My original intention had been to build my own Surly Long Haul Trucker but the world financial crisis and time have killed that option. The price of a frame at the time of making the decision to order a new built LHT was Australia $990 whereas I could buy a complete 2009 LHT in Truckaccino for $2,129 Australian. This combined with really not having the time to put into my own build lead me down the path of a complete and modified route instead.

On March 7, 2009 I placed an order with Churchill Cycles, Myaree, Western Australia for my new LHT and took possession of the bike on April 4, 2009. This order got me a standard LHT which I intend to modify and add accessories to suit me. More photos of the Surly LHT can be found in the gallery.

Why a Surly Long Haul Trucker?

Before deciding on the LHT I considered a Vivente Randonneur (turned off by the attitude at Balmoral Cycles, Victoria Park plus they where happy to sell me a wrong sized bike). Also the other recommended dealer, Cycle Centre, East Perth, took nearly four months to get back to me! All this plus I just could not get excited about this bike led me to consider two other alternatives: A Fuji Tourer (poor dealer response in WA but could have got one from Melbourne but with freight there was little cost advantage again did nothing to inspire confidence in buying one of these) and a Cannondale Touring 1 or 2 (just too expensive I am afraid, but at least the local Cannondale representative really tried to help).

All this kept leading me back to the idea of a Surly Long Haul Trucker, something about this bike and Surly grabs me so here we are. I did considered purchasing a frame and building the bike up myself but the drop in the exchange rate due to the world financial crisis and just not having the time has killed that option for now. Instead I have purchased a complete bike, however as I am not keen on the idea of bar-end shifters I will be seeing how I go with this set-up with the option to convert this standard bike to STI configuration in the future; either Shimano or Campagnolo. You can read more on the options in the drive train section below.

So here we are … discussing the process of setting up a Surly Long Haul Trucker as road (hard and dirt roads) tourer suitable for touring in Western Australia, Australia, New Zealand and generally first world countries and as commuter, at least a winter commuter. I am not building it as an expedition tourer.

My fundamentals are that I want a good solid tourer set-up for long days in the saddle and loaded climbing, but also something I could use as at least a winter commuter. I want it to have drop bars, brifters, a relatively low range front crank set (something around the 22-32-44 range eventually), 9 speed mountain bike rear cluster and dérailleur, and touring wheels (36 spoke). It will also have front and rear racks,and be set up to pull my BOB Ibex trailer.

Cost:

I am maintaining a Google spreadsheet of the capital cost of this bike. All costs provided are in Australian dollars and include postage where applicable. The spreadsheet can be found here [Excel]. My maintenance log includes an approximate per kilometre running cost over the life of the bike.

The Bike – Specification, Modifications and Accessories:

Accessories | Brakes | Controls | Drivetrain | Frame and Fork | Wheels and Tyres

Accessories

Lights: While it is not my intention to ride at night on tourers, Sir Lancelot is being used as a commuter as well as a tourer, so lights are required. I have therefore fitted a pair of Universal Bicycle Swivel Mounts to allow use of my Fenix L2D torches that I currently use and feel that these will suffice for now.

If I continue to use the bike as a winter commuter, it is my intention to fit a hub dynamo and a dynamo powered LED so I have permanent commuter lighting with the need to worry about continuous charging of AA batteries or the like.  My current thinking is along the lines of Bush and Muller IQ Cyo R N Plus as reviewed by EcoVelo and installed by Ken at Palm Beach Bike Tours.

Mudguards: These are silver SKS Chromoplastic P50 mudguards. They appear to have a good reputation and come in a range of sizes. The P50 fit 700c 38 – 45 mm tyres so should be fine for me. Interesting I went with the P50 size and have been pretty happy with them so far, whereas CycleJerk is now reporting issues with the choice of the P45 size (see discussion in the Surly Owner’s Group). Something to consider.

Update – January 15, 2010:  I am a little disappointed with the mudguards as where the stays mount to the guard themselves, I have now lost two lots of mounting hardware and have had to use tie-wire to secure the stays to the guard. Attempts to email SKS with respect to obtaining replacement parts have gone unanswered.

Water bottle cages: I am going to go with two Topeak Modula XL cages . This should give me good water carrying capacity.

Front Rack: Currently no front rack fitted but on March 4, 2010 I ordered a Tubus Lowrider Tara front rack from Bike24.net. Only issue is it is black.

Rear Rack: I have fitted a Tubus Cargo Expedition rear rack which I purchased from Wiggle for $130.46. The rack fitted easily and has performed well.

Kickstand: Whilst I appreciate that the debate about kickstand versus no kickstand is a bit like a discussion about religion, I am going with a kickstand. Having considered the option of the Hebie Bidop stand 605 and the ESGE Bipod kickstand I ordered on March 5, 2010 Hebie Bidop stand 605 and 699 40 mounting plate. Dan’s Ramblings has a comparison of the two models. Ken at Palm Beach Bike Tours also has a good reflection on his use of bike stands.  I went with the Hebie for a couple of reasons: (1) Simply price and ease of ordering from Bike24.net; (2) there is a mounting plate available (the Surly Long Haul Trucker does not have a mount for a stand); and (3) I like the look of the design. Time will tell if it was  the right choice or not.

Brakes

My preference was to go with 2009 Avid Shorty 6 cantilever brakes. These are more expensive for sure, but early indications are that they are significant improvement over the previous model. However the LHT comes standard with Tektro 992 "Oryx" so will run with these and see how they go particularly in the wet. After a winter of riding and still using the stock pads, I think I will stick with the standard brakes but update the pads. If that does not improve braking then I will consider the Avid Shorty option.

The brake levers are Tektro R200A standard levers.

The front cable hanger is a Tektro #1271A with noodle in silver

Controls

Handlebars: The LHT comes standard with drop bars, the brand being PMT with Co-Union Cork Mix tape. I am not familiar with these bars so will go with them for now and may consider replacing them with Nitto Noodle bars if I don’t find them suitable.

Headset: Standard headset is a Ritchey Logic Comp1-1/8" threadless, w/ 40mm spacers in black. No changes planned. Stack height 30.2 mm.

Stem: Standard stem is a forged silver Kalloy1-1/8" threadless with 25.4mm clamping. No changes planned.

Pedals: A useful discussion on same can be found at Bike Forums. I am currently using my pair of Shimano M424 SPD pedals as they are clip-in both sides, offer a wide supportive platform and can be used with bikes shoes if necessary.

Saddle: The standard saddle is a WTB SST with steel rails. I pretty much replaced the standard saddle immediately with a Brooks B17 which had been fitted to Chase, my Giant CRX 1. The WTB SST saddle was just not for me. However the Brooks is sensitive to getting the adjustment correct and whilst I have just got away with the standard seat post, I found Tamia Nelson’s posting on adjusting the seat angle on a Surly LHT helpful.

Seat post: The standard seat post is a silver Kalloy SP-342 (27.2 mm x 300 mm) with a Surly stainless natural silver clamp. If you are fitting a Brooks saddle, the standard seat post may not provide sufficient setback. The Velo Orange VO Grand Cru seat post is a recommend replacement.

Drivetrain

Bottom Bracket: Standard BB is a Shimano UN53. 68×110mm. No changes planned.

Cassette: Standard cassette is a Shimano Deore XT CS-M770 9-speed 11-13-15-17-20-23-26-30-34t. Whilst, no changes are planned, I have found the ratios are not quite tight enough for my commuting so may consider other options once the time comes to replace the cassette.

Chain: The standard chain as fitted is a SRAM PC971 9-Speed.

Crankset: The standard crankset is a silver forged arms with aluminium rings, 110mm BCD, 48-36-26t Andell. My inclination is change this out to a Sugino XD600 (26/36/48), but will see how the Andell goes first.

Dérailleur – Front: Standard front dérailleur is a Shimano Tiagra FD-4403 triple. This will stay as fitted.

Dérailleur – Rear: Standard rear dérailleur is a Shimano Deore XT RD-M761 SGS long cage. This will stay as fitted.

Shifters: Currently the standard Shimano Dura-Ace Bar-end SL-BS77 9 speed shifters are fitted.  However, my preference here is brifters, so I am looking at Campagnolo Xenon Ergopower 10 Speed Gear Shifters which will be married to the standard mountain bike back end and the standard road front end OR Tiagra 9 speed shifters married to the standard dérailleur components.

There has been a really helpful discussion on the Surly Long Haul Trucker & Cross-Check Owners Group in respect to brifter options. I will try and summarise the discussion here. My thanks to Hank Wirtz and Gary form the owner’s group for the substance of this advice.

1. Campagnolo shifters are the best option. Either 10 speed or 9 speed shifters depending on if a 8 speed cassette or a 9 speed cassette is required;
2. Suggested Campagnolo shifters include Veloce and Centaur. Hank notes that with the exception of Xenon (any year) and 2007-08 Mirage, Veloce and Centaur (they say "QS" on the left lever), any Campagnolo (Campy) lever will work with any front derailleur that’s appropriate for the crank. The levers suggested require either a "QS" or "FB" front derailleur. For triple cranks, those are Comp Triple, Race Triple, Mirage FB, Veloce FB, Centaur FB, and Chorus FB.
3. Pre-2007 and now 2009 Ergopower levers aren’t indexed in the front, so you can use any front derailleur that’s appropriate for your crank. Use a Shimano one if you want.
4. Some combinations known to work are:
   • Campagnolo 11 speed shifters + Shimano rear derailleur + Shimano/SRAM 9 speed cassette;
   • Campagnolo 10 speed shifters + Shimano rear derailleur + 8 speed cassette;
   • Campagnolo 10 speed shifters + Campagnolo rear derailleur + Shimano/SRAM 9 speed cassette – use a Campy triple front derailleur – systems that are all-Campy 10speed shift 9s Shimano cassettes great, just adjust the limit screws to lock out the last click.
   • Campagnolo 10 speed shifters + Shimano rear derailleur + Shimano/SRAM 9-speed cassette + Jtek Shiftmate;
   • Campagnolo 10 speed shifters + Shimano rear derailleur + Shimano/SRAM 9-speed cassette + Hubbub cable routing;
   • Campagnolo 9 speed shifters + Shimano rear derailleur + 8 speed cassette + Hubbub cable routing.

Hank notes that he is using 2009 Veloce shifters (10 speed) with a Centaur Long Cage rear derailleur and Record Carbon front derailleur shifting a 50-34 Veloce UT crank, and a 9 speed 11-34 SRAM PG-970 cassette. Hank goes on to say "that they shift the 9 speed cassette beautifully. The limit screw locks out the last click." My only concern with this configuration is the carbon front derailleur. Maybe not ideal on a tourer.

Gray indicated that he is using Campagnolo Veloce 10 speed QS shifters with a Shimano XT 9 speed complete drive train (except the brifters and a Tiagra front derailleur). Gary uses a Jtek adapter in this combination.

In addition to the above there is a very good resource on the topic called "Rear Shifting" which is published on the CTC website.

Another option is to go with Shimano 9 speed shifters such as Tiagra or if still available, 105. Bikes such as the Bianchi Axis have a mixed of Shimano road and mountain bike components.

Pedals: The Surly does not come fitted with pedals. As a I had a pair of Shimano PD-M424 pedals on hand, I have used these on the Surly.

Frame and Fork

The frame is a Surly Long Haul Trucker frame, described by Surly as "100% Surly 4130 CroMoly steel. Main triangle double butted. TIG-welded. The frame size is 58 cm. Colour: Truckaccino (Pantone Colour Code RAL 1019) .

The fork is the standard Surly Long Haul Trucker fork, a 100% CroMoly, lugged and brazed fork with a 1-1/8" threadless steer tube uncut.

Frame Protection: I have done nothing in terms of frame protection.

The seat post clamp is a Surly stainless steel clamp in natural silver.

Wheels and Tyres

Rims and Hubs:  I am currently running the OEM Alex Adventurer 700C 36h rims with Shimano Deore XT HU-M770-s front hub and a Shimano Deore XT FH-M770-S rear hub and DT Swiss 14g stainless steel spokes.

The Alex Adventurer rims are a double wall design with the following specifications: ERD 603.1 mm ETRTO 622×18 mm, with an inner rim width of 17.5 mm and an outer rim width of 24.5 mm.

Tyres: The OEM tyres where Continental Travel Contacts 700Cx37 which I removed at 4,722 km.  As my day to day use of the bike is commuting, I have now fitted Continental Grand Prix 4-Season V 700Cx28. For touring duties I have ordered (March 4, 2010) a set of Schwalbe Marathon Cross HS 334 700Cx38 as I have a nine day tour coming in April 2010 which will involve a mix of bitumen and dirt roads.

Resources:

Links to discussion forums, owner reviews on the LHT and other related and helpful resources.

Surly Related Discussion Forums

The Ultimate Trek.com Blog – Review on Daniel’s own Long Haul Trucker plus other gear being used on Daniel’s adventure.

Jon’s Cycling Log – Jon has a costing comparison of a Surly Long Haul Trucker versus a Dawes Ultra Galaxy.

Jim’s Riding 4 Life blog – Jim is a LHT owner

Marcos Netto Long Haul Trucker set-up with STI shifters and Deore deraiullers. Nice photos and specification information.

Palm Beach Tours – Ken is a Surly Long Haul Trucker owner and great story teller. Ken’s 2009 year in review in respect to his LHT can be found here.

The Surly Randonneur -  Surly commuter and Audax rider.

Other interesting discussions of interest

Touring Handlebars – Discussion in Crazyguyonabike forums.

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