Trolls!

[Thorn]

No, not of the Internet-type, of the bike sort. The bikes have been a long-time in design and build, but finally have arrived. So, without further ado, may I please introduce you to Detritus(*) and Jotnar(**)?

The bikes were built from the ground-up for winter riding. Both DH and I have become full-time bike commuters so the need for reliable winter transportation drove the design: 8-speed internal rear hub, generator front hub and disk brakes on the Surly Troll frame. Right now they're running Kenda studded tires, but these will be replaced with Schwalbe Marathon Winters when they arrive.

(*) Detritus ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troll_(Discworld)#Detritus ) is the troll from Terry Pratchett's Discworld who gets smarter, the colder it gets

(**) Jotnar (off camera) is the name of the really big troll from The Troll Hunter (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Troll_Hunter -- a fun film that you want to watch it now before Hollywood destroys its image with a remake) because, compared to the road-bike commuter it feels really big and really slow.

[Irulan]

That movies was freaking awesome.

[lph]

I can't believe you've seen The Troll Hunter! I thought only Norwegians would find it funny

Wonderful names for winter bikes...

Jotnar is the (dialect) plural of jotun, which means "troll" (big, huge mountain troll). Terrific name

[Thorn]

I can't believe you've seen The Troll Hunter! I thought only Norwegians would find it funny

All current controversies aside, Netflix is a wonderful thing. We get to see films we'd never see otherwise. Indies and foreign films dominate our viewing these days.

We really enjoyed The Troll Hunter. Sure, we might have missed a few subtle jokes in the subtitles, but we got enough to chuckle warmly and appreciate the imagination of the writer.

But, really, I've read a few articles on the Internet that claim the scene with the Prime Minister was real, albeit, taken out of context. Really? I am sorry to say I couldn't pick the Norwegian Prime Minister out of a line up so I just assumed that was made up.

[[DH says his bike is now Jotun (he is such a stickler for grammar, he needed to adjust) ]]

[pll]

Very cool rides! <love the color and the names!>

[lph]

[[DH says his bike is now Jotun (he is such a stickler for grammar, he needed to adjust) ]]

Excellent He might like knowing that Jotuns are mentioned all the way back in the old Norse creation myths. Jotunheimen, "home of the Jotuns", is a mountain range. Oh, and "the Ringlefinch" was originally Ranglefant, which doesn't mean troll, more like.. urm.. "party animal"

Yup, the clip with the PM is real. I found it here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jBuNMHzqmI
and he does say "we have troll(s)", in the middle of talking about power lines. But I think he's referring to the large oil and gas field in the North Sea, named Troll.

Many happy winter rides on your troll bikes!

[Irulan]

I can't believe you've seen The Troll Hunter! I thought only Norwegians would find it funny

Oh no, we thought it was fantastically hysterical. The humor is a little dry and subtle for the typical American who's into a steady diet of Hollywood humor like The Hangover and Bridesmaids** (barf, drinking, penises, diarrhea...) We thought it was outrageously funny. Even DH who doesn't love subtitles, is telling all his friends to watch it.

**Terrible movies. I'm embarrassed that these things are "our"contribution to the world culture of humor. Re Bridesmaids, I'll never get those two hours back.

[snapdragen]

Lovely trolls!

I must put The Troll Hunter on my list of movies to watch. I wonder if it's on Amazon streaming...

[goldfinch]

The trolls are sweet. Why are you dropping the studded tires?

[Thorn]

The trolls are sweet. Why are you dropping the studded tires?

Not dropping the studs, upgrading the studs. My commute is over an hour one way. Nothing wrong with the Kendas, but the Marathon Winter are a more bullet proof studded tire. When the temps drop to below freezing, I want that little bit of more reliability.

[OakLeaf]

Very cool!

But, if I named a bike "Detritus," I can't imagine I'd ever be able to bring myself to wash it...

[Owlie]

Dry humor, you say? Putting it on my list of things to watch.

Awesome bikes!

[Miranda]

Those bikes are absolutely awesome!

Thanks for sharing,

[Atlas]

Bumping an older thread because I'm wondering how your Troll worked out this winter? I'm thinking of getting one to build up as a winter commuter/all season commuter.

[Thorn]

Bumping an older thread because I'm wondering how your Troll worked out this winter? I'm thinking of getting one to build up as a winter commuter/all season commuter.

Hard to tell...."what winter?" But seriously, I like the beast. It took me a while to get used to it, but once I did, it works well. I had a couple of snow days and the bike handled well. It is a very steady-as-she-goes bike which is what I wanted in a winter bike. I put on a short 1000 miles on it (a normal winter would have seen about 1200). It makes a good commuter.

I thought that just having the splash guards (vs full fenders) would be a problem, but not really. I have seen pictures of Trolls with full fenders, but my LBS took the easy way out and it is working. On really snowy days I had to kick snow off the downtube (like the build up you get in your car's wheel wells), but other than that, no issues.

Note: I do not recommend the Kenda Klondike tire. Big, heavy, slow monsters. Replacing with the Schwalbe Marathon Winters made a huge difference. There are probably snow conditions the Klondike would have been better for, but I did 2.5" of fresh snow, ice, and yesterday's leftover snow with the Marathons with no issues. Given that I often have to take the Troll on days when it is 25 with ice in the morning and 45 and sunny in the afternoon, having a nicer rolling tire makes a difference.

And I'll probably be swapping out the Metro bars for standard riser bars. Nothing wrong with the Metro bars, I just think I'm more of a straight bar person.