

Dylan Menges was the proud recipient one of the first Surly ECR builds we put together after the bike model was released last year. Dylan lives in Columbus, Ohio, and uses his ECR to commute around town and explore the bike paths and trails along the Scioto River. He is a true adventure rider and wanted a bike durable enough to serve him reliably for rides of all kinds for many years to come.

Read on to learn more about how Dylan uses his Rohloff SPEEDHUB-equipped bike and what other features stand out on his ECR.

Mount Diablo Bikepacking Trip

Mount Diablo is known among Bay Area cyclists for being a long, punishing, and oftentimes intensely hot climb. While the team here at Cycle Monkey knew the reputation the mountain had, we experienced the pain it can dish out firsthand on our recent weekend bikepacking trip on the fireroads and singletrack that wind up the mountain. While we got our fair share of the flowing singletrack, sweeping views, and triumphant peaks that we had come for, our ride was also marked by steep climbs, brutal heat, and bushwhacking through overgrown trails. Regardless, the mountain delivered a fun and adventurous weekend that lit a fire under us to go on an extended offroad tour.

Sea Otter Trail Ride Video

Neil and Phil headed down to Sea Otter Classic earlier this month to have a look at some of the most exciting new product releases in the bike industry. Sea Otter, held in Monterey, California, is one of the largest bike festivals in the world, offering races, product demos, and amazing trails. We showed off Neil's Oxide Battleaxe and Surly Krampus to customers at the festival, and afterwards went for a trail ride at the neighboring Fort Ord National Monument. Neil rode his suspension-equipped Surly Krampus and Phil rode his rigid Krampus.

Northwest Trails Trip Video

On their drive north to the Seattle Bicycle Expo, Neil and Phil stopped along the way to ride a few of the Pacific Northwest's most renowned trails. Although the weather wasn't always cooperative, they rode their newly built Rohloff-equipped Surly Krampuses in Olympia, Washington, Portland, Oregon, and Redding, California. Watch our video above from some of the best singletrack in the country.

Neil and Phil Ride into the Sunset in Olympia, Washington

On our way north to the Seattle Bicycle Expo, Neil and I stopped just west of Olympia, Washington to ride the dense woods of Capitol State Forest. The first half of the ride – the climb – was very scenic and relaxing after a long day of driving, but the descent portion of the ride turned into a bit of a fiasco. The ride was incredibly fun for the most part, but it became another trail that we couldn’t ride at our full potential, and we had to promise ourselves we would return in better conditions.

After a long, winding drive through the woods just west of Olympia, Washington’s state capital, we reached the trailhead deep in the forest. Capitol State Forest is a relatively isolated area, and as we drove through the trees and clearings it was a nice break from the monotony of the freeway. We had been driving north toward Seattle for hours, so we were excited to be getting out into the wilderness after a long day of driving.

Neil and Phil Ride Redding in a Rainstorm

On the way to up to the Pacific Northwest for the Seattle Bicycle Expo, Neil and I stopped in Redding, California to get a ride in and help break up the twelve hour drive. We didn’t know much about the trails in the area before we got on the road, but we had heard that Redding had some good riding so we decided to make the stop. While driving north on Highway 5 through the Central Valley, we looked up a few specific trail options on our smartphones and decided to just pick the trail that sounded the most fun and take our chances. Little did we know that this spur-of-the-moment stop would be one of the most fun and adventurous rides either of us had been on in a while.

Phil's Point Reyes Fatbike Adventure

The sand dunes at the end of Limantour Spit provided plenty of panoramic views.

For the Thanksgiving weekend my family headed just north of San Francisco to Point Reyes National Seashore to do some hiking, explore the beach, and of course eat plenty of turkey among kin. Knowing that Point Reyes has mile upon mile of trails and coastline, I took my Pugsley with me to put it through its paces on a long beach ride. On Thanksgiving Day, after stuffing myself with stuffing and taking my requisite nap, I started scouring maps of the area to find the longest stretch of uninterrupted beach to ride without any cliffs blocking the way. I mapped out a decent 20-or-so mile ride and planned to set out the next day during the afternoon low tide.

This coastal fire road follows the coast south for a few miles.