Surly Long Haul Trucker (LHT), let the miles roll on and on and on ...

Description: (From their site) If you want to carry a lot of stuff while riding your bike long distances, you’d be hard pressed to find a better bike than the Long Haul Trucker. It starts with the frame, whose tubing and geometry were specifically designed for loaded travel. We added braze-ons for everything you’re likely to need. We gave it parts that are durable and long lasting.

As seen on the blog: Label : Surly Long Haul Trucker

UPDATE : We have now done our first tour a week long cycling holiday in Croatia on the Adriatic coast from Dubrovnik to Trogir and a little 3 days tour in Wales. What can I say, it is the most comfortable ride I ever had, it just rolls, sits there taking the miles. I now use it as my daily commuter, even though it is not as fast or light as my other bicycles, but it gets me there, its like riding a sofa.

end update ...

After hours, okok days, of surfing on the 'tinterweb and talking to people who were in the know. We made our mind up and got two Surly Long Haul Truckers, a 58cm olive green (2009) and a 46cm burgundy/red (2008) from Brixton Cycles in London.

We then crawled the net for some good deals so that we could build the bicycles up. Like the XT groupset we got from chainreaction nearly 100 quid of the list price etc. So it took sometime to get the LHT ready and there was a wee delay because I got the wrong front dérailleur for one of the bikes, doh.

I test rode mine on a 137 miles ride to the coast, quite a mean feat since I have never ridden a touring bicycle before, let alone fully loaded.

Well here goes about the Surly Long Haul Trucker.

Weight unloaded : Heavy
Weight fully loaded : Fecking heavy
Handling unloaded : Very easy, smooth and comfortable, it just rolls
Handling fully loaded : Can you say four wheels
Speed : This is no race horse, but will get you there
Loading capacity : Bring it on!

Like all the other reviews says about the LHT as a touring bicycle, it's the bees knees. Ok I have only done a few commutes, one day trip and a 3 day tour on the Surly. But it has quickly become our most comfortable and enjoyable bicycle to ride, loaded and unloaded.

The only down side with this bike is that you get so use to it and want to ride it all the time because it is so comfortable and a joy to ride. So when you get on your other bicycle(s) you will not like it, because you will feel all the bumps that are on the roads you take, it will be twisty, hard to handle. And therefore your other bicycles will just stand there not be used at all.

Equipment on the bikes, e.g. how we dressed them up.

The 46cm burgundy Surly aka Milly.
Cranks : XT
Rear dérailleur : XT
Front dérailleur : Ultegra
Shifters : Ultegra
V-brakes : XT, with Travel Agents so that the Ultegra would work with them
Hubs : Hope, and boy do the rear one talk when freewheeling
Cassette/Chain rings : Shimano, 44,32,22 and a 11-34 cassette.
Handle bars :
Racks : Tubus Ergo and Tubus Cargo Seat : Selle Italia

Here is what Peli says about her Milly :

It's just too comfortable.

Riding any of my other bikes almost cripples me. I rode my Enigma tonight and felt like I'd aged fifty years.

What am I to do?!

Perhaps I'll just put all the stems up a few inches, on the Enigma. I'm finding I have to stretch a great deal to reach for the brake levers, which is annoying and see how it feel then. Plus, I'm finding the Campag shifters far less comfortable these days (too "flat" somehow - my hand slips off them easily) than the LHT's Ultegra ones.

Seriously, though. I think it's the long wheel base, 35mm tyres, 26" wheels and higher bar position which make the LHT such a pleasure to ride. The bars are actually *very* high as I've found they're really comfy like that when riding fully - and heavily - loaded, and there's no point in moving them up and down for the daily commute.

The downside to the LHT is that it's bloody heavy. And slow. And I get overtaken. A lot. Which I Do Not Like. The LHT eventually manages to build up quite a bit of speed on the flat, but takes ages to get going. Nippy it ain't. Mine nods off at traffic lights and wakes up with a "Move? What, me? Oh, go on then"

The 58cm green Surly aka the Tank.
Cranks : XT
Rear dérailleur : XT
Front dérailleur : XT
Shifters : XT
V-brakes : XT
Hubs : SUN on the front and XT on the rear.
Cassette/Chain rings : Shimano, 44,32,22 and a 11-34 cassette.
Handle bars :
Racks : Tubus Ergo and Tubus Cargo Seat : Brooks B17

As you can see we went for Shimano and XT, but I think that we have it covered. Since Shimano can be found all over and XT is compatible with lower specks of Shimano if we should end up breaking something. We have found out that the gear ratios we have atm is spot on, we even managed to climb a 25% (1/4) hill in Wales.

The SON hub, even if people say it is heavy and generate drag. It is a good thing I do not have to worry about charging batteries that often. Yes it is heavy and there is drag, which I haven't noticed while cycling only when I spin the front wheel when the bike is stationary. And the drag is nothing compared to the drag that a heavy bicycle on thick 35mm tyres with fully load panniers would generate, oh and me on it. And would you even notice the extra grams that the hub is compared to your extra batteries or charger you are carrying in your already full panniers, naa.

Rating:

Ok this is a bit wrong to do a rating on a bicycle that you have never ridden the like of before. This is my first touring bicycle and the only touring I have done fully loaded. But the LHT have not turned me off the idea of touring, the only question is where next ?