Category: Bikes

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The Surly Long Haul Trucker is a Peterbilt, not a Ferrari

I finally got to bring my Surly Long Haul trucker home. Understanding and Long-Suffering Bike Widow Lila shot this just as I wheeled it in from a visit to Wayne at Bicycle. It arrived the previous Friday, but I didn’t have a final fitting until Monday.

Then I discovered that I had ordered a new 36-spoke rim, but my SON generator hub takes 32 spokes. Getting a new one shipped overnight cost about as much as the rim, but I was anxious to get riding.

When I wheeled it in to Wayne, it was equipped with my Brooks Champion Flyer saddle, Crank Brothers pedals and my Surly Nice front rack. I told him I wanted to move my ESGE/Pletscher Double-legged kickstand and Jandd Expedition rear rack off the old bike, plus find a clean way to mount my lights on the new ride.

He suggested that I let him figure out the details.

Building the wheel

First, he had to build the wheel. (Here’s a video of the whole process.)

I had never watched the whole process from start to finish. It’s not rocket science, but I’m sure glad I let him do it.

He’s built at least three wheels for me and I’ve never had a problem with any of them.

Truing took less time than anticipated

Wayne warned me that it might take as much as an hour to get the wheel trued to his standards.

I knew from following folks with out-of-true wheels that they wobbled left and right, but I didn’t realize that they need to be tensioned so they were perfectly round, also.

Makes sense, but I had never thought about it.

It took him about 20 minutes to get it where he was happy. “It doesn’t take long when you’re working with a good hub and a good wheel.”

I needed to do some tweaking

Wayne found some creative ways to install the DLumotec Oval Senso Plus and Busch&Müller Lumotec secondary generator light to the front of the Nice Rack, but I thought there might be problems down the road (literally). The secondary light was placed where it was esthetically pleasing, but it was installed upside down, which the manufacturer said could cause water to get into it. In addition, because generator lights are relatively low power and conform to strict German standards, they are built with a light pattern that is bright at the bottom, but cuts off at the top like a car’s low beam. Mounting it upside down would invert that light pattern.

The primary light was mounted it a great location for projecting a long, low beam, but I was afraid that water coming off the fender might be bad in the long run. I moved both lights higher. Since I probably won’t put anything on the top part of the front rack, I wasn’t concerned with them being in the way.

Here’s the final result with the generator lights on the front rack at the bottom and my NiteRider Pro12-E and an inexpensive be-seen LED light on a Sidetrack Excess Access bar mounted to the primary handlebar. The object to the right of the lights is my Garmin GPS.

I love the second stem

Wayne did a good job of installing a second stem. That’s an idea I ripped off from several other bikers: like here, here, here, here and here.

Having a second stem and a mini-handlebar below your main one gives you a place to mount a handlebar bag and other accessories without losing hand positions. It sounds crazy to go-fast riders, but it’s really convenient for folks who like to carry cameras, a GPS, multiple lights and stuff.

Here’s what it looks like with the bag

The small Arkel Handlebar bag fits cleanly onto the bag mounts. It’s very stable and doesn’t rattle around. I like it for my cameras because it keeps them where I can grab them easily. Because it’s suspended, the equipment is cushioned from hard impacts they’d feel if the bag was attached directly to the front of rear racks.

The second stem allows it to be mounted low enough that the lights on the handlebar can “see” right over it.

The plastic bottle in the lower waterbottle cage is the air reservoir for the AirZound horn. If I needed the extra water capacity, I’d move the reservoir to the top of the front rack.

I used plastic spiral wrap like you’d use for computer wiring to cover and protect the wires going to the generator hub.

The whole package looks pretty neat

I’m pleased with the way everything fits together. I’m sure I’ll end up taking some stuff off and rearranging it, but, thanks to Wayne and his attention to detail, I’m way ahead.

Here are some reasons why I picked this particular model

  • It came highly recommended by folks who ride longer, for more days and in places where you can’t find a *-Mart store on every corner.
  • It’s designed for touring and delivers a lot of bang for the buck. The base bike was under $1,000.
  • It’s steel and uses shifters that are unlikely to break. “If I was going to go across Cambodia, this is the bike I’d take. If something breaks, any guy with a welding torch can fix it,” said the dealer in Cape.
  • It has lots of braze-ons to attach racks, fenders and lights.
  • It can handle three waterbottle cages.
  • It will allow wide tires that can handle gravel roads if needed. (Trust me, I’ve tried to ride gravel roads on high pressure narrow tires. It isn’t funny. The wider tires make the steel grate drawbridges less squirrely, too.)
  • There is enough clearance to mount full-size fenders. That keeps your bike, drivetrain and equipment much cleaner. It also keeps you from having a trail of poodle poop up your back if you ride the Palm Beach Lake Trail after a rainstorm. (Folks on The Island don’t feel it necessary to pick up after their pets.)
  • The frame is stretched out to allow plenty of heel clearance for rear panniers and it’s designed to allow you to ride long distances multiple days in a row.
  • It has low gears for helping you climb with a load.
  • It has little touches like a spoke holder on the chainstay for two spare spokes.

So, how does it ride?

Well, I’ve got only two 20-mile rides under my belt, so it’s a little early to judge. It ain’t light. When it left The Racer’s Edge, it maxed out their 30-lb scale and that was before adding the rear rack, lights, generator hub, kickstand and bags. My guess is that it’s in the 40-pound range. OK, maybe 45 lbs, but who is counting?

Son Adam asked, “So, what kind of car would you compare it to?”

It’s a Peterbilt, not a Ferrari

“A Peterbilt,” was my answer. “It’s not a Ferrari that’ll go 130 miles an hour, but it’ll do 85 MPH pulling 35,000 pounds.”

And, that’s sort of the way it rides. Once you get it up to speed, it’s remarkably stable and seems to want to keep going. Of course, that’s on flat ground. When gravity starts exerting its force, I may have a different opinion.

Speaking of that, I told Adam to go on ahead when we got to the Royal Palm Bridge. “I want to play with the gears to see how low they go.” Just as the grade was kicking up, I slapped it over into Granny Gear and found myself spinning like crazy. “Wow,” I thought, “this baby IS really geared low, I’m hardly moving.”

That’s when I realized that I WASN’T moving. Forward, that is. I had thrown the chain. I guess those friction shifters are going to take a little practice.

It’s an eyecatcher

When Adam and Chuck Keefer and I stopped at the Palm Beach Inlet to take most of these pictures, the bike gathered a crowd of interested onlookers. [Thanks to Adam for shooting this.]

The fellow kneeling in yellow is Wisconsin Snowbird Jim Beloian who has ridden across the country from east to west and from north to south.

When HE pronounced the LHT roadworthy, I felt a whole lot better.

The decision process and steps along the way

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Look at My Nearly Naked LHT with a Nice Rack

There are going to be some folks searching for porn who are going to be REALLY disappointed with this story.

Son Matt and I journeyed to The Racer’s Edge in Boca Raton, FL, this afternoon to pick up my Surly Long Haul Trucker. It wasn’t exactly naked: it had a Surly Nice Rack on the front, a Cateye Strada computer and a set of Planet Bike fenders fore and aft.

Fitter John Palmquist, who did my pre-order fitting already had my bike somewhat in the zone waiting for me.

Pedal, pedal, pedal

Just like the first time, John was working to get the right seat height. I would pedal for a minute or so, he would measure the angle of my knee and have me step off.

He’d raise the seat a bit and we’d repeat the process. Gradually my pedaling became more efficient and the seat became substantially higher.

The handlebars were now quite a bit lower than the saddle, which isn’t my favorite position.

“Don’t worry about it”

“Don’t worry about it,” he assured me. “We’re going to get the seat adjusted first, then we’ll start to work on the upper body. If we did it the other way around, we’d have to do the handlebars twice.”

Fore and aft comes next

The next step was to figure out the right fore and aft position of the saddle. It was getting closer, but something didn’t feel exactly right. I ride on a leather Brooks saddle which takes on the shape of your bottom the more you ride it. (No, it’s not exactly like siting bare butt on a copy machine, but there ARE a couple of dimples in the leather where your sit bones dig in.) It took about three adjustments to get it about right.

Sure enough, after watching me spin the pedals a few more minutes, he had me get off for one last tweak. He thought the nose of the saddle should go up just a hair. And that was it for the saddle.

Raising the handlebars

John started off by raising the stem until the bars were just lower than the saddle. It was close, but not exactly right.

Then he loosened the bar and rotated it slightly backwards so the brake hoods were just a little closer.

Bingo.

What should I twiddle with?

While he was writing up the bill (which came to less than I had feared originally), I asked him what minor twiddling I should expect to do once I got it on the road.

Paraphrased, he said, “Don’t touch it.”

Then, knowing that was WAY too much to expect, he said it was OK to rotate the bars and change the tilt of the seat if I really felt compelled to muck. “Don’t change the seat height, don’t change the stem height, don’t change the saddle fore and aft distance. They’re right.”

Son Matt suggests that I should leave my tools at home to help me resist temptation.

Here’s the result

Everything visible is stock except the front rack, pedals, Brooks saddle and fenders.

I’ll put on my old rear rack, lights and other stuff tomorrow.

Wayne was supposed to work on building a wheel around my SON generator on Sunday, but his shop was closed Sunday afternoon and today. I hope he isn’t sick.

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Is a Surly Long Haul Trucker in My Future?

I posted my fitting experience the other day. It helped me to figure out whether a used bike could be tweaked to fit me or if I would make the leap to a new Surly Long Haul Trucker.

John Palmquist, the fitter at The Racer’s Edge, said the used Cannondale could be made to work for a couple hundred bucks.

I turned to the phreds

You hear me mention the phreds a lot. They are an international group of cycling tourists that know all that’s worth knowing about seeing the world on two wheels (OK, some of them are on three-wheel trikes). I posted the following query to them.

I’ve got the I Want a New Bike cravings.

My old Trek 1220 is at the stage where I’m putting money into repairs and I think I’ve done all it can do. On top of that, even though I have a bunch miles on it, it never exactly fit. It fit enough that I could ride it, but it was just a tad off.

While I was back in the Midwest this fall, I saw my first LHT and really liked the way it was equipped.

I retired at the end of August, so I want to take advantage of my new free time to get in some short tours. Even though my 401K took some major hits, I had just about convinced myself to buy the LHT.

Then a buddy who has a low-mileage T800 in good shape said he’d let it go for $XXX. A local LBS that carries LHTs did a professional fitting and said that the T800 would fit if I replaced the stem and bars. With some other minor part changes and a tuneup, I would be looking at $XXX for the bike and about $200 for miscellaneous bits and pieces. Basically, way less than $1K would get me to a common starting point.

The LHT complete would run $1095. Both bikes would need to have my SON generator hub built into a wheel and both would need racks and fenders.

Economically, it makes more sense to go with the T800, but I really like the idea of having a new machine from Day 1 since this will probably be the last bike I buy. (Steinhoff warranties run out early. My dad and his two brothers died at 60 or earlier. My middle brother had triple bypass surgery this week.) Advice?

Here’s a sampling of responses (names deleted):

You just retired

You just retired and it’s the last bike you may own?  Just on emotional criteria, I’d insist you buy the LHT.

Just for rationalization you’ve got the funds to do it; you’ll get a bike that fits you; given all the other work required, the actual savings becomes a smaller percentage of overall price; finally, you can probably sell the 1220 on ebay or cl and recoup half the price difference.  But I don’t think rationalizations mean anything here.

It’s not your LAST bike

Go with your initial call. And don’t think of it as your last bike, think of it as your next bike.

You deserve it

You have retired? Then you deserve a new LHT—-you have worked 40+ years for this moment—-fulfill your dreams with haste. Don’t recall who, but someone once said—-“we were put on this earth to go out and fart around and don’t let anyone tell you different.” As to your warranty—-genetics is a worthy foe, but get the LHT and put it on the road for as long as your family situation will allow. I see that as a hedge. Pops died at age 43, his two brothers in their 50s, all cardiac deaths. On my mothers side—3 brothers all dead by 60 years old. I, on the other hand, will be 70 in short order. I’ve been active–runner(read jogger), cycling, hiking and such. All the benefits of extended touring are outside the scope of this short note but I strongly recommend it. As for your 401K—-it is cheaper to live on the road than at home. Time vs Money—to travel you need money or time. I have time—-no money. I don’t have a problem with that. Life is good. If I’m not on the road, I am planning—-both are very satisfying

Go for it

How much of a hit did your retirement funds take? Do you have enough funds to sustain you (and wife?) on an indefinite timeframe? What else could you spend your money on that would be more beneficial? Isn’t this why you have retirement funds anyway? Provided that you can reasonably rationalize the above, my advice would be unequivocally to:- GO FOR IT!! FWIW I’m in a similar situation although I’m probably a few years older. I now have six bikes all of which I ride and I am planning to upgrade my kayak in the spring.

A new bike solves everything

IMHO, you are most deserving of a new bicycle, especially a Surly LHT now that you are retired. A new bicycle solves everything ! …. so to speak … ha … ha. Well, at least temporarily. I would spring for it from all of the great previous reviews and feedback here on this LIST and the BOB LIST.

Gone to bike heaven

I had a similiar dilemma 2 years ago. I had Raleigh Super Course I rode for 30 years, and it had at least 35,000 miles on the frame. I was spending a lot to keep it running. I looked at Trek 520 used in the local LBS that was bit smaller than my normal standover – and would have to make similar types of adjustments. Then I walked into a LBS where my son goes to college. They had a LHT frame hanging in the window. It was basically my “blank canvas”; what would I want on a bike without totally fracturing my bank account. I was measured and a LHT was built for me, with the parts I wanted, including a SON hub. When I got the bike, I thought I went to bike heaven – the most comfortable ride I have ever had. The bike has about 4000 miles on it now, and still feels like it did the first time I got on it. You will never go wrong with a LHT frame.

I think I’m going to pull the trigger

I talked with the LBS this afternoon and the LHT is on back order right now, but should be available soon. Their price for the bike and accessories is comparable or better than anything I could find online, so I’m going to think about it over the weekend and probably place an order on Monday.

After all, the phreds said to do it. And, all of these folks can’t be wrong.

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Perfect Bike Fit by Boca’s Racer’s Edge Cycle Shop

It’s an old saying in the cycling community that “the most expensive bicycle is the one that sits unridden because it doesn’t fit the rider.”

When I was middle school age, I can remember some of my friends getting bikes that were so oversized that their parents would attach blocks of wood to the pedals so they could reach them. Since most of them had high, squeaky voices, I can only assume that the bikes standover height was equally out of proportion to the rider.

I bought a couple of bikes in my 20s from yard sales. When you are young and flexible, about the only “fit” is, “does the top bar contact my soft parts in a negative manner?”

My Trek and I are showing our age

I bought a used Trek 1220 that “mostly” fit me several years ago and it has served me well for many thousands of miles. It’s beginning to have mechanical problems, though, and so am I.

Now that I have retired and have started this blog, I want to do some multiple-day rides on a bike that is dependable and comfortable.

A Surly Long Haul Trucker caught my eye…

…when I was back home in Missouri. The phreds, folks who ride bikes all over the world for months and years at a time have very good things to say about it.

Just about the time I was doing serious research, a buddy said he was getting tired of stumbling over his Cannondale T800 on the way to the dining room table. He already had two bikes in his living room and three (not counting the two bents chained outside) was a bit much. (Do I need to mention that he’s single?)

He offered me a deal that was either too good to be true (one source) or about $100 too much (from another). The real question was, did it fit or could it be made to fit? I described my first ride here.

It was time for a formal fitting

The Racer’s Edge, in Boca Raton, was the closest Surly dealer and they also do bike fits. To be honest, I wasn’t completely comfortable with a shop that sounded like it catered to go-fast riders and their web site reinforced that image by saying “We are a full service cycling shop specializing in high performance racing equipment. We also sponsor five championship mountain, tri, and road teams.” Way too much testosterone for me, I thought.

John Palmquist made me feel comfortable

Son Matt came and hovered to document the fitting process. I brought along my Trek and the Cannondale and I have to give Fitter John Palmquist credit. He didn’t recoil in horror when I wheeled my bike past wheels that cost more than my whole bike.

It starts out with questions

Q: What kind of riding do you do, solo or group? Florida flats or mountains?

A: Solo. Most folks are either way faster than I am or slower, so I shake out by myself. Mostly flatland, but I did get in some rolling hills a couple of months ago. 300 feet up, 300 feet down, no mountains with long, high climbs.

Are you comfortable after a long ride?

Q: At the end of your longer rides, are you comfortable or do you have aches and pains?

A: About nine months ago, I started getting the sensation of having a pebble under my middle toes. Finally, after changing pedals, cleats and shoes, I went to an orthopedist to see if I needed new inserts. He said that I had developed arthritis in my big toes, which was throwing off my gait (and pedaling), causing the discomfort.

A closer look at my shoes

That’s when he asked to take a look at my Shimano Sandals equipped with Crank Brothers Candy C Pedal cleats.

“You might be more comfortable with a less comfortable walking shoe, but one with a stiffer sole so it spreads the pressure over more of your foot,” he suggested.

“I really don’t want walk-like-a-duck shoes and I ride in the rain from time to time and like shoes that don’t get soggy,” I countered.

“Your cleats should be just slightly behind the ball of your foot. Millimeters, not centimeters back, like these. Do you have any knee problems?”

“From about Mile 3 to Mile 10, I have a pain in the left knee, but it goes away and doesn’t come back until around Mile 40 for about 10 miles. Move and center them if you think it’s worth trying.”

Time to get on the Size Cycle

John has been fitting bikes for about nine years. When he first started, he used the rules of thumb that most of us have read (and which frequently contradict each other). His whole approach changed when he went to a four-day class at Serotta Cycling Institute, where he learned how to use an adjustable bicycle to achieve a neutral cycling position that produces the most power while being less apt to produce injury.

We started out with “average” settings

When I complained that I felt a little stretched out, he explained that we were going to work on getting the settings for the lower body first: saddle height, seat tube angle and saddle fore-and-aft adjustments. After that, he’d adjust for the upper body.

When I first started pedaling, the trainer made a WHIR! WHIR! WHIR! sound and I pedaled in a jerky, not round motion. It was like all of my power was on the downstroke. After warming up a bit, he started checking the bend in my knee when it was in the 3 o’clock and 9 o’clock positions and adjusting the bike.

The pedal strokes started smoothing out

It was amazing how much difference the subtle changes made. Before long, the trainer started making a WHIRRRRRRRRRRRRR! sound as my strokes became more round and I was able to exert force more evenly.

He said he was shooting for about a 25-degree knee angle. He also suggested that I consider a 170-mm crank instead of the more standard 172.5 mm. The shorter crank would be easier on my knees and tests have shown that it wouldn’t reduce my power.

Time to work on upper body

Now John started to tweak the bars and stem.

Little things didn’t escape his notice. “Are those the glasses you ride in?” he asked. “If you’re getting neck pain, you might do better in sport-specific glasses that don’t slide down and cause you to have to crane your neck.”

“You’re not in your 20s anymore and you’re not a gymnast, so I’d recommend using a short-reach bar and short-reach drops to make yourself more comfortable and to be able to make use of the drops,” he added.

The non-intrusive measurement

Two final measurements remained. Checking my shoulder width to see how wide the handlebars should be and one that he called the “least important” and non-invasive. That didn’t sound like fun.

He pulled out a $260 wooden stick on a spring that I was supposed to stand over to measure my (surprise) standover height.

“Just how strong IS that spring when I let it go? I asked.

“It won’t change your voice,” he assured. Yeah, that’s what they told my buddies in middle school, too.

So, what’s the verdict?

Boiled down, my inseam is 86; my stem height is 176; stem length is 100; seat tube length is 54; seat tube angle is 73 degrees; crank arm length is 172.5; my seat should be set forward about 3mm.

Does my buddy’s used bike work?

“I’d love to sell you a new bike, but we could get the Cannondale to fit you if we replaced a couple hundred dollars worth of stuff.”

What am I going to do? I posed the question to the phreds. I’ll post some of the responses another day.

Was it worth $100 for the fitting?

I think it was. (I’ll get a discount if I end up buying a bike from them, so the hit wouldn’t be quite so bad.) In the long run, it was probably cheaper to have a pro evaluate what I need than to keep swapping out parts. Even though I have enough miles under me to be acutely aware of subtle changes in saddle height and alignment, I was really surprised to see how those tiny adjustments altered my pedalling style on the Size Cycle.

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Determining How Much Torque is TOO Much

A whole bunch of years ago, I rented a bike from Richardson Bike Mart (where Lance worked as a kid) while I was on a business trip to Dallas. Good folks. I ended up buying my used Trek 1220 from them.

Figuring I’d need to tweak it, I bought a Pedro mini-tool that contained seven fold-out allen wrenches from 1.5 to 6mm housed in a bright yellow handle.

It fit almost everything on my bike

I kept it in my CamelBak MULE and I can’t begin to think how many times I’ve told someone riding with me, ” Hold on, I need to pull out my Pedro.” (Once they found out that “Pedro” was a bike tool, they seemed to look more comfortable.)

It’s going to take a while to get to the sad point

My buddy, Keefer, has reached the point where he has more bikes than room. “Two bikes hanging in the living room are art. A third bike blocking the dining room table is a nuisance.” That doesn’t count the two bents he has chained outside his apartment.

The orphan is a Cannondale T800 touring bike. Ever since my Trek 1220 has been showing its age and I saw a Surly Long Haul Trucker in Cape, I’ve had bike lust. Keefer had long ago promised to leave me the T800 in his will, but now he was willing to part with it for a small amount of money.

We’re getting closer

I hauled the bike home. The rear tire was flat, so I had to take care of that. Saturday morning Keef and I were going to hook up for a test ride. On the way out the door, I realized that I was going to have to swap my Crank Brothers Candy Pedals over to the other bike.

After all these years, I was pretty sure I knew how much torque the Pedro would handle.

Now I know for sure.

It’s less than this.

Right about the time I thought I was getting close to the limit, I felt that sickening OOPs feeling that indicated that I had gone past it.

It was time for a quick trip to Wayne

He didn’t have a Pedro in stock, but he sold me a Park Tool AWS10 that could have been Pedro’s brother. I like the yellow color better, but…

Wayne has a monster pedal wrench with a three-foot cheater handle, so I let him do the pedal swap.

In fairness to Pedro

I’m not sure the tool failed because of torque.

It looks like the nut holding the sides together may have come off. I didn’t see it in the yard, but no telling when and where it may have vibrated off.

That would have caused the plastic case to split when I applied the pressure.

Here’s what the new and old tools look like

So, I guess you’re wondering how the T800 rode.

Well, I adjusted the seat three times in the first 50 feet and tweaked it at least a dozen more time in 20 miles.

It was cheap version of one of those fancy split saddles that are supposed to keep your private parts happy.

Give me back my Brooks

That thing must have had sandpaper on the edges because I was flat rubbed raw. I felt every bump.

Once I got the seatpost up about where it needed to be, then the bars were too low. I woke up in the morning with back, shoulder and hand pains that I don’t normally have, particularly from a leisurely 20-mile ride.

On the positive side, it felt faster than my old bike, even with a headwind, and shifted smoothly.

Going for a fitting

I’m going to set up an appointment with an LBS for a real fitting to determine if this bike can be made to fit me or if I should pass on a great deal (money-wise). To quote someone wiser than me, “The most expensive bike is the one that doesn’t get ridden.”

It IS a sharp-looking bike.

That was taken at the north end of Palm Beach, FL, looking at Peanut Island and the Blue Heron Bridge.

This is how Keefer saw it on Nov. 22.

We, obviously, have different perspectives.