The Surly Long Haul Trucker – Can It Replace Your Spouse?
The Surly Long Haul Trucker – or how I replaced my wife!
I hope you’ll bear with me while I tell you a story about me and my Surly LHT. My marriage finished after just five years, so decided to set out on a long cycling tour of Arizona. I needed time alone, to consider everything that had happened and to plan ahead. I also needed a friend and, I can honestly say, I found it in my brand new Surly Long Haul Trucker. That was the trip that I met the beautiful Beatrice – who I will tell you about in a minute!
I did my research before buying the Surly Long Haul Trucker. I learned that Surly have a terrific reputation for quality. And that if you’re looking for a bike to take you distances, one that is happy carrying a load, the LHT is the one to go for. So I bought my bike on the internet – very modern of me. I liked the fact that there is nothing showy about the bike. And that it was all about function over fashion. And it’s so clean and utilitarian too.
I realised when I set off that if my wife had been a little more like the Surly LHT, in other words if she’d been less concerned about frippery and fashion, we might have got on a whole lot better! But excuse me, I’m digressing. I was delighted with the cromoly steel frames which feel super strong and that the fact that it has 3 water bottle cage mounts. These proved vital in my long trip around Arizona, which although incredibly beautiful can also be a little on the hot and dry side!
I also discovered that fully loaded, the LHT rides like very smoothly and it’s very comfortable too. And when I met Beatrice, my young Canadian friend, I was able to take some of her load from her, she was struggling just a little bit! Her friend had called it quits and returned home, but Beatrice doesn’t ever give up and that’s a winning formula in my books. We had spent 3 fantastic glorious weeks cycling all around. We began in Monument Valley – breathtaking!. We talked about all sorts, including my Surly bike of course! Beatrice wasn’t riding a Surly, but she panning on getting an LHT for our next trip together!
So, in short, my Surly LHT has helped turn my life around. I’ll never look back buying this fantastic bike. And if you are considering getting your own, here are all the technical specifications. Enjoy!
| Frame Size | Stem Length | Stem Angle | Handlebar Width | Crank Length |
| 42cm | 3.0 | 35.0 | 15.7 | 165 |
| 46cm | 3.0 | 35.0 | 15.7 | 165 |
| 50cm | 3.0 | 35.0 | 16.5 | 170 |
| 52cm | 3.5 | 17.0 | 16.5 | 170 |
| 54cm | 3.9 | 17.0 | 16.5 | 170 |
| 56cm | 3.9 | 17.0 | 17.3 | 175 |
| 58cm | 4.3 | 17.0 | 17.3 | 175 |
| 60cm | 4.7 | 17.0 | 18.1 | 175 |
| 62cm | 4.7 | 17.0 | 18.1 | 175 |
Standover height for the 26” model is based on a Primo Racer 26 x 1.25” tire that measures 628mm in diameter.
- 4130 chromoly frame and fork with room for racks and fenders
- Designed specifically to carry a load with low bottom bracket, long wheelbase, etc
COMPONENT SPECIFICATIONS
- Surly stainless seatpost clamp
- Shimano BS77 9sp bar-end shifters
- Tiagra triple front der, Shimano XT rear
- Andel forged aluminum crankset with versatile 110mm BCD, 26/36/48 rings and Shimano BB
- Shimano Deore 11-34 cassette
- Ritchey Logic Comp headset
- Kalloy stem and seatpost
- Black cork tape
- Tektro R-series brake levers
- Tektro Oryx cantilever brakes
- WTB SST saddle
- SRAM PC971 chain
- Pedals are not included
- Wheels are Shimano XT 770, 36 silver hubs laced with DT Swiss 14g stainless spokes to Alex Adventurer 36 hole rims
- WTB Slickasaurus tires with presta tubes
Shimano Tiagra Rear derailuer Action