Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) - ordered a Long Haul Trucker

It should be here Friday, the shop should have it built by Saturday. Don't make fun of it when I post pictures, it's green :eek:

WooHoo! Can't wait to see the pix. The LHT is a sweet bike.

Well, considering the Color choices are green, green, and........green. :p

I've seen the frame available in blue (and red, but with very limited sizing options) on JensonUSA. Curious, did they stop producing the frame in the other colors?

It should be here Friday, the shop should have it built by Saturday. Don't make fun of it when I post pictures, it's green :eek:

NICE! :thumb:

I've seen them available in Blue and Olive, either one is beautiful.

The shop had a blue one in stock, but it was one size too big for me.

Are they all green now? I didn't know that. I like green better anyway.

Olive is the green ;)

Hmm, I thought they'd phased out the other colors, might be wrong though.

I've seen some rather handsome green LHT's, can't wait to see yours too!

Hmm, I thought they'd phased out the other colors, might be wrong though.

They may have, I don't know how long the blue one has been there.

There's nothing wrong with the green. Everyone has seen this picture of my LHT by now, but just to prove my point, here it is again.

http://www.mateowilliams.org/images/lht1.jpg

I haven't seen it before, thanks. It looks great. I want to put a Brooks saddle on mine, too.

The green is quite gorgeous. Had I been more patient, I may have ordered it. In the end, though I'm quite happy with my blue beast. I'm sure you will be as well - post lots of pics!!

There's nothing wrong with the green. Everyone has seen this picture of my LHT by now, but just to prove my point, here it is again.



I see you have sti's instead of the stock bar end shifters. That would be the only way I'd go if it were me.

Nice ride all of you!

The green is quite gorgeous. Had I been more patient, I may have ordered it. In the end, though I'm quite happy with my blue beast. I'm sure you will be as well - post lots of pics!!

Will do!

I see you have sti's instead of the stock bar end shifters. That would be the only way I'd go if it were me.

Considering the type of riding I do, it made sense. I also swapped the stock bars for Nitto Noodles, put in a Thomson Elite seat post with a Brooks B17, upgraded the brakes, and put on some 28mm/120psi tires. It's a bona fide road bike at this point, albeit not a racer. That said, I love that I could throw some cyclocross rubber on it and go off road, set it up as my primary transportation, or of course do some long distance touring. If your garage or bank account won't permit a whole stable of bikes, the LHT is a good way to go. Even if I could have several bikes, I'd probably still own one.

Considering the type of riding I do, it made sense. I also swapped the stock bars for Nitto Noodles, put in a Thomson Elite seat post with a Brooks B17, upgraded the brakes, and put on some 28mm/120psi tires. It's a bona fide road bike at this point, albeit not a racer. That said, I love that I could throw some cyclocross rubber on it and go off road, set it up as my primary transportation, or of course do some long distance touring. If your garage or bank account won't permit a whole stable of bikes, the LHT is a good way to go. Even if I could have several bikes, I'd probably still own one.

+10000

It's versatile in that in does everything well, not excelling, but well enough to get away with it. You summed up my thoughts exactly, as my LHT is going to be doing much of those very things! Two sets of tires and an imagination, well, get the Surly to do the rest :).

Considering the type of riding I do, it made sense. I also swapped the stock bars for Nitto Noodles, put in a Thomson Elite seat post with a Brooks B17, upgraded the brakes, and put on some 28mm/120psi tires. It's a bona fide road bike at this point, albeit not a racer. That said, I love that I could throw some cyclocross rubber on it and go off road, set it up as my primary transportation, or of course do some long distance touring. If your garage or bank account won't permit a whole stable of bikes, the LHT is a good way to go. Even if I could have several bikes, I'd probably still own one.

The LHT is an excellent do-it-all bike if you want the option of LD touring in there. I don't tour, so I went with the X-Check and kept it mostly stock. Different gearing range, stem, saddle and tires were the only swapouts I made from the stock setup. I added fenders and a front rack with a handlebar bag. It's my commuter, my errand bike, and my LD bike. Can't say that I've been disappointed by anything about it. Surly just makes nice stuff.

Here we go again - more LHT pr0n coming soon. I have this, um, bike pr0n problem that I keep trying to kick, and you guys are absolutely not helping me! I think I need an intervention...

'grats on the new ride - as has been said, Surly makes great stuff. I, too, went the X-Check route, but unlike CliftonGK1 I did swap out all the stock components (except the wheels) for a combination of Rival and Ultegra that was "paid forward" by a coworker... Also put road tires on it... and have not been disappointed...

All that said, having now seen more raving about the LHT, to do it over again I might make a different decision. Enjoy the new wheels, and bring on the pr0n...

I like the Green!

I like the Green!

Me too. But then I'm an olive drab kinda guy anyway. Maybe I'll get camo panniers for it. Camo panniers with reflective panels seems kind of dumb but I'm weird like that.

I actually like both colors fine, but I asked my wife and she was definite: "Get the blue." So blue I have (but I would have been just as happy with green.)

So far, I absolutely love it! I will be loading it up and taking on tour in a few weeks, which is what it's designed for after all. I'll have a better-informed opinion afterwards.

I did take it for a mini-tour two weekends ago. It handled the load very well.

I have the red Ortlieb panniers. I think it looks swell!

So I stopped by the bike shop tonight after work. The bike was supposed to be in today. They were not quite through with the build when I got there. They got it together enough for me to take it on a quick spin. This was my first time on a bike in 20+ years.

I only rode it for a few minutes, and I was grinning like an idiot. I'll pick it up early next week. I can't wait.

Is the LHT a heavy bike? I am totally in love with the LHT but I wonder if it rides like an anchor...

I can't really say with any kind of useful answer since I have nothing to compare it to. When I was a kid I spent all my time on BMX bikes and the LHT rides like it weighs nothing compared to what I remember.

It surprised me how quick it was, but then I'm comparing it to BMX bikes. It has a nice smooth ride, but doesn't feel like a boat anchor to me. Last week at the shop I picked up a Giant OCR with an all carbon frame. It was freakishly light, and I of course noticed a difference between it and the Surly.

From the little bit I rode the LHT, it seems plenty responsive to me. I expected to be extremely wobbly from not being on a bike in so long. I had no wobbles and had no problems with tight turns at low speed. It surprised me how quickly it accelerates. I think after reading about it here so much and hearing people compare it to modern road bikes I was expecting it ride like a log truck, but compared to what I used to ride as a kid it's huge improvement.

People who think a LHT rides like an anchor should have grown up riding one of these with Tuffwheels:
http://www.bmxnonstop.com/oldschool/kawasaki/kawa_bx200.html