Jamis Aurora vs Surly Long Haul Trucker

[Catrin]

Well, your trek could handle the mountains - you can't necessarily handle the mountains on your trek.

You can look into putting a mountain bike rear cassette on your trek as a cheaper solution.

That is true, which means I need to start practicing on hills I have looked into a different cassette. Certainly food for thought, though likely won't change my timing. Even with a different cassette, I can't take the Trek on certain non-technical trails that I can with the Surly - and it doesn't have clearance for cyclo-cross tires. However I will certainly take another look around and consider all of my options. That is the reason for enforced waiting periods - to make sure that I am comfortable with whatever decision I make.

I know that I can test-ride a Trek 520 in a matter of days - a local dealer will order it without obligation. Perhaps my LBS might be willing to do this with the LHT.