Tag: surly

The Surly Moonlander Lands On Earth With A Pinion Gearbox!

The Surly Moonlander has just set a new maximum tyre width for bicycles: 6.25 inches, or 159 mm!

This new fat tyre size allows you to run lower tyre pressures than ever before, increasing the tyre footprint on the ground, and providing more flotation over this world’s softest surfaces. You can actually drop the tyre pressure down to just 1 or 2 psi!

The Surly Moonlander V2 can run as low as 1 or 2 psi. Image: Surly Bikes

To keep the overall wheel diameter in check, Surly has reduced the rim size to 24″. When combined with the 6.2″ tyre, this matches the overall wheel diameter of a 26 x 5.1″ model found on the Surly Ice Cream Truck (more or less).

With the smaller rim size, Surly can use a standard-length front fork, which in turn keeps the head tube at a reasonable length and the handlebars at an ideal height.

Why Is This Bike Ideal For Soft Surfaces?

Other than the all-new 6.2” Surly Molenda tyres, Surly has made some important frame modifications to suit soft surfaces.

They’ve dropped the top tube as low as possible to minimise the standover height. This should give you enough top tube clearance to dab your foot into the sand and not injure yourself.

In addition, the tall bottom bracket height provides plenty of clearance for backcountry riding and monster trucking over rocks, roots and grasses.

An interesting feature is the small handhold between the nook of the seat tube and the top tube. This makes the Moonlander a bit easier to lift and manoeuvre.

The Surly Moonlander V2 Is A Mid-Tail Fat Bike

It’s hard to imagine a better bike on dunes than the Surly Moonlander! Image: Surly Bikes

Surly has also extended the rear end of the Moonlander. The chainstays are now 562 mm long, which is over 100 mm longer than previously.

These extra-long chainstays make the bike super stable at speed and prevent your front wheel from lifting while riding up steep inclines.

But importantly, the long chainstay length helps to create space for the 6.2″ wide rear tyre AND the front sprocket – it can get especially cosy at the chainstay near the tyre.

The Front and Rear Hubs Are Identical

Despite its weight, the Surly Moonlander will fly along sandy desert tracks. Image: Surly Bikes

The Surly Moonlander employs two rear hubs, which are both 197 mm in width. This is a somewhat standard size in the fat bike world, for example, it’s found on the Surly Ice Cream Truck.

The advantage of using identical front and rear wheels is that they’re interchangeable! This would allow you to fit different tooth sprockets on each wheel and swap them depending on how mountainous it is.

Alternatively, if the freewheel of one hub stopped functioning, you could swap the wheels around. Or if you partially damaged one wheel you could move it to the front where it will experience less stress.

The Surly Moonlander Is A Pinion Fat Bike

The Surly Moonlander is a Pinion fat bike! Image: Surly Bikes

I’m excited to finally see a Surly bike with a Pinion gearbox!

Pinion gearboxes are less susceptible to damage than derailleurs, they don’t require any tuning or adjustment, they don’t wear out, and you can change gears at any time. There is very little cleaning too – the only maintenance is the 10,000km oil change which takes no more than 15 minutes to complete.

The gearbox model that Surly has picked is the Pinion C1.9 XR. This is a 9-speed box with a 568% range – that’s even more gear range than the best 1X derailleur setups. You can expect the biggest gear to be around 5.7x larger than the smallest, suiting almost all-terrain.

There is a custom high-offset spider that mounts the front sprocket with the perfect chain line for the 197 mm rear hub. Combined with the custom Pinion fat crank arms for Surly, the q-factor (distance between the right and left crank arms) works out to be the same as other fat cranksets (~230mm).

What Are The Moonlander Gear Ratios?

The Surly Moonlander has appropriately low climbing gear ratios for backcountry riding. Image: Surly Bikes

There is a 34-tooth front and 34-tooth rear sprocket.

When we run the calculations, we find that the Surly Moonlander has a 16″ low gear, and a 93″ high gear – that’s 1.3 to 7.4 in metres development. This should be low enough for almost all backcountry riding.

What Frame Material is the Surly Moonlander?

Surly uses double-butted steel tubes for the front triangle and straight gauge tubes for the rear triangle. An electro-deposition coating is applied to the frame, which protects it from corrosion.

What Other Wheel and Tyre Sizes Will Fit The Surly Moonlander?

Look at that tyre deformation! Image: Surly Bikes

The Surly Moonlander will also fit 26 x 5.1”, 27.5 x 4.8”, and 29 x 3.0” tyres.

What Mounts Does The Surly Moonlander Offer?

You’ll find 4x cargo cage mounts on the fork, fender mounts, rear rack mounts, and bottle cage mounts on each side of the downtube.

What If You Don’t Want To Use Tubeless?

Surly have a new TPU inner tube in the matching 24 x 6.2” size that can be run down at low pressures (2-10psi). The tubes are US $49 a piece.

As the TPU tubes don’t stretch to fill the tyre, they apparently provide even better sidewall support and improve the tyre’s traction.

How Much Does The Moonlander Weigh?

The Surly Moonlander tips the scales at 21.1 kilograms (46.6 lb).

This is quite heavy for a bicycle but I can assure you this mass will be very easily concealed when the terrain is soft.

How Tall Should You Be To Ride A Moonlander?

The Moonlander comes in four sizes from small to extra-large, and the stack and reach measurements are typical of rigid fat bikes.

This should suit riders from 163 cm through 198 cm (5ft4 to 6ft6).

Can You Fit A Suspension Fork On The Surly Moonlander?

You cannot fit any current mountain bike suspension fork on the Moonlander due to the monstrous front tyre width.

How Much Does The Surly Moonlander Cost?

You can get a Surly Moonlander for US $4,199 (complete bike) or just the frameset for US $1,199 (not including the gearbox).

Read more about the Surly Moonlander at SurlyBikes.

September 4, 2024
How To Decide Between The Surly Troll, Ogre, ECR, Bridge Club, Disc Trucker & More

Let’s face it, the Surly adventure and touring bike lineup is overwhelming. Almost everything Surly makes has provision for racks and gear storage; there is an insane amount of model cross over. Given that Surly’s can be found in most regions of the world, I’ve written this article to help you narrow down your choices. This information should also be super practical for choosing between other similar bikes too.

Today, I’ll be focussing on 10 different Surly models. These bikes suit everything from road touring to gnarly backcountry singletrack.

Which Surlys Will We Be Comparing?

Touring
ECR, Ogre, Troll, Bridge Club, Disc Trucker, Pack Rat

Road
Straggler, Midnight Special

Trail
Krampus, Karate Monkey

Terrain & Tyre Size

When deciding on a style of touring bike, the best place to start is with tyre and wheel specification. What kind of terrain will you need your Surly to handle? Are you going to need a bike that can fit both knobby mountain bike tyres as well as fast slicks? For the record, there is no ‘best’ wheel size; you’ll always have to trade off rolling resistance with grip and comfort. A 700c or 29″ slick tyre often has half the rolling resistance of a plus tyre, allowing you to ride further with the same pedalling effort, but will obviously not be able to keep up on technical terrain. Click HERE for the best bikepacking tire options and HERE for the best of Schwalbe’s touring slicks.

29+
ECR 29 x 3.00″ (M-XL) – Krampus 29 x 3.00″

For rough trails, this is the option that will roll over objects with the smallest ‘angle of attack’. 29+ works out to be fastest over rocks, and with the increased tire footprint and volume, you’ll find them to be supremely grippy too. This tyre specification will be best if you’re almost exclusively touring on rough terrain.

27.5+
ECR 27.5 x 3.00″ (XS-M) – Ogre 27.5 x 3.00″ – Karate Monkey 27.5 x 3.00″ – Bridge Club 27.5 x 2.80″

This is the most popular plus-sized option as the wheel and tire diameter works out to be the equivalent of a regular 29″ wheel. As a result, you can have one bike that will fit both a plus wheelset for rough/sandy trails, and a 29″ wheelset for smoother dirt tracks – ultimately, allowing you to perfectly optimise your tyres to your intended off-road terrain.

29″
Ogre 29 x 2.60″ – Karate Monkey 29 x 2.50″

For general off-road use, the fastest option is undoubtedly a 29-inch mountain bike wheelset. With a broad range of widths (2.00 to 2.60″), you should be able to find a tire that’s both quick on dirt roads and also very capable the trails.

700C
Disc Trucker 700c x 45mm (sizes 56-64cm) – Midnight Special 700c x 42mm – Straggler 700c x 42mm (sizes 52-62cm)

Although the rim diameter is identical to 29″, the 700c nomenclature is used for tyres narrower than 2.00 inches in width. In general, you’ll find 700c tyres will have a speed advantage on smoother road surfaces when compared to the other wheel options, which is why you’ll find them on most traditional touring bikes.

27.5″ (650B)
Midnight Special 27.5 x 2.35″ – Straggler 650b x 42mm (sizes 38-58cm) – Pack Rat 650b x 48mm (sizes 52-58cm)

Not too many off-road bikepacking bikes are built around this wheel size, however, a growing number of drop bar bikes can accommodate tyres in the 27.5 x 2.00-2.40″ range. This wheel size offers a decent number of slick tyre options too, which will be nice if you’d like a bike that can be transformed from speed machine to dirt track warrior. Bikes that fit these tyres can often also be interchangeably used with 700c x 35-45mm wheelsets too (the Midnight Special is a prime example) – I’ll cover Surly wheel compatibility below under “custom builds”.

26″
Troll 26 x 3.00″ – Disc Trucker 26 x 2.10″ (sizes 42-58cm) – Pack Rat 26 x 2.00″ (sizes 38-50cm)

A decade ago, the standard size for bike travel was 26 inch. There are still a few 26″ touring bikes getting about, but they’re becoming less common by the year. One great reason to choose 26″ is if you’re not particularly tall, as these bikes will often offer a more suitable bike fit.

Handlebar Choice

The handlebar grips are two-out-of-five attachment points between your body and the bike, and arguably, they’re also the two most important. It’s these points which largely determine how well you can balance and manoeuvre your bike. Working against your bike manoeuvrability and balance is any style of front luggage (panniers, bikepacking bags, handlebar bag, cargo cages) which increases the amount of ‘steering effort’ required to change your bike’s direction.

The best possible way to combat heavier steering is by fitting a wider handlebar to your bike. Wide bars increase the steering leverage up front, which allows you to maintain a light steering feel, even with a front load. As a result, you can expect better bike control at high speeds (thanks to the quicker steering inputs) and low speeds (thanks to the micro-adjustments you can make to help with your balance). This is most noticeable when you’re climbing slowly up a hill, or when you need to quickly avoid something on the road while travelling at speed.

I typically recommend fitting a Surly Moloko, VO Crazy Bar or Jones Loop handlebar because they have ample hand positions. These bars even have holds to mimic the brake hoods of a drop handlebar. You can check out my nine reasons why touring bikes are better with flat bars HERE.

Flat Bar Surly Models w/ Longer Frames
ECR, Ogre, Troll, Bridge Club, Krampus, Karate Monkey

Drop Bar Surly Models w/ Shorter Frames
Disc Trucker, Pack Rat, Straggler, Midnight Special

Flatbar and Dropbar Conversions
People have fitted drop bars to almost all Surly models, no matter whether they’ve been designed for that or not. Many Long Haul Trucker and Disc Trucker models have been fitted with flat bars too. As frame lengths vary depending on their intended handlebar style, the key to doing a bar swap like this is to size your flat bar bike DOWN to fit a drop bar, and to size UP to fit a flat bar on a drop bar bike.

Gear Ratios & Drivetrain

If you’re into exploring anywhere with hills, pay close attention. Low gear ratios are absolutely paramount for being able to ride all day with limited muscle fatigue. It’s the times when you start to really grind the pedals when you put the most stress on your body – it doesn’t matter if you’re a strong rider or not, you’ll fatigue quickly in this state. I typically recommend a low climbing gear of less than 20 gear inches, as this specification allows you to maintain a pedalling cadence of 60RPM up most hills. You can learn more about gear inches and what they mean HERE.

17-92″ Bridge Club (2x)
17-78″ ECR 27+ (1x)
18-82″ ECR 29+ (1x)
19-115″ Troll (3x)
20-119″ Surly Disc Trucker (3x)
21-82″ Krampus (1x)
21-78″ Karate Monkey (1x)
22-85″ Ogre (1x)
27-105″ Straggler (1x)
28-86″ Pack Rat (1x)
29-126″ Midnight Special (2x)

Frame Geometry

If you’re not familiar with frame geometry numbers, it’ll pay to check out my article on understanding bike geometry HERE.

Touring Geometry // Troll, Ogre, ECR, Bridge Club, Disc Trucker, Straggler
These frames offer stability first and foremost. This is achieved by employing a slower steering response and longer wheelbase in particular. Bikes with touring geometry also tend to use stiffer frame tubing to resist the twisting forces of a front and rear load. You can increase the stability of a loaded touring bike by pairing them with a wide handlebar.

Road Geometry // Midnight Special, Pack Rat
These drop bar frames are designed with sharp handling in mind. Their steering speed is quick and is matched to relatively short wheelbases which keep the bike nimble. They tend to handle best with a light front load (5kg or so) and although they have provision for a rear rack, their short chainstays (410mm) can cause heel clearance issues if you were thinking of using rear panniers (a solution is the Axiom Streamliner DLX rack, however).

Trail Geometry // Krampus, Karate Monkey
These frames are optimised to descend steep, technical terrain. This is achieved by extending the ‘front centre’ of the frame and reducing the ‘chainstay’ length, bringing the rider’s centre of mass closer to the rear of the bike (thereby reducing how easy it is to go over the bars). The short chainstays also allow the front of the bike to easily be lifted over obstacles. With the longer top tube lengths comes the need for these bikes to use shorter stem lengths, which increases the sensitivity of the steering.

Surly Pricing

Surly bikes all fall in the US $1000-2000 price point. This is undoubtedly where you’ll find the best value-for-money because you get high-durability parts, decent performance and all of the nice touring features.

$1200 Bridge Club
$1450 Ogre
$1475 Pack Rat
$1550 Disc Trucker
$1550 Krampus
$1550 Karate Monkey
$1650 Straggler
$1750 Troll
$1900 ECR
$2000 Midnight Special

Custom Builds

Surly offer all of their touring bikes as a frameset only (with the exception of the Bridge Club). And they are all very affordable considering what you get. For some ideas on a ’round-the-world custom touring build list, check out what I did with a Surly Ogre HERE.

$515 Pack Rat
$525 Disc Trucker
$575 Straggler
$675 Krampus
$750 ECR

The following framesets can be built up with a choice of wheel sizes:
$600 Troll – 700x47c, 27.5×2.4″ or 26×3.0″
$625 Midnight Special – 700x42c or 27.5×2.35″
$650 Ogre – 29×2.6″ or 27.5×3.0″
$675 Karate Monkey – 29×2.5 or 27.5×3.0″

Summary and My Picks

I’m hoping my line of reasoning has helped you to narrow down your options sufficiently.

In short:
1. Choose the most suitable tyre size for your style of travel
2. Choose your handlebars
3. Understand which gear ratios will suit your terrain and load
4. Make sure the bike’s frame geometry matches your use
5. Find something that suits your budget

Which Surly would I pick?
– I’d pick the Bridge Club for anything majority off-road (it still rolls quickly with Schwalbe Super Moto-X slicks)
– I’d go the Disc Trucker for anything majority on-road (with a handlebar swap to a VO Crazy Bar or Surly Moloko)
– If I was building up a custom ’round-the-world Surly I’d pick the Ogre and spec it like THIS
– If I wanted a bike for mountain bike trails (with bikepacking on the side) I’d pick the Karate Monkey

Why?
I think these bikes all have suitable gear ratios and tyre widths for their intended uses. They’re also on the lower end of the Surly pricing spectrum, in particular, the Bridge Club at US $1200. The Bridge Club is probably the most versatile bike too – capable of really rough off-road trails, as well as long road miles (using slick tyres) without needing to swap out the wheelset.

Let me know if you have any further questions. 👍🏻

February 17, 2019
The New 2017 Surly Troll Off-Road Touring Bike

The 2017 Surly Troll is designed to take you to every corner of the world. This no-fuss 26-inch touring bike has provision for racks, fenders, disc brakes, v-brakes, cantilever brakes, derailleur gearing, Rohloff gearing, singlespeed, cargo cages, panniers or bikepacking bags. You can run it with road handlebars, flat handlebars or any kind of alt handlebar. It’s the most versatile touring bike you can buy.

The 2017 Surly Troll Has Received Many Updates

The fork is no longer suspension-corrected (ie. it’s shorter), and the head tube lengths have been lengthened to accommodate this change. This is presumably because most Troll owners tend not to use suspension – it kind of goes against the ethos of this bike anyway. The side benefit of this change is that the frame now has more space for a larger frame bag.

A new chainstay design permits 26×3.0″ tyres for when the terrain suits. The revised dropouts help give you the choice to run any mountain bike hub: 135x9mm, 142x12mm or 148x12mm. Yep, the Troll really is the king of versatility!

The 2017 Surly Troll receives a tweaked front end, extra tyre clearance and more braze-ons. Image: BicycleTimesMag.com

There are more braze-ons than ever on the 2017 Surly Troll. The fork alone has multiple 3-boss cargo cages on either side, plus provision for a 24-pack porteur-style front tray and standard lowrider rack. The frame now has two 3-boss cargo mounts on the down tube too.

It’s a braze-on party on the 2017 Surly Troll fork. Image: BicycleTimesMag.com

As the 2017 Surly Troll is an offroad touring bike, it comes stock with gearing to match. With a 19 gear inch low gear the Troll will take you up dirt roads with the steepest gradients. The 48×11 big gear will allow you to pedal along comfortably at 50km/h (30mp/h) if you need to. It’s an ideal groupset for the versatile bike that it is.

The Surly Troll can now accomodate 26×3.0″ tyres. Image: BicycleTimesMag.com

Surly have spec’d the Troll with the Jones Loop bar which is really gaining in popularity within touring circles. Microshift 10-speed thumb shifters have been used to pare back the complexity of the bike, same with the Avid cable disc brakes chosen over more commonly used hydraulic systems.

Jones Loop handlebars and thumb shifters make up the 2017 Surly Troll’s cockpit. Image: BicycleTimesMag.com

The Surly Troll still uses 26-inch wheels and Surly’s own 2.5″ Extraterrestrial tyres. Surly’s reason for this is simple: 26-inch tyres, tubes and rims are still the most commonly found size in developing regions of the world. I’ve personally found that 26″ wheels are just as quick as 700c wheels in most situations too, despite what the marketing may tell you.

The 2017 Surly Troll will cost you US $1649 and will be available in November/December 2016.

Want To Compare This Touring Bike With Dozens of Others?

Check out the Touring Bicycle Buyer’s Guide which compares touring bike steering, sizing, gear ratios, specification, pricing and more. The Bikepacking Bike Buyer’s Guide does the same thing, however, with a focus on lighter bikes and models with more off-road capability. Both of these guides are updated annually with the latest models at no extra cost!

Helpful Resources

All About Touring Bike Brakes
Frame Materials for Bicycle Touring
How to Select Touring Bike Gearing
Understand Bicycle Frame Geometry
What’s the Difference between Cyclocross and Touring Bikes?

Touring & Bikepacking Bike Overview

2016 Advocate Lorax
2018 All City Gorilla Monsoon
2016 Basso Ulisse
2016 Bianchi Volpe and Lupo 2016
2016 Bombtrack Beyond
2017 Bombtrack Beyond
2018 Bombtrack Beyond
2018 Bombtrack Arise Tour
2019 Bombtrack Beyond
2016 Brodie Elan Vital
2016 Cannondale Touring
2019 Cannondale Topstone
2020 Cannondale Topstone
2016 Cinelli Hobootleg Geo
2018 Co-Op ADV 4.2
2017 Curve Grovel V2
2017 Diamondback Haanjo EXP Carbon
2016 Fuji Touring
2017 Fuji Touring
2018 Fuji Touring
2018 Fuji Touring Disc
2016 Genesis Tour de Fer
2016 Giant ToughRoad
2017 Giant ToughRoad
2018 Giant ToughRoad and ToughRoad GX
2016 Jamis Aurora and Aurora Elite
2019 Jones Plus SWB
2020 KOGA WorldTraveller-S
2016 Kona Big Rove
2016 Kona Roadhouse and Sutra LTD
2016 Kona Sutra
2017 Kona Sutra
2018 Kona Sutra
2018 Kona Sutra LTD
2019 Kona Sutra and Sutra LTD
2020 Kona Sutra and Sutra LTD
2020 Kona Unit X
2016 Marin Four Corners
2017 Marin Four Corners
2018 Marin Four Corners
2016 Masi Giramondo
2018 Masi Giramondo
2016 Niner RLT9
2016 Rawland Ulv and Ravn
2016 Salsa Deadwood
2017 Salsa Fargo
2018 Salsa Fargo Ti Frameset
2018 Salsa Journeyman
2016 Salsa Marrakesh
2017 Salsa Marrakesh
2018 Salsa Marrakesh
2020 Salsa Marrakesh
2017 Salsa Vaya
2019 Salsa Warbird
2016 Specialized AWOL
2017 Specialized AWOL
2017 Specialized Diverge
2018 Specialized Diverge
2019 Specialized Diverge
2017 Specialized Sequoia
2018 Specialized Sequoia
2019 Specialized Sequoia
2018 Surly Bridge Club
2017 Surly Troll
2016 Traitor Wander
2019 Trek 520
2016 Trek 920, 720, 520 & CrossRip
2017 Trek CrossRip
2018 Trek 920
2018 Trek 1120

July 27, 2016
The Monkey Lab’s Surly Troll Is A Touring Bike That Could Survive The Apocalypse

Cycle Monkey are the USA distributor for high-end touring components like Rohloff hubs, Gates Carbon Drive and SP-Dynamo hubs, as well as touring bikes by Tout Terrain and Shand. Their bike build blog (The Monkey Lab) features some nice custom builds using some of my favourite touring parts.

For this Surly Troll build, or “Trohloff” due to the fact that it employs the 14 speed Rohloff rear hub – it wasn’t just a case of ordering all the bits and throwing it together. This customer wanted to be able to split the frame in two so they could reduce the cost of flying, and also wanted to pair a Gates Carbon drivetrain to their bike to reduce any maintenance.

So The Monkey Lab sliced open the frame, added some S&S couplers, added a frame splitter for the belt, and powdercoated it all white again. The results are great!

The Surly Troll is designed with Rohloff use in mind with its horizontal dropouts and torque arm slot. The key benefit of a Rohloff hub is that your gears are all enclosed in a sealed unit, impervious to mud, grit and grime. They’re almost completely maintenance free when compared to a derailleur drivetrain.

With a frame splitter installed into the seatstay, this Trohloff can use a Gates Carbon belt. Given that I managed to get 30,000km out of a single belt while I was travelling around the world, this drivetrain is the real-deal for touring. The only maintenance I ever performed was a quick belt clean with some water and a toothbrush every month or so.

This bike uses another of my favourite bits of off-road touring gear, the Cane Creek Thudbuster seatpost. On roads with lots of holes and corrugations, this seatpost dampens most of the vibrations and big hits coming up through the bike to keep you as comfortable as possible.

This Trohloff makes use of a Tubus Logo steel rear rack (another of my favourites), Schwalbe Marathon Mondial tyres (yet another of my favourites – what other tyre can survive 25,000km of use?) and Planet Bike Cascadia fenders.

A dynamo system has been set up with a switch on the handlebars to power either USB devices or the dynamo light set. The Busch und Muller Luxos U is a fantastic integrated system that takes care of everything. Given how many devices people carry these days, it’s always nice to be able to top up your electronics while going about your day.

SP Dynamo PD-8 hubs are proving quite reliable over time, and given they offer a significant cost-advantage over a Schmidt – they’re becoming more and more popular.

The Surly Troll is a pretty ideal bike for off-road, world-conquering adventures. The 26″ wheels will fit large volume 2.7″ wide tyres. The frame can be run with a Rohloff or derailleur drivetrain depending on your budget. It will run v-brakes, cantilevers or disc brakes. There’s a trailer mount on the dropout and braze-ons all over the bike for porteur racks, Anything cages, OS bidons, fenders and racks. And with the couplers and belt drivetrain – it’s even more sweet.

Thanks to Cycle Monkey for providing the images and putting together such a tough bike!

Build Spec

Frame: Surly Troll
Fork: Surly Troll
Headset: Hope Threadless
Stem: Thomson X4
Handlebar: Salsa Salt Flatbar
Shifter: Rohloff twist
Grips: Ergon GP-4
Seat post: Crane Creek Thudbuster
Saddle: Brooks
Seat Clamp: Surly
Front Hub: Shutter Precision PD-8
Rear hub: Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14
Spokes: Sapim Race
Nipples: Sapim Brass
Rims: Velocity Cliffhanger 26″
Tires: Schwalbe Marathon Mondial
Cranks: Shimano Deore XT
Pedals: Shimano XT Touring
Bottom Bracket: Hope, mountain
Chain ring: Race Face
Rear Sprocket: Rohloff
Chain: Gates Carbon Drive Belt
Brakes & Levers: Avid BB7
Rotors: Magura
Front Light: Busch und Muller Luxos U
Rear Light: Busch and Muller Toplight Line Plus
Fenders: Planet Bike Cascadia
Rear Rack: Tubus Logo Evo

May 13, 2016
Surly Releases the Porteur House Front Bag for their Porteur Rack

Late last year, Surly announced they were producing steel porteur style racks which were capable of carrying a 15kg load. Although the racks only mount to Surly forks, they were pretty well received by folks who weren’t keen on panniers but still wanted to carry a decent load.

Surly have now dropped a new bag to match their 24-Pack rack, called the Porteur House.

The Surly Porteur House Front Bag

This roll-top bag measures in at 450 x 400 x 270mm which calculates to be around 43 litres before cinching it in – that’s bigger than a single pannier, and is getting close to the capacity of two! It’s made from a nylon canvas which has received a PU coating to make it a bit more water resistant. A reinforced insert at the bag’s base gives it shape, and protects your gear from the elements. Eight Velcro straps hold the bag onto the 24-Pack rack, in the process allowing this bag to fit more than just Surly’s rack.

Two front pockets allow you to stash and then access your essentials quickly. The Porteur House comes with three fluro nylon stuff sacks to protect your gear in each compartment that little bit more.

With a 15kg load, the Porteur system will affect your bike’s handling more than other forms of front baggage due to its higher centre of gravity than, say, a set of low-riding panniers. Other disadvantages include the bag not being 100% waterproof, the fact that the bag interferes with drop handlebars and possibly even the velcro mounting system in the long term.

The Surly Porteur House retails for US $120. Matching it to a Surly 24-Pack rack will add US $150. Alternative products to this front porteur bag include the Swift Industries Polaris (20L), Freight Bags Porteur (19L) and the Chrome Duffle (40L).

Take A Closer Look At Surly’s New Racks By Heading HERE

March 15, 2016
Surly Releases 8-Pack and 24-Pack Porteur Front Racks

Surly just dropped some new porteur-style cromo front racks. As far as I’m aware they will only mount to Surly forks given the fork crown eyelets required for the fit.

Porteur racks are great for carrying objects that would never sit well in panniers. Perhaps a watermelon, lots of beers, a camera tripod or just a rucksack. The 8-Pack utilises a 160x270mm tray, while the 24-Pack has an expansive 400x270mm tray. They both utilise stainless steel hardwear and are adjustable enough to get them as low or high as you like. They are 640g and 860g respectively.

I’ve never been a huge fan of the Surly Front Cargo rack due to it’s hefty weight, but these new porteur racks work out a bit more reasonable. If you combined a Tubus Duo front rack with a Surly 8-Pack you’ll have the same functionality as the Surly Cargo rack, albeit with a tidy weight saving! Check it out…

Both racks can carry up to 30lbs (13.6kg) and are available in black or silver. The retail is US $110 on the 8-Pack and US $150 on the 24-Pack. They’re available early-2016.

October 27, 2015
Surly Releases ExtraTerrestrial 2.5″ Touring Tyres

Surly have just finished putting together their first-ever touring tyre! It’s called the ExtraTerrestrial and it’s FAT!

They’ve incorporated a heap of protection in the rubber too. There’s kevlar between the treads, a nylon breaker in the sidewall for cut protection, a pattern moulded into the sidewall to help prevent cut propagation and a file tread between the main tread blocks for additional puncture protection.

The Surly ExtraTerrestrial touring tyres.

The ExtraTerrestrial’s tread is directional and quite similar to the Schwalbe Marathon Mondial. One advantage it has over the Schwalbe is smaller side knobs which should hook a bit better into dirt surfaces. The sheer width of the tyre provides a bigger footprint and more grip too. You can run the ExtraTerrestrial tubeless, with rim widths ranging from 24-50mm. Given the smooth-ish ridge along the middle, it should be relatively fast on the road.

The tyre is available in one size only: 26×2.5″ (62mm), optimised for the Surly Troll. It will be available in early-2016 for US $60.

October 26, 2015
Eurobike 2012: Bicycle Touring Gallery

Pinion Gearbox / Tout Terrain

Koga

Rohloff

Supernova

Surly

Salsa

Van Nichols

Velotrum

Patria

Brooks

Schmidt

Hase

Kona

Riese und Muller

September 3, 2012
Review: Surly Long Haul Trucker Touring Bike

The Surly Long Haul Trucker and Surly Disc Trucker are some of the best off-the-shelf touring bikes you can buy. The Surly’s performance is exceptional, their price is right and they have great worldwide availability.

The Latest Surly Disc Trucker touring bike!

I originally purchased my Trucker as a frameset, as I had a pretty good idea of how I wanted to build it up. My frame then went through many builds over the years as I experimented with parts: different brakes, different handlebars, different wheels and an evolution from derailleur gears to an internally geared hub. Basically, I used and abused bike parts and setups until I got the Trucker to a place that suits me.

When I’m loaded with gear, I liken my Trucker to a sailing boat: it seemingly floats over bumps, and the direction change is slow and gentle. This is the way a touring bike should feel. I think that the geometry of the bike is close to perfect. The steel tubing used in the frame’s construction allow the Trucker to excel as a touring bike.

The Surly Disc Trucker touring bike has been a solid performer for over a decade.

The Trucker’s geometry is relaxed, which allows the frame to handle panniers comfortably. The chainstays are longer than most touring bikes, which is important for both the bikes stability and for heel clearance from your pannier bags. To understand touring bike geometry further, check out my guide available HERE.

I haven’t managed to break my Trucker on the roughest roads. The only time I have seen damaged Truckers is when people over tighten kickstands to their bikes. Both Surly and I say, don’t do that. That said, 2017-onward Truckers come with a kickstand plate so this problem will now be few and far between on older model bikes.

The Surly Disc Trucker touring bike from above.

The Why

– 4130 steel frame; it’s comfortable and field repairable (to anyone who knows how to use a welder).
– It’s the ideal touring geometry: when fully-loaded the handling is stable and smooth to ride. The front end is nice and high too. More on geometry HERE.
– There are frame sizes for everyone – the smallest frame has a 50.5cm top-tube and the biggest a 62cm top-tube. There’s a size for all cyclists between 150cm through to 200cm.
– 26″ wheels are available in all sizes but 64cm.
– 700c wheels are available on frame sizes larger than 56cm, as toe overlap and bike proportion are less of an issue with bigger frames.
– It’s light on the wallet (Frame $500 USD / Bike $1275 USD)
– You have a choice of a rim OR disc brake frame (read about which brakes to choose HERE)
– Bar-end shifters are standard (read about why they’re great HERE)
– There’s a very wide range of gear ratios (26-32t the smallest gear)
– There are lots of mounting points for racks and mudguards on the frame and fork.
– The 36 spoke wheels are nice and strong.
– Shimano’s cup and cone bearing hubs are simple to rebuild when the time comes.
– The Shimano XT rear derailleur is durable and shifts well.
– There’s space for three water bottles on the frame.
– There’s a spoke holder for a few spares.
– The Trucker’s long chainstays make the bike feel stable and increase the heel clearance from your pannier bags. Surly chainstays are often 20-30mm longer than a lot of other touring bikes, but many manufacturers are now moving towards longer lengths.
– Surly’s don’t look flashy or expensive to potential thieves.
– I’ve never seen a warranty issue for one (not to say this doesn’t happen).

The Surly Disc Trucker touring bike from the front.

The Why Not

– The stock rim brakes on the Long Haul Trucker are truly terrible – I highly recommend an upgrade to v-brakes (read about brakes HERE) if you have to have rim brakes.
– The bar, stem and seat are of average quality. Easily interchangable.

The Surly Disc Trucker touring bike from behind.

Recommended Changes

– A handlebar change may suit you if you’re a beginner, you don’t like the feel of a road handlebar or you’d prefer a more upright positioning (read about touring handlebar setups HERE). Remember to buy one or two sizes up for flat handlebars.
– The brakes on the Long Haul Trucker do need to be swapped to a better quality cantilever, or v-brake setup (read more about touring brakes HERE).
– The Continental tyres are decent enough for touring, but when you next need a set you should ride with Schwalbe because they make the best tyres around.
– If you’re using the road handlebars, I recommend employing some ‘cross levers’ to have braking capability at the top of the handlebar.

My Long Haul Trucker

I loved my Trucker so much that I took it to a frame builder to add some frame features that suit a Rohloff hub and Gates Carbon Belt Drive. If you’re interested, you can read all the details about Rohloff hubs HERE and Gates Carbon Drive HERE.

The modifications I’ve made include:
– An extra bidon braze-on on the downtube to run two oversized water bottles on my frame (this is not necessary anymore with an adapter).
– Rohloff specific cable braze-ons along the down tube and chain-stay.
– A split in the seat-stay to fit a belt.
– Rohloff-specific sliding dropouts.

My modifications were carried out by Gellie Custom Bike Frames, but any reputable frame builder can add frame details as you like. If you’re thinking of doing a similar build to mine, I recommend also taking a look at the 2016 Specialized AWOL – it’s now Rohloff and Carbon Drive ready from the factory which will save you a dollar or two.

Long Haul Trucker or Disc Trucker?

If you’re wondering what I recommend between the Long Haul Trucker and the Disc Trucker; I’m a fan of disc brakes. I have cycled over 30,000km with Avid disc brakes on my tandem and have had no problems with their reliability. The extra stopping power is really handy on heavily loaded touring bikes in wet conditions. The Disc Trucker is the way to go!

If you need more convincing on disc brakes, you can read my brake article HERE.

Ride a Surly frame larger than 56cm?

You have a choice of 26″ and 700c wheels. I talk about the merits of both wheel sizes in my article HERE.

Summary

When taking into account the price, performance, and availability of the Trucker, I believe that Surly makes one the best off-the-shelf touring bikes. With minimal changes to the parts spec, you’ll have a very capable and durable touring bike.

If you’ve got any questions for us, don’t hesitate to leave a comment below.

December 3, 2011