Touring - My new Trucker Deluxe single speed travel bike

Here's my new Surly Trucker Deluxe. I've built mine as a single speed, gravel/road/dirt/wherever travel bike. I travel all over for work, so this build will let me explore some new places on my bike. Singapore, western Africa, Brazil, Europe, etc. are all places I travel to with some regularity. Because of this, I've built this bike for maximum simplicity, durability, and reliability. 26" mtb wheels, rugged single speed drive train (steal Surly chainring and White Industries freewheel), platform pedals, regular old v-brakes. Right now it's geared at 64" with a 17t freewheel, but I can go down to 16 or up to 18 or 19 depending on where I'm going. The packing and touring strategy is ultralight bikepacking style, with Revelate Designs packs and minimal amounts of gear. That way, not only is it easier to pack up and drag through the airport, but also easier to push the single gear up and over hills.

The frame is new, but most of the parts are used/NIB stuff I've had lying around.

Here's some specs and pics:

Frameset: 2012 Surly Trucker Deluxe, 56cm, color Dave's Frozen Tears
Front Wheel: Mavic XC717 rim laced to Surly Ultra New hub, 32h, DT Swiss butted spokes, brass nipples
Rear Wheel: Mavic XC717 rim laces to White Industries Eno Eccentric hub, 32h, DT Swiss butted spokes, brass nipples
Headset: Cane Creek 40
Stem/Bars/Grips/Levers: Ritchey Pro stem, Surly Open Bar, 40mm rise, ODI grips, Avid Speed Dial SL levers
Brakes: Avid Single Digit 7
Saddle/Seatpost: Brooks B17 Standard, Truvativ XR Double Clamp post, Salsa seat clamp
Drivetrain: Shimano Ultegra 6503 cranks / bb, Surly 42t chainring, White Industries freewheel, Sram PC-850 chain
Pedals: Shimano DX platforms
Tires: WTB Nano 26x2.1" or Schwalbe Big Apple 26x2.0

Bags are either Carradice Zipped Roll and Camper Longflap w/ Bagman QR or a full set of Revelate Designs bikepacking bags, depending on location and duration of trip.

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Makes me wanna go 'splorin!

Nice...Looks large for a 56cm.

Nice...Looks large for a 56cm.

26" wheels make the headtube look tall.

Very nice, thanks for posting! Great stuff and no nonsense. I was thinking about converting my bike to something similar if we move to the hills. Two questions:
- how do you like surly open bars for climbing?
- what sort of job do you have? :)

Very nice, thanks for posting! Great stuff and no nonsense. I was thinking about converting my bike to something similar if we move to the hills. Two questions:
- how do you like surly open bars for climbing?
- what sort of job do you have? :)

The Open Bars are great for climbing, they are plenty wide so you can power up short steep mountain bikey sections, or you can grab the forward bends and tuck in and spin up the hill.

I work for Big Oil (gasp!).

Big Oil? You need to get a frame bag that looks like a gas tank just in case someone from work sees you. Nice bike!. Actually, now that I think about it, a bike with couplers really isn't human powered anyway.

Sweet ride.

Ha ha ha - that's awesome... and I loved the "big oil" comment vis a vis the other thread on retirement. But really, that bike is very nice...

Very nice setup. Love its simplicity.

Andrew

Nice set up. I've done something similar with a Quickbeam. Mid 60's gear inches is a good ratio for touring. I run a 16t freewheel on one side of my rear wheel and a 23t on the other side. With a 40/33 double chainring I have 67" for most riding and 37" for the steep stuff.

Great bike.

I am in the process of building up my 2012 Trucker Deluxe and I have to say, mine is on the other end of the simplicity spectrum. I'm only waiting on my wheels to comes in then I'll post pictures once it's done. Great looking bike though thanks for posting it!

How is the chain tensioned? EBB? Eccentric Rear Hub? Magic Gear? Other form of magic I'm not aware of?

How is the chain tensioned? EBB? Eccentric Rear Hub? Magic Gear? Other form of magic I'm not aware of?

Eccentric rear hub. The White Industries Eno Eccentric hub is a product that I've been using for about 5 years now. I had one on a single speed mtb for a long time and never had any slipping issues and the tensioning of the chain after you reinstall the wheel is very simple. I actually prefer this system to most other methods of single speed conversion. The biggest downside to the Eno Eccentric hub is using it w/ disc brakes. The hub's eccentric mechanism will cause the rotor not to line up w/ the disc brake caliper unless you get lucky w/ your particular frame/brake/hub setup, or use the White Industries eccentric disc brake adapter, which can only be used w/ 51mm IS mounts. If your frame has 74mm post mounts (like more and more new frames coming out seem to have), you can play w/ spacers and washers under the mounting bolts to get it to line up. I typically use the Eno Eccentric w/ rim brakes, so lining up the pads is super simple and only needs to be done when you make a big change to the gearing. +/- 1 tooth in the front or rear usually doesn't require a brake adjustment.

Searching around and saw this--what a great build. How's it been working out for you?

Ryan