Surly Long Haul Trucker

[Pottsy]

I've just ordered one of these - frame and forks only. I'm going to build it up with bits I already have and a few new purchases. It's going to be my touring bike for a potential long European trip this summer.

Perhaps I should have asked first but I was just wondering if anyone else has one and can reassure me that it's a great bike?

 

[andym]

It seems to be very popular in the US - at $750 (IIRC) for a fully-built bike it's not hard to see why.

 

[rich p]

Good reputation.

I thought this was a thread about Rythym Thief!

 

[Joe]

I've got one. I've not ridden it much yet (it was my commuter for a while but is currently at home with my parents as I don't have room for it here).
It's really heavy but smooth riding and feels like it will outlive me. I'll be LEJOGing on it in the summer and I can't wait to see how it rides fully laden!
Looks nicer in the flesh than in photos, what colour did you go for?

 

[hobo]

I met a ozzy bloke with one touring for a year around oz and he was pleased with it. This was about 4 months into his ride.

 

[gwhite]

I've not long built one up for a friend of mine and I was quite impressed. The frame did have an imperfection re the paint job, but it was free of paint on the threads and had the BB and Headset already faced. Most of all though I thought it a first-rate touring frame in that the angles and long head-tube seemed ideal. I didn't see it as heavy at all and when built up with XT MTB brakes and gears on trekking bars and on 26" wheels it looked the part.
My friend swears that it is the most comfortable bike he has ever owned and is looking forward to a continental tour in the summer. I want one.

 

[Pottsy]

I've got one. I've not ridden it much yet (it was my commuter for a while but is currently at home with my parents as I don't have room for it here).
It's really heavy but smooth riding and feels like it will outlive me. I'll be LEJOGing on it in the summer and I can't wait to see how it rides fully laden!
Looks nicer in the flesh than in photos, what colour did you go for?

I went for the bizarrely named 'Truckacino' which is a coffee colour with black lettering.

I'm putting an XT chainset on it, Cane Creek headset and some wheels off my old mountain bike. Can't quite decide on brakes and gear shifters yet so there'll be a few questions here coming along soon.

Thanks for the comments so far.

 

[bike_the_planet]

I've just ordered one of these - frame and forks only. I'm going to build it up with bits I already have and a few new purchases. It's going to be my touring bike for a potential long European trip this summer.

Perhaps I should have asked first but I was just wondering if anyone else has one and can reassure me that it's a great bike?

I had a good look at one of these at my LBS.

The frame is neatly TIG welded out of 4130 steel. According to Surly it is double-butted tubing on all the main tubes. 4130 is the standard Chrome Molybdenum steel alloy used in the automotive industry and is strong and resillient. Judging by the frame weight I would say that main tube gauges are around the 0.9/0.6/0.9 mm.

These frames are good for several reasons I think:

1. The frame is nicely finished - the welds partcularly are neat and the paintwork appears good although how durable it is I don't know.
2. Surly have added almost every useful braze-on that a touring bike needs. I didn't check whether mudguard fittings were designed to be via a bracket or direct-to-frame, though. A pump-peg on the front of the LH seat-stay would have been better than the below-top tube mount. A pump here gets in the way if you have to lift the bike on and off trains, up steps, etc
3. They have a very comprehensive and sensible sizing system. Bigger frames appear to have proportionally longer top tubes that prevent annoyances like front toe-clip/cleat overlap with front wheel/mudguard. Many contributors on this forum claim that toe overlap isn't a problem; I still can't understand why a well-designed touring bike needs to have a front overlap in the first place...(if it's not needed - why have it?)
4. Surly frames are keenly priced

I think that building a bike from recycled parts on a surly frame is an excellent idea. I'm thinking of doing it myself.

D you know what width bottom bracket unit it needs? Maybe that's on their website.

Good luck,

Tony

 

[Pottsy]

Thanks for your post bike_the_planet, very interesting.

This page from the Surly site has lots of details, including some on the bottom bracket.

http://www.surlybikes.com/files/SURLYLongHaul.pdf

 

[PpPete]

4130 is the standard Chrome Molybdenum steel alloy used in the automotive industry

Fairly high-end automotive I would say. Roll cages etc on competition cars & so on. Used to be standard in US Aerospace industry, and still spec'd on many smaller planes even for high stress areas like engine mounts. Usually similar strength to Reynolds 531 IIRC but can be cold worked up to strengths not far off some titanium alloys. However tends to distort badly when welded, then needs straightening, then stress relieving after, so you'd lose a lot of the benefit of the cold working. Good stuff OTH. Used to sell tons of it a previous career.

 

[hubbike]

how does it work with 26" wheels vs 700cc. I'm 6'2" so I suppose that I'm too big for a 26" wheeled one?

 

[gwhite]

Be aware that if you're buying a frame that Surly measures these differently from others. i.e. they measure from centre of BB to a point above the top of the seat tube. This means that they tend to be 1 or 2 cm larger than you expect. See website for frame details.

 

[bike_the_planet]

Fairly high-end automotive I would say. Roll cages etc on competition cars & so on. Used to be standard in US Aerospace industry, and still spec'd on many smaller planes even for high stress areas like engine mounts. Usually similar strength to Reynolds 531 IIRC but can be cold worked up to strengths not far off some titanium alloys.

Yes, it is similar in UTS to the old 531. But it can be TIG welded whereas 531 can't.

However tends to distort badly when welded, then needs straightening, then stress relieving after, so you'd lose a lot of the benefit of the cold working.

Didn't realise that. Does that mean a 4130 frame should really be heat treated afterwards?

Cheers

 

[threefingerjoe]

Check Surley's site for the frame sizes. A friend of mine has one with 700C wheels, and he's about 5'9". I know that their smaller size frames are available in 26" only, but for the size that you need, I'm rather certain that you'll get it in 700C.

Incidentally, 26" isn't all that undesireable for a touring bike. Many touring cyclists prefer 26" because wheels, tires, and tubes are available anywhere in the world. In some of the more remote areas, you'd be hard-pressed to find a 700C, or so I'm told.

 

[bike_the_planet]

how does it work with 26" wheels vs 700cc. I'm 6'2" so I suppose that I'm too big for a 26" wheeled one?

Yes, I believe that only Surly's smaller frame sizes are designed around the 26" (559) wheel size.

For the size of frame you require, you would have to fit 700c (622) wheels.

Trying to fit 26" wheels to a 700c bike doesn't work well for several reasons:

• 26" wheels fitted with a touring tyre such as the Schwalbe Marathon would be around 2 - 2.5" smaller in diameter than a 700c wheel
  
• The bottom bracket would be correspondingly lower meaning that you would need to fit shorter cranks. For your size you really do need 175mm cranks
  
• The frame brake-mounts wouldn't be in the right place to be able to give you effective braking
  
• You'd look funny

If you want a 26" wheel touring frame maybe you should look at something like the Thorn Sherpa
or the Orbit Expedition.

Cheers