As with all of my equipment I did a lot of research, spoke with other more experienced folk, hung out at bike shops and talked with associates and experts, and did a lot of test riding and looking around before I decided on this bike. Other bikes I was considering were the Trek 520, a Bob Jackson, the Raleigh Sojourn, the Bianchi Volpe, the Jamis Aurora, the Canondale T1 & T2, and the Novara Randonee.
First off I decided that I wanted a good old fashion steel frame so that ruled out the Canondales(which were among the most expensive of the bikes I was seriously considering). Next I didn’t want to shop in the bottom of the market for touring bikes so that kinda made me shy away from the Jamis. It’s a cheap bike that i’m sure would work well for commuting but like with most things you get what you pay for. Similarly while the Novara didn’t seem like a total piece of crap it wasn’t a brand that I had heard very many good things about so I decided against this one as well. I wanted a bike that came with a fork that had braze-ons for a front rack. The Bianchi did not have these. While front rack mounting is possible without them it makes it a bit of a hassle and just seems to say something about the bike in general to me. If the maker had intended for the bike to be used as a fully loaded tourer it would make sense to have the front braze-ons. In addition the Bianchi comes with STI shifters which just don’t make sense for long distance touring. While STIs are nice and convenient they add one more thing that could break out there in the middle of nowhere.
I had difficulty eliminating the Trek and the Raleigh both for different reasons. The Raleigh was just a gorgeous bike. I was instantly drawn to it when I walked into the bike shop. I love the handle bars! It came with a Brooks saddle and bar tape, disc brakes provided great stopping power, and was just fun and relaxing to ride. The cons were the disc brakes made front rack mounting more complicated, it had lower quality components than the Surly and the Trek, it was considerably heavier than the other two, and I had heard from some people that the rear derailour hanger is crap and bends over time from normal use. Overall it just didn’t seem like that serious of a touring bike and that was what I think closed the deal for me on it. I still really want that bike but it just doesn’t seem to suit my needs as adequately as the Trek or the Surly do.
The Trek 520 is a great bike! Old school design kept nice and simple with good components. In my test rides I found that it stopped on a dime, handled better, and was more comfortable than the Surly. The main thing I did not like about the Trek and was the fact that they don’t give you much room for larger sized tires. While you can put large tires on this bike, if you do, you loose the ability to mount your fenders. This was an unacceptable compromise in my opinion. In light of the fact that the terrain I would be up against might prove to be less than ideal I wanted the ability to throw fatties on there and keep mud out of my butt and off the rest of my stuff.
Bob Jackson frames are masterpieces of craftsmanship and art. This bike was more of a pipe dream than anything else. To purchase a touring bike from Bob Jackson you generally send them all of your physical dimensions and they build you a two wheeled extension of your body. A custom frames can run you upwards of $2,000- $3,000
Yeah...
I spent many many hours reading reviews, touring journals, spec. lists, and talking to people who had experience with the bikes I was looking at. I would say I probably spent at least a good solid month deciding on the LHT and I really couldn’t be more happy with it. Supposedly Surly has done a really good job in making this bike very universal and easy to customize so fitting is a breeze and cost effective. I haven’t yet had it fitted to me so I get some minor aches here and there after rides in excess of 50 miles, but this seems to be expected of any unfitted bike to some degree. I will update this after I get it fitted in the near future.
Surly Long Haul Trucker
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