5 things I want to see on 2010 Long Haul Trucker
I’m a big fan of the Surly Long Haul Trucker. In the time that I’ve had one it’s been an absolute dream to ride about and only seems to get better with age. I’m constantly pushing the limits of what I thought was possible to carry around on a bike and finding new ways to integrate the long haul trucker into my life.
I own the Long Haul Trucker complete and whilst for the most part the Surly chosen components are up to scratch there are several improvements I think that can be made.
I’m well aware that the bike market is an extremely competitive field and manufacturers are always engaged in the struggle to keep costs down whilst offering the same or better components then their competitors, but lets face it anyone buying a Surly isn’t doing so because they’re on a shoestring budget.
Surly bikes have a strong reputation and the bikes more then live up to it. I could be at a pub or at work or in the cinemas and all it takes is someone to mention cycling and I turn into a unstoppable blubbering fountain of praise for the Surly brand. Yes, when someone buys a Surly bike it’s not on a whim, they’ve done their research and usually know exactly what they want.
This is the prime reason behind the suggestions for the 2010 Long Haul Trucker Complete. Hey Surly, your riders know what they want so why not give it to them!
1. Better brakes
I’ve got nothing personally against Tektro brakes in general but the Tektro Oryx on the Long Haul Trucker Complete are absolute garbage, period.
The hoods are fine, if a little on the small side but the cantilever brakes themselves are such a disaster. The included stock brake pads will make you squeeze on the brake levers for your life when it’s just you on the bike let alone when it’s loaded up and as for adjusting them?
Oh my god what a nightmare.
It’s strange because everything else on the bike seems to be geared towards lowish maintenance and easy repair if something goes wrong on a trip but adjusting the Tektro Oryx brakes involves so much stuffing around it’s not funny. Between how many different sizes of hex wrenches and spanners you need and then all the micro adjusting (losing the brake spring due to fine adjustment is RIDICULOUSLY easy and each time it happens you have to pull off the brake from the frame and rethread the spring) that I’m seriously looking at sizing up my options the next time I find myself in a bike store.
To their credit I’ve only had to adjust them twice in 3,000-4,000 km’s but still… each time I’ve had to spend over an hour doing so because they are just a right royal pain in the arse. I really miss my Tiagra caliper road brakes, they literally took <5 mins to adjust and were rock solid. Obviously I can’t run them with the wider tyres of the LHT but seriously Surly, there has to be a better option then Tektro Oryx.
2. Including a Brooks saddle
Yes not everyone likes them but honestly, the few Surly’s I’ve seen around Melbourne have all had Brooks saddles on them. I know there’s a bit of pride in being a US brand but let’s face it, the Brits got saddles right for touring years ago so why re-invent the wheel. The WTB SSX is uncomfortable after 5 minutes and isn’t really suited to long distance rides.
If I can get a Brooks B-17 for $100AUD when the dollar isn’t crap, god knows how little you guys can buy them for wholesale. I’m sure the percentage of customers who would keep them on their bikes is much, much greater then the percentage of people who wind up replacing the WTB SSX.
It’s time to call the UK up and strike a deal with Brooks.
3. The 2010 colour better not be flamboyant.
The blue from ’08 was nice but the olive green was just perfect! Whoever the hell came up with ‘Truckaccino for a TOURING bike needs to get their head re-examined. These bikes are designed to power through anything, so why the hell would you give them a light cream colour that will look dirty the second you leave the store?
Please Surly stick with the classic colours for a classic bike. Stick to creative frame designs please, Truckaccino was a nice experiment but it looks awful.
4. Mudguards
A lot of the stigma surrounding mudguards comes from road racer lycra freaks. Believe me nobody is buying the Long Haul Trucker because they believe it will make them go faster then everybody else and every one I’ve seen has had mudguards put on it because they are ridiculously practical.
Installing them is a bit of a PITA so how about striking a deal with SKS, offering their P-45′s (or 35′s even) to us with the Long Haul Trucker complete and as a bonus because they’re now part of the package the LBS has to fit them!
5. Ditch the Travel Contact Tyres for Schwalbe Marathon Pluses
At the moment I’m running 25/28 Continental Gatorskins but when they wear out i’ll be fitting the supplied 37 Continental Contact tyres and then finally settling on a set of Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyres. They are perfectly suited to the type of riding the Long Haul Trucker is used for and from what I’ve read are relatively bulletproof and wear slower then wheeling your bike home fully loaded in the snow.
Admittedly the Continental Contact’s aren’t a bad choice it’s just that I think there are better choices out there more practically suitable. If you can get a good price to bundle them with the bike then why not.
Also this nonsense of offering different tyres for different bike sizes is a bit annoying, settle on one brand and if they don’t offer 700c and 26″ tyres then ditch them. The Schwalbe Marathon Plus is available in both sizes to boot!
Sure the end price will be a bit higher but most of us are going to spend the extra and do it ourselves anyway, so why not just tailor the bike to what most people want at closer to wholesale markup on the components?
Surly, the pedals in your court.
July 10th, 2009 at 6:25 pm Andrew(Quote)
Hi,
I have to agree about the brakes on the LHT. I changed the front ones to a cyclocross type canti but it is still not a decent brake. I’m in Melbourne too so perhaps you’ve seen a big fat bloke on a blue LHT around Brunswick and Carlton? I was going to send some photos of a recent MBTC Surly ride for all the club members who have Surlys. There is at least 6-7 but I don’t know how to do it from this site. Last weekend I did a 3 day ride around the bendigo region fully loaded and it is a great bike to ride loaded or not.
Cheers, Andrew
July 10th, 2009 at 6:31 pm ozsoapbox(Quote)
Hey Andrew!
I’ve only seen 2 LHT’s out in the wild, both green. One was an old bloke with panniers on a 26″ wheel size LHT going down barkly st. to st. kilda cycles. The other was a younger guy in the city also on a 26″ wheel one.
I’d love to see the photos! You can click the email link on the upper right and atach them to an email, that should work. This Surly group sounds interesting, although I’m not sure how much more time can be extracted from my week
September 24th, 2009 at 12:04 am Kenneth(Quote)
I don’t see anything wrong with the brakes on my LHT at all.But I am sad to hear that the Olive green bike will be no more as far as the cream color I love that color too.It was hard for me to pick witch color I wanted it took me over two months to pick but I got the Olive green one at the end and I am glad I did now.Brooks Saddle you bet I put one on mine B17 Special Green too.I can wait until I get to see the all Black bike bet thats going to be cool looking.
September 24th, 2009 at 12:16 am ozsoapbox(Quote)
Since writing this article I’ve changed over the brake pads on my LHT and it’s made a massive difference. The Tektro Oryx brakes are still a massive pain in the arse to adjust properly but at least they stop the bike now.
I’ve seen the photos of the new blue and black 2010 models and while I love black bikes (my previous road bike was a black Gitane) given the trucker’s purpose I don’t think it’ll be a good idea. If I owned a black LHT it’d probably just wind up looking perpetually dirty!
The blue on the other hand looks verrry nice. I actually don’t mind Surly cancelling the green colour for a few years – it’ll make my trucker seem more rarer
.
Glad to hear from another Long Haul Trucker fan.
September 26th, 2009 at
[...] After riding my Long Haul Trucker for close to six months, earlier this year I published a list of 5 things I wanted to see on the 2010 Long Haul Trucker. [...]
November 15th, 2009 at
[...] example one of my biggest gripes with my Surly Long Haul Trucker is the elcheapo Tektro Oryx brakes. Compared to the Shimano Tiagra road caliper brakes I was using on my previous bike which took [...]
May 3rd, 2010 at 7:08 am Dennis(Quote)
Hi!
Nice article. Thanks. Any suggestions for brakes to replace the Tektro Oryx ones?
May 4th, 2010 at 2:36 am ozsoapbox(Quote)
Hey Dennis, glad you found the article useful.
I have learnt to live with my Tektro Oryx brakes as due to being cantilevers they don’t need regular adjustment. I still dread adjusting them though.
Last time I looked Shimano had a decent cantilever alternative but I imagine the adjustment issues are still there. Unforatunely due to the cantilever design I don’t think they’ll ever be as maintenance friendly as road calipers
.
July 16th, 2010 at 12:28 pm evad the slayer(Quote)
I agree with all of your suggestions. The awful color is gone for 2011 so I guess they must read posts at Surly.
I replaced the brake pads to Kool Stop black and reds and that has made a huge positive difference in stopping distance and squeeling.
The stock saddle is a disgrace. Why do they insist on outfitting such a critical part with junk? They KNOW well all throw them away and replace with Brooks. So, delete the seat entirely and let the end user choose his/her own.
The only other complaint I have is how hard it is to fit a simple kickstand block to the stays. I cannot get it to fit right and am forced to mount it kitty-corner. Common guys, redesign that area with a proper box for fitting a kick stand to.
July 16th, 2010 at 2:00 pm ozsoapbox(Quote)
Gday Evad, thanks for stopping by.
This has been somewhat of a big problem for me. When I decided to move to Taiwan I figured it was time to invest in a kickstand. In Australia we’ve got poles everywhere for you to lock a bike to, not so here in Taiwan. You’ve got scooters everywhere and more often then not when you want to park the bike for a few seconds to grab a milk tea there’s nothing to rest it on.
Anyway so I bought a centre kickstand before leaving and tried to fit it. No luck, the rear stays kept getting in the way. I managed to get a refund but didn’t end up buying a stand till I got here. Now I run some flimsy triangle kick stand which does the job but I wouldn’t trust to hold the bike upright if I loaded up the panniers.
Still wondering what to do about a kickstand for the Trucker. Taiwan bike stores don’t seem to stock centre stands and I’m worried about buying a decent one online from overseas incase it doesn’t fit!
July 17th, 2010 at 10:05 am Dennis(Quote)
Hi!
Got a blue Surly LHT 2010 with 26” wheels in April. Biked 600 km last week fully loaded with 4 panniers, handlebar bag and rack pack. I love this bike. Really gets the job done (and looks pretty cool with my NutCase helmet). I got some SKS P50 fenders, a Brooks saddle and put some Mr. Tuffy liners in both tires.
As for the kickstand, have you ever checked the Click-Stand website? I bought one and it does the job.
Another thing, I got the front chainring changed for a Raceface 46-34-24. I fear no hill!
Cheers!
July 17th, 2010 at 1:26 pm ozsoapbox(Quote)
Gday Dennis, welcome to the Long Haul Trucker owners club
. Glad your enjoying your bike. 600km sounds like an awesome ride, whereabouts did you go?
Your gear sounds good but just be careful with the tire liners, might be worth reading ‘fitting tire liners without puncturing your inner tube‘.
I had a look at the website, looks like a cool idea. My only reservation is that it looks really thin and this would mean it’d be inclined to sink into dirt more? Also I’m not too sure on having to carry it around somewhere all the time.
Although I know it’s a cheap noname brand that will fail eventually, the triangle stand I have on at the moment is convenient in that I can just kick it down when I stop.
I’ve got a 57″ (or 58″ can’t remember now) Long Haul Trucker and I’ve found the stock chainring more then adequate to get up even the steepest of hills. Infact to date I’ve never used the granny ring with the lowest chainring lol. It looks a bit funny because the lower chainrings are still shiny and everything else looks used
.
July 18th, 2010 at 5:11 am Dennis Angers(Quote)
Hi Oz,
My tour took me from Matane, which is in Quebec, Canada, to Thetford Mines. Most of it was on the Route Verte which is the official biking circuit in Quebec. Ever heard of it?
Check this link :http://www.routeverte.com/rv/index2010_e.php
Hey, I read your article on the Mr. Tuffy liners. Brilliant stuff. Thanks a load!
Take care.
July 20th, 2010 at 1:25 pm ozsoapbox(Quote)
Man 4,000+ km of bike paths to ride, I am so jealous that’s awesome. Being Canada I can assume the ride was wonderfully scenic too?
Here in Taiwan I’ve mostly gotta tackle the public road system which is ok but it’s nothing compared to a connected bike path network. I think a roundtrip of the island is somewhere between 1000-1500km so it’s definitely doable, just wont be anywhere near as easy as cycling around Quebec
.
Glad you enjoyed the tire liner article!
August 30th, 2010 at 8:21 am H.J.Krellmann(Quote)
I changed the brakes to Avid V-Brakes and it is save now.
October 6th, 2010 at 8:52 am majchers(Quote)
Ditch these stupid bar end shifters! Those who like them – please give me one reason why they should stay there.
October 8th, 2010 at 5:30 am ozsoapbox(Quote)
I was a bit hesitant about my bar end shifters when I bought my Trucker but have since grown to love them.
I guess the main advantage over brifters are that if something goes wrong with the shifter index mechanism you can just flick it over to friction mode and still ride along comfortably. The front gear shifter is friction only and I’ve had my Long Haul Trucker for two years come November, during which have only had to adjust the front gear cable once. This was your standard cable stretch shortly after buying the bike.
Over time you can also feel where the gears are based on the lever position so you don’t have to take your eyes off the road and additionally the bar end shifters are cheaper to replace then their brifter counterparts.
Bar end shifters are full of win for me!
October 8th, 2010 at 6:30 am majchers(Quote)
…all this ‘ozsoapbox’ if you are using the lower portion of you handlebar. I almost do not. And I belive most of us (tourers) do not. Hence ‘going down’ just to switch the gear seems a bit strange.
Different story if it comes to the racing group (where all the shifters came from anyway).
Just a though…
October 10th, 2010 at 5:57 pm ozsoapbox(Quote)
I’m definitely not a racer and spend most of my time on the flat bar area unless I’m riding long distance, then it’s the hoods.
Over time flipping the gears comes naturally enough so that you don’t have to adjust position or stop and think about it. The other thing is with the touring you’re rarely changing gears so it’s a bit of a non issue.
Trust me, bar end shifters look weird and the concept seems counter intuitive but in a practical sense they just work. I wouldn’t have anything else on my Trucker.
October 17th, 2010 at 9:34 pm Craig(Quote)
G’Day folks,
Now this may seem like I am asking some silly questions here but bare with me. The wife and I (currently recreational cyclists) would like to get ourselves a bike each to go touring and be able to cart enough gear to get out and about to introduce our three young boys (10, 6 and 4) to cycling and the endless possibilities it opens up.
Our theory is – buy it once and buy it properly. And with the Aussie dollar at almost parity, the time for a purchase is here.
1) I am 6’6″ (almost 2 metres) tall and clock in at 115 – 120 kgs. Will a LHT fully laden be able to take the pain that my weight plus load will put on it??
2) Would it be better just to buy a LHT frame and build it from the ground up??? Making all the mods to suit me personally along the way or is this not cost effective??
3) And finally, any recommendations as to the best/most helpful dealership to assist with the purchase – or – straight off the net??
All the reviews and blogs I have read have lead me to a LHT. I know I am asking the converted, but is there any other bike that I should even consider???
Cheers in advance for any pointers. Craig and Donna
October 19th, 2010 at 3:46 pm ozsoapbox(Quote)
Gday Craig, glad to hear you’re looking to get into touring and introduce your kids to it too! Wish my parents had done that for me!
Yeah no dramas at all. I’m 6’1″ and ride a 56 (or 57 can’t remember now). From memory that Trucker sizes go into the 60′s so you should be right size wise.
Strength wise the frames are steel which is strong as and can take a beating. Frame longevity was one of the major reasons I started to look at the Long Haul Trucker to begin with.
This depends on whether you’re comfortable with the parts the Trucker comes with as a complete bike.
For me all I changed was the saddle so buying the Trucker as a complete bike was cost effective, rather then building it up. Meanwhile I’ve added a whole bunch of stuff to the bike (bottle dynamo, full fenders (mudguards), front and rear light system, rear rack, speedo), but I would have had to have obtained all this stuff with a frame anyway so it didn’t really matter to me.
Apart from the Tektro brakes which I don’t like, Surly have put a lot of thought into the stock parts and going on nearly 3 years now come November, I’ve been more then happy with my LHT.
A long test ride is mandatory before purchasing, mostly to get the fit right and then to see if you’re comfortable with bar end shifters and the general setup of the complete bike. Having said that, finding a dealer with a 60+ size assembled might be a challenge.
Still, even if you have to test on a high 50 size you should be able to guage whether the complete setup is good for you or whether you want to start from scratch with a Trucker frame.
If you go for a complete bike and know the size your after then it pretty much comes down to price so shop around. If you’re not happy with the stock parts and want to go the frame route then I’d be looking for a friendly well priced local supplier to firstly source parts and then help you put it all together.
Good luck mate and welcom to the world of Long Haul Truckers!
December 30th, 2010 at 12:11 pm Jim(Quote)
Have all you Surly people seen this:
http://www.recalls.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/990091
December 30th, 2010 at 2:11 pm ozsoapbox(Quote)
Lol that’s actually pretty amusing. When I opened the page and saw ‘Long Haul Trucker’ and the recall date range of February 2006 to August 2010 my heart sank. I was expecting somethign major like tube failure or some such.
I’m assuming the brake cable catch hook is either the big solid piece of metal at the end of the brake cable or the little hook thing at the base of the cantilever brake that the cable itself tucks into.
Either way any reputable bike store should pick up that it’s missing when they assemble the bike as there’s nowhere to hook the cable onto. And if the big chunk of metal is missing from the brake cable then the brake won’t work all together.
More of a problem with Surly’s continued choice to use shitty Tektro Oryx brakes than a problem with Surly. Maybe they’ll learn their lesson next year and give us Shimano cantilevers or something.
February 22nd, 2011 at 10:04 pm Jonny(Quote)
Hello LHT fan’s Just got myself a 2011 56cm with 26″ Wheel’s Blacktacular, And I love It I spend more time with It than my wife great bike never done much riding on the road always been a mountain biker.
So I Decided to cycle John o groats to Land’s end in April so I done a little research into Adventure Touring Bike’s and the LHT came out on top.
The bike Is well thought out got all the right bit’s in all the right places (XT rear mech and Hub’s, and strong Wheel’s) very comfy and for the money its a great choice I looked into the Thorn sherpa nice bike But you will spend more cash on the spec that the LHT got as standard.
The saddle Is a pain in the arse and the brake’s fully kitted up aint much good but a new saddle and a set of good block’s, some sks mud guards, racks and pannier’s point the bike wherre you want to go and It will do it.
February 23rd, 2011 at 4:49 am ozsoapbox(Quote)
Gday Jonny, glad you’re enjoying your Long Haul Trucker. Best bike ever put together in my opinion!
I’ve got some ideas for Trucker articles coming up… going to do a showcase of the Long Haul Trucker Complete build and how the bike looks at 15,000 km’s (just riding out the last 3,000 or so km’s before I do the article).
Also got some more badmouthing of the woeful Tektro brakes and was thinking of reviewing the components themselves that the Complete build comes with (probably along with the 15,000 mileage report).
Well, that’s the plan anyway
.
July 20th, 2011 at 6:05 pm John the Monkey(Quote)
Hi all,
I’m a fan of the green LHT too, although I built mine up to my own spec.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/john_the_monkey/sets/72157623844840208/
I started out with wide profile (Tektro CR720) brakes. These are ok – but just ok. The problem for me (running mudguards, and 42c tyres) is that the straddle can’t go low enough to get the power I want from the brakes. So in the end, I went for Oryxes.
To get the Oryx to work as I wanted, I junked the link wire, and use a proper cantilever brake straddle (actually the one that came with the CR720s). I set that so the clamp bolt on the brake cable is about level with the lowest part of my headset. Fibrax Xtreme pads (equivalent to Kool Stop salmons) are used instead of the tektro pads.
End result is pretty powerful braking from Tiagra road levers – the only downside is that the brake has to be gapped pretty close to the rim.
I might experiment with mini-vs at some point, having read this; http://forums.roadbikereview.com/showthread.php?t=146309&highlight=tricross+brakes – on my 58cm trucker, 85mm arms seem to be the right size.
July 21st, 2011 at 12:37 am ozsoapbox(Quote)
Wow John you know waaaay more about brakes then I do. I’ve never even bothered to read up on different arm lengths. Nor have I adjusted the height of the straddle!
To be honest it all sounds a bit too much. I dunno what it’s set at and I’m sure I’ve messed with it myself since my Trucker rolled out of the bike store but for now my Oryx brakes stop pretty well and that’s good enough for me. Be even nice if they weren’t such a PITA to adjust but can’t win ‘em all. Mind you if they ever malfunction I’ll definitely be replacing them with something else.
Thanks for sharing photos of your bike, always love to see other Trucker builds.
July 21st, 2011 at 6:25 pm John the Monkey(Quote)
Eh, if they stop you they’re good brakes
I’m trying to find a balance between power, not needing to adjust the flippin’ things every five minutes, and being able to get a wheel with a fat tyre on in and out quickly.
Somewhere, the perfect brake is out there
July 23rd, 2011 at 1:42 pm ozsoapbox(Quote)
For all my complaining the Tektro Oryx’s do stop, it’s just that I dread having to adjust them. Thankfully they only seem to need adjustment every 6 months or so. I’ve only run up to 37′s so haven’t had any trouble with fatter tires.
Are you loading really large loads on the Trucker or is it just a peace of mind thing running over 40s?
Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeere?
July 24th, 2011 at 5:11 am John the Monkey(Quote)
Your levers are probably better suited to the brakes than my Tiagra STis are, tbh – I think levers designed for cantilever brakes have a different pivot on the lever. (At least, I remember the old mountain bikes did – the levers pull slightly more cable as the lever nears the bar, which gets over a reduction in mechanical advantage as the brake closes on the rim)
I adjust mine between fortnightly and monthly – the soft pads are grippy, but wear fast – and a set up with high mechanical advantage at the lever (like mine) is unforgiving of brakes that aren’t close to the rims.
Not really – I just knew the bike could do it, and had a “what if…?” moment. 42c gives a much less harsh ride than the 32c I had on there, and doesn’t seem to affect my speed. I’ve a feeling the larger amount of rubber in contact with the road helps some on wet days too. I like the odd ride on gravel & dirt too, and bigger, low pressure tyres are a better bet there.
As for the perfect brake, if you find it first, be sure to let me know
July 25th, 2011 at 2:32 pm ozsoapbox(Quote)
Ouch, I couldn’t bear the thought of having to adjust the Oryx’s every few weeks – it’d be enough for me to go out and buy an entire new bike lol.
I’ve got the original 37c Continental Contact tyres on my Trucker at the moment. They’re approaching 10,000km and the rear is pretty worn. I’ve found they do a pretty good job of gravel and dirt tracks and offer a smooth ride.
My next tire replacement is a 32c Vittoria and I’ll see how that goes. If I find it too harsh coming from the 37 then I too just for kicks might give something larger than a 37c a go.