There must have been a glut of LHT frames on ebay last month becasue I also picked up a new one at a really good price. I also have a Volpe, and can understand your feelings. However, I probably would have bought a LHT when I replaced my touring bike a few years ago, but Surly did not sell complete bike at that time. My Volpe has been across the US plus several shorter trips, and I would not hesitate to take it anywhere. It probably did not make good economic or performance sense to get the LHT, but only time will tell on that score. It would be interesting (to me at least) to following your progress as you build your bike.
I'm going to go pretty much with redxj's advice.
redxj
As someone that has a LHT and knows your Volpe I think you should be happy in the end. I am a firm believer in N+1 so I would take the best parts off the Volpe and put on the LHT. Then with some deals/bargins/used parts get both bikes rideable. The Volpe can be the around town/school (when you want gears) or a longer ride bike and the LHT full on touring?
