Surly Love

[bikerHen]

You'll love the bar end shifters once you get a feel for them. I just had my whole drivetrain replaced. Sram 11-34 rear cassette, Salsa rings up front. Had the rear derailluer replaced two years ago. It's Shimano XTR. I think at this point the only thing I haven't replaced is the front derailluer. Are you planning to top off your LHT with a nice leather Brooks Saddle? They look really good together. bikerHen

[Catrin]

You'll love the bar end shifters once you get a feel for them. I just had my whole drivetrain replaced. Sram 11-34 rear cassette, Salsa rings up front. Had the rear derailluer replaced two years ago. It's Shimano XTR. I think at this point the only thing I haven't replaced is the front derailluer. Are you planning to top off your LHT with a nice leather Brooks Saddle? They look really good together. bikerHen

I think that the rear cassette he is including in the quote is the same Sram 11-34 rear cassette, won't know what the rings/so forth are until I see the full list. I know that he is including a good number of XT parts.

I have already thought about topping it off with a nice Brooks saddle For some reason I keep wanting to refer to it as "him" and it isn't even built yet!

[Catrin]

For some reason the idea of the bar end shifters do have me nervous (my trainer wants me to stick with trigger-shifters if possible). I am assuming that I can, basically, just move my hand down the bar until I get to the shifter? I hope that made sense

I have to learn how to take my hand off the bars anyway, that is still a problem for me. However, I will have at least 5-6 weeks to practice with my Trek before the LHT will arrive - and it may be longer if any of the parts are on back-order.

All of this is pretty exciting I am STILL amazed that he can upgrade as much as he is - including hand-built wheels - and stay within $300 of the original price! I haven't seen his final list/quote yet, so time will tell.

We have decided that the 46cm will be a better choice for me over the 42 - there will just be fractionally less standover room (still about 1.5 inches anyway).

The frame in this size is only available in brown - though hopefully they will have the olive color frame in stock by then. I will have to decide on accents - brown isn't my favorite color... However this is too sweet a bike to let slide over something like that. I love blue and green, surely I can come up with something to mitigate that brown if that is to be my fate...

[OakLeaf]

That's so exciting!

[KnottedYet]

The frame in this size is only available in brown - though hopefully they will have the olive color frame in stock by then. I will have to decide on accents - brown isn't my favorite color... However this is too sweet a bike to let slide over something like that. I love blue and green, surely I can come up with something to mitigate that brown if that is to be my fate...

Now I'm really confused. I thought you were getting the LHT? That comes in a dark cream or a blue frame. http://surlybikes.com/frames/long_haul_trucker_frame/

Not olive nor brown.

The Cross Check comes in brown, and yeah that's not my favorite color. http://surlybikes.com/frames/cross_check_frame/ Though I've seen a few brown CC in town, and they look fine.

Which bike are you having built?

[OakLeaf]

"Beef gravy brown"??? Ewwwwwww. The color would be better if they'd called it something different!

[WindingRoad]

Mmmmmmmmm...beef gravy. That would make me hungry staring down at that. I actually like the brown, it's a lot prettier in person. Has a fleck to it.

[Catrin]

Now I'm really confused. I thought you were getting the LHT? That comes in a dark cream or a blue frame. http://surlybikes.com/frames/long_haul_trucker_frame/

Not olive nor brown.

The Cross Check comes in brown, and yeah that's not my favorite color. http://surlybikes.com/frames/cross_check_frame/ Though I've seen a few brown CC in town, and they look fine.

Which bike are you having built?

The complete, standard Surly LHT package comes in either blue or a tan (looks brownish to me). Just to order a frame for building up, however, my is is currently only available in an olive green or the same tan/cream you mentioned. That may change by March 18 when I place my order.

I was surprised about the olive as well, and I like the color - it is a very earthy dark green that looks great. I might like that better than the blue for this particular bike. Time will tell what is available in my size when we place the order.

I've attached an image of the "olivine" LHT frame - I can't seem to post an actual image properly.

I followed your link, and the LHT tan is better than the CC brown

[bikerHen]

Here are a couple of ideas for you, when you're ready to start pimping out your ride.

Instead of a kickstand, these are great. I have one and just love it. You definitely need the heavy duty one for touring. http://www.click-stand.com

My sister got a Truckaccino Surly last year. She put a pair of these fenders on it. They look GREAT! http://www.woodysfenders.com/store/
bikerHen

[Catrin]

Thanks for the links - the fenders look great! Once my budget recovers from this purchase, and a new personal training package in April, and needed new cycling clothing...it will be time to spruce up the new bike

I have my quote for the new build! It is a little more expensive than I had originally planned - but with handmade wheels, thorn resistant tires, upgraded crank/derailleurs/other stuff I think that it is worth it. So it turned out to be $500 extra before labor and taxes - I think the added value will be worth it. I DO have someone checking out the quote for me who knows a lot more about bike components than I do - I know just enough to be dangerous

Thanks for the advice on kickstands and so-forth - that is very good food for thought. KnottedYet, I will follow your advice and hold off on making any decisions about kickstands until I've learned how to handle the bike, including loading it without it. The Surly site got my attention as well, I don't want to risk damaging my lovely steel frame...

[Cataboo]

For some reason the idea of the bar end shifters do have me nervous (my trainer wants me to stick with trigger-shifters if possible). I am assuming that I can, basically, just move my hand down the bar until I get to the shifter? I hope that made sense
.

You can always powder coat a frame if you don't like the color. You can also dress up brown with some bright accessories - flashy tires, handlebar tape, whatever.

Trigger shifters are going to be hard on a long haul trucker because there's only a few handlebars that you really can use them on... flat bars, flat bars with risers, soma sparrows, and trekking/butterfly bars. All of which have somewhat limited hand positions and you're probably not going to want in the long run for a long tour. You can put the bar end shifters on pauls thumbies like surly pacer showed if you want to have a more trigger shifter like setup.

[Catrin]

You can always powder coat a frame if you don't like the color. You can also dress up brown with some bright accessories - flashy tires, handlebar tape, whatever.

Trigger shifters are going to be hard on a long haul trucker because there's only a few handlebars that you really can use them on... flat bars, flat bars with risers, soma sparrows, and trekking/butterfly bars. All of which have somewhat limited hand positions and you're probably not going to want in the long run for a long tour. You can put the bar end shifters on pauls thumbies like surly pacer showed if you want to have a more trigger shifter like setup.

Cool, thanks for all of the information I knew that there was some reason not to head that route but it is nice to see it spelled out. I did ask the guy who is putting my kit together if trigger shifters are an option - but I told him to leave the bar-end shifters in my kit.

Now that I saw the CC brown frame, all of a sudden the tan/cream LHT looks much better

[OakLeaf]

Okay, I am really, really, really hesitant to say this, and I extra hate to be the first one to say it after I've let a day go by hoping someone else would.

But I just don't think carbon handlebars are a good idea for a non-racer.

If the only bars that really fit you don't come in alloy, well, then, by all means go for it.

But. Not only because you're a new rider, because anyone can tip over. Carbon tends to be fragile, and unlike a frame, in a crash or even a low-speed tip-over, handlebars tend to take the uncushioned brunt of it. Break your handlebars and you may be able to limp the bike home very carefully with one brake, or it may be completely unrideable. Break them on a tour and you're SOL.

JMO. And let me reiterate that I do not believe that crashing or even tipping over is inevitable, and I strongly object to people who say that it is (because I think that puts an idea into people's heads that make them not work as hard to avoid crashing). That's why I hated to be the one to say it. But if you crash or tip over, you want to minimize the damage to your bike as well as your body. I wouldn't have them on my bike, and that's the reason.

[Ered_Lithui]

I personally like the brown CC frame. It's kind of a chocolate peanut butter. Then again, I love brown. I think dark green accents would look really nice on a tan LHT. Regardless of color, it's a good-looking bike. Congrats!

[Cataboo]

Okay, I am really, really, really hesitant to say this, and I extra hate to be the first one to say it after I've let a day go by hoping someone else would.

But I just don't think carbon handlebars are a good idea for a non-racer.

If the only bars that really fit you don't come in alloy, well, then, by all means go for it.

But. Not only because you're a new rider, because anyone can tip over. Carbon tends to be fragile, and unlike a frame, in a crash or even a low-speed tip-over, handlebars tend to take the uncushioned brunt of it. Break your handlebars and you may be able to limp the bike home very carefully with one brake, or it may be completely unrideable. Break them on a tour and you're SOL.

JMO. And let me reiterate that I do not believe that crashing or even tipping over is inevitable, and I strongly object to people who say that it is (because I think that puts an idea into people's heads that make them not work as hard to avoid crashing). That's why I hated to be the one to say it. But if you crash or tip over, you want to minimize the damage to your bike as well as your body. I wouldn't have them on my bike, and that's the reason.

I was contemplating saying something... but, I use carbon handlebars on 2 of my bikes and I'm definitely not a racer. However, I don't have them on what's probably the closest thing to my touring rig (my commuter, surly pacer). They make a huge difference in my ability to ride without wrist pain/numbness for longer distances which is something I really don't do with my surly anyways.

My surly has a tendancy to topple over a lot because it hates me and 'cause there's often weight in the panniers that pulls it over.

I haven't really crashed either of the bikes with carbon handlebars on them - one of the bikes is carbon and has carbon wheels, so the handlebars are the least of my worries in a crash for that matter... But, the bikes have toppled over before and I haven't had the handlebars break.

So it's a non-standard choice for a touring bike - but I'm not sure how much actual touring Catrin is planning yet?