The Bike That Changed My Life

I know the title of this post may sound corny, but I also know that everyone has “that one bike” that changed your whole perspective on bikes. A bike that started it all. A bike that made you become a bike enthusiast and made you become financially irresponsible. A bike that you keep coming back to, despite owning a bunch of other bikes…

This whole blog is going to be me just rambling and yapping about the bike that changed everything for me, so stick around if you’re bored out of your mind or if you like reading long and broken grammars.

“That one bike” for me is none other than the Surly Steamroller. The pic above was taken six year ago. September 10th 2020, two months after I joined Blue Lug.

After reading blogs, seeing photos, hearing stories of the Surly visit from my colleague Kasper and with the Blue Lug 20th anniversary Steamroller happening , I felt like I had to write this blog to show some love to the bike as a proud Steamroller owner.

But let me start with writing about my relationship with bicycles and how I miraculously got hired by Blue Lug.

Growing up in Shelbyville Indiana, bikes have played a huge role in my life. I would ride with my friends, from a friend’s house to a friend’s house to pretend like we’re WWE wrestlers on trampolines, play video games and other country boy shenanigans.

Our family moved back to Japan when I was 9 years old. From then, I just lived a normal Japanese kid life, bikes still being the main transportation.

I got my driver’s license when I was in high school. From around that time, I would pick up skateboarding and would spend a lot of time in my late teens and early twenties skating.

After graduating college, I started working at a street wear/skate shop which was the reason I came to Tokyo. After a solid 6, 7 years of working as a shop staff and being around rowdy skateboarders (I still love my skate friends), I felt like it was time to move on from making a bunch of noise in the street, drinking beer, and smoking cigarettes on the streets until I barely made it to the final train.

On the year 2020, I quit my previous job. It was the WORST time to let go of a job, due to COVID. I simply could not find a new job at the time. I became so broke, that I could barely pay my rent.

Although being super broke, I had the bright idea of getting a bike, so that I wouldn’t have to pay to hop on a train to visit my partner. I went to a bike shop near my apartment and bought a bike that was about $700. And that bike shop was… NOT Blue Lug unfortunately. (did I get ya?)

But whenever I would ride to my partner’s apartment, I would always pass by this big bike shop with people around the same age working with big smiles on their faces.

They looked happy. They looked passionate and proud of their job. They rode cool bikes that I have never seen before…and YES, this bike shop is in fact, Blue Lug.

I enjoyed riding a bike in Tokyo. It was the first time in years that I was riding a bike. It felt home and put a smile on my face, even though I was going through tough times.

One day, I had some free time, so I decided to step my foot into Blue Lug, since I’ve always been curious to see what they had to offer.

My mind was fully blown away.

All these frames hung up from the ceiling, bunch of random stuff scattered around the shop and people working with pure joy made me want to become a part of team.

A few weeks later, Blue Lug had posted about a job hiring on Instagram. They were specifically looking for people who spoke English. I didn’t have any knowledge in bikes, but I felt the need to shoot my shot, and the next thing I knew, I was sitting in front of Toshi the founder of Blue Lug for a job interview.

I handed my resume to him. He remained silence while he looked at my resume for about 2 minutes.

“Well, do you have anything you’d like to ask?” he says.

I panicked from such an unexpected question and asked him “Will I be able to work full time? Five days a week, if I got hired”

He chuckled and said “I mean, you could work eight days a week for all I care. I think you’ll be a great fit to the team.”

“Wait, does that mean…?” I replied nervously.

“Welcome to the team.” Toshi reached out for a handshake.

So there I was, working at one of the biggest bike shops in Tokyo without any knowledge in bicycles…

After working about two months, it was time to get my first Blue Lug bike. Out of all the brand selections, it just made sense to get a Surly, since Blue Lug has been building a bunch of clean looking Surlys for a long time and all my colleagues would say “Just get a Surly first.”

I was originally looking at three models: Cross Check, Pack Rat and Steamroller, which all three used rim brakes. I rode a BMX throughout my high school days, so I knew that single speeds were fun and those three frames were either “single speed-able” or simply a single speed frame.

Long story short, I decided to go with the Steamroller, which was just a simple single speed frame and had it painted in this green color scheme, which was inspired by this VW Golf Mk1. If I were to name the color, it would probably be something like; “Goblin Green” or “Thai Curry Green.”

I was planning on having it built by my colleague Shamy, but given the fact that the mechanics were at the peak of busyness, he couldn’t just make time to work on a staff bike.

I couldn’t wait to ride the bike, but I think the main reason I wanted the bike to be built up so bad, is because I wanted to officially become a part of the team. I wanted to belong in the community and the culture.

To be completely honest, I didn’t have any interest in working on my own bike. I’m not really good with my hands, so I wanted to leave the build to Shamy, but I decided to build the Steamroller by myself because why the hell not? I wanted to become a bike guy, it won’t hurt to have a bit of mechanical knowledge.

The closest thing to building a bike for me at the time was assembling a skateboard or a bed frame for my small flat. I didn’t have a clue what I was doing, but Shamy being such a sweetheart, he carefully taught me each process despite being SUPER busy. He would demonstrate one process, undo it and let me try it. There were even times that he would stay at the shop until 2 o’clock in the morning, which I’ll never forget.

It was exciting to see the frame gradually turn into a complete bike and very inspiring to learn how much the Blue Lug mechanics pay attention to detail in each bike build, such as facing the “Shimano” logo on the cable housing towards the front or facing the “Phil Wood” logo of the headset bearing to the front, even though I will never see that part again until I take the bike apart!

(A photo of the very first build of my Steamroller)

After a week of barely sleeping every night, the bike was finally finished. I would never forget that sense of accomplishment and the feeling of that very first ride going home.

The smoothness and the fact I was riding a bike that I built with my own hands gave me chills and put a huge smile on my face.

This bike taught me how inclusive the bike community is, taught me what a bike ride truly means, taught me different ways of riding a bike, taught me how fun it is to swap out parts and most of all, it taught me that bikes are not just a means of transportation.

It’s a toy, a tool, and a platform to express yourself.

I always think my taste in bikes would have been very different if I didn’t choose the Steamroller for my first bike at Blue Lug.

Although I’ve bought six other bikes over the years I’ve worked here, the ones I’ve ended up riding the most have always been the ones that were simply fun to ride. Comfort, practicality, and versatility are all very important, but I’ve come to realize that “fun” is what matters most to me when it comes to the bikes I ride. And I think it all goes back to the very first bike I chose when I became a bike person.

The Steamroller is simply fun to ride, but it’s also fun to tinker with. You can pretty much build it however you want and it will always look great, which is why I keep coming back to this bike.

And now, this is the 2026 build of my Steamroller.

The main goal of this build was to spend less money as possible. 85% of the components are some random parts that I had in my parts bin. The handlebar, rims and chain are the only brand new items that I bought.

I wanted a singlespeed bike that was easy on my knees, so I built it with a freewheel this time. The new handlebar I bought is the Outside Supply Therapy Bar, designed by Ming. Sure, I love how it looks, but the main reason I chose this bar is because it’s a bar that my closest colleague designed.

The wheels are 650B with Ultradynamico Cava JFF tires in 650 x 48B. Yes, they fit fine.
These tires are nice and supple, rolls like a champ and fits the fields I mostly ride this bike on, which are pavement and a bit of dirt and gravel.

Some of you may think putting this much stickers on the frame makes it look ugly, but each of them are very special to me because they are all stickers that were gifted to me within the six years of working at Blue Lug.

Once again, I am absolutely in love with the bike that started it all. It’s not fast or aggressive like a typical track frame, but it’s tough, affordable, easy to maintain and really fun to ride with both fixed gear and freewheel and just an enjoyable bike to tinker with.

If you’re looking for a singlespeed bike that physically lasts long or don’t get tired of, pick up the Steamroller. You will not regret it.

I hope this blog post helps you pull the trigger to get a Steamroller or inspires you to rebuild yours.

Parts list for this build below: