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| The Long Haul Trucker in Commuter mode. |
After thinking more about my shake down tour last summer, and how the back end often felt like it was held together with straw, and the bone rattling vibrations that caused me such despair on the forestry tracks, I decided to see what could be done. Now, my Dawes is a fantastic bike, it has carried me thousands of miles in relative comfort. But on anything but the smoothest of roads there has been considerable "buzz" transmitted to me, and my tenderest parts, and sometimes this can be tiring. On heavier tracks this buzz can become quite disconcerting. Bottom line - I decided I wanted to try something a bit more built for purpose. The internet, and indeed my past memories of riding the bikes in my youth; would suggest steel is the material you want. Although carbon frames can share some of the characteristics of steel, I wouldn't trust it to be as reliably durable when carrying a full camping load, and taking everything my life will throw its way!
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| The long chainstays meant adding extra links to the chain. |
For several weeks I flitted between getting a secondhand tourer with an old Reynolds 531 (fancy numbers that represent a known and reliably strong and durable grade of steel tubing) frame, getting a Dawes Galaxy (I really do love Dawes!), or picking up something new from a less known (to me) manufacturer. Then I found the "Surly Long Haul Trucker", a purpose built touring frame from a company in the states (obviously made in Taiwan like every other mass produced frame is these days!). To me it was lovely, was reportedly very very strong and reliable, had the geometry for touring, a little (under exaggeration) extra weight, and the ability to take wide tyres, guards, and HAUL a whole load of weight! - Ideal then. After several weeks of deliberation, I briefly considered the "Disk Trucker" from the same company, essentially the same frame but with disk mounts instead. However after a few days I realised that the disk frame was about 400 grams heavier, and the disk brakes themselves added another 350 grams on the canti brakes I already had, not to mention the extra £80 it would cost to buy them! So naturally, back to dreaming about the conventional trucker I went. After another week I discovered a bike/frame called the Salsa Casseroll, purportedly a little more ordinary compared to the LHT (that's what they like to nickname the long haul trucker), short chainstays, lighter frame, and lighter load carrying abilities. I came extremely close to buying, but stock shortage in my size eliminated that. So, after one final week of thinking about how much my wife loved me, I bit the bullet and bought a black 56cm Surly Long Haul Trucker Frame, and transferred everything from my Dawes onto it.
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| Integrated Spoke storage for longer tour Self sufficiency. |
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| XT long cage rear derailleur making supreme gear ranges possible. |
