Touring - A result of all the information on these forums - My Surly Trucker Deluxe build

I've spent the past few months visiting these forums religiously. I'd never taken on the task of building a bike however in a year from now, I will be living on this thing from the southern tip of South America to Lima, Peru. I've still got some fine-tuning to do and quite a bit of accessories to add over the next year but I thought now would be a good time to show the bare bones. I want to thank you guys for all the valuable information that's available here on BF!

http://i.imgur.com/3i9Hsl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/3jR3Il.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/ln4E2l.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/LN83nl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/ShZekl.jpg

-Andrew

Beauty!

Yes, REALLY nice indeed! You didn't cut any corners. Nice choice of frame with S&S couplers. I like the classy color combinations for the frame and saddle/handlebar. Nice drivetrain with XT components. The Phil Wood hubs are not only nice-looking but should also perform really well on your trip.

The plastic dork disc needs to go, though! :)

Tell us how it rides. Have you ridden a metric century on it to gauge its comfort?

Congratulations!!

Spoke protector is the cheapest lightest bit of insurance one could have. Keep the 'dork disk'.

Looks great, keep the spoke protector, all it takes is a bent derailleur hanger from a fall and the slightly out of whack dérailleur shifts the chain into the spokes. The rear rack looks all wrong, are the legs adjustable?

Beautiful! What fenders are those? Might have to get a set for my LHT.

Very nice indeed. I like the colour.

Scubasteve1808 (http://www.bikeforums.net/member.php/314105-Scubasteve1808) the bike is great nice work. The rear rack needs to lowered. Get it down as low as is feasable. The height of that rack will cause stability issues. From what I can tell the legs near the dropouts are adjustable. Crank them up in to the rack. Nice build love the leather bar tape.

@ Gus & Chris

Thank you! I figured I might as well try and get the best now. I finished it several days ago and am still in school though I hope to go one some long camping rides to give it a test ride. Additionally, I will ride several centuries on it this summer.

Although not as aesthetic, I had to call around to a few bike shops to find a spoke protector as I'd rather spend (nothing really, the bike shop gave it to me free!) on a little bit of protection.

@ LeeG & egear

Thank you! I thought it looked a bit tall. I thought I had maxed out the legs but I was wrong. It has since been fixed and I will tell you that it looks a hell of a lot better ;)

@ FynkyStickman

They're Planet Bike Cascadia fendeders in 60mm. It took me awhile to get them adjusted to my liking and even now they're a bit off but thats what you get when you pay for plastic.

Which size frame is that? You must be a pretty tall fellow.

I'm 6'1"-6'2" and consequently, it's a 58cm!

Now start collecting Locks and Cables to keep it..
amongst others I made up a pretty thin cable that is 10' between the loops,
to use trees and picnic benches to lock to at my camp site.

Now start collecting Locks and Cables to keep it..
amongst others I made up a pretty thin cable that is 10' between the loops,
to use trees and picnic benches to lock to at my camp site.
Ha ha...interesting post. I hadn't thought about how couplers affect the way you secure the bike.

Ha ha...interesting post. I hadn't thought about how couplers affect the way you secure the bike.

I think a thief will go for the entire bike without even going through the hassle of getting the bike uncoupled and all that. It takes a special tool. But the biggest part, why go for half of the bike? Unless I am missing something, I think it is non-issue as long as you follow good locking procedures: (1.) use a U-lock in combination (between seatstay and rear triangle) plus (2.) a good cable lock (between rear triangle and front wheel) in the city. In other words, you should always make your bike look like it won't be easy to get. There was a thread (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php/720521-Bike-Safety-While-Touring)a couple of years ago about bike safety while touring. Most people only use a cable lock while camping since you keep it nearby.

I think a thief will go for the entire bike without even going through the hassle of getting the bike uncoupled and all that. It takes a special tool. But the biggest part, why go for half of the bike? Unless I am missing something, I think it is non-issue as long as you follow good locking procedures: (1.) use a U-lock in combination (between seatstay and rear triangle) plus (2.) a good cable lock (between rear triangle and front wheel) in the city. In other words, you should always make your bike look like it won't be easy to get. There was a thread (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php/720521-Bike-Safety-While-Touring)a couple of years ago about bike safety while touring. Most people only use a cable lock while camping since you keep it nearby.
Yeah, it'd have to be a knowledgeable thief, although I guarantee you I can uncouple your couplers with a pair of slip-joint pliers. I can't imagine in my city there'd be a dickhead savvy of the coupler's purpose. But I've been wrong before.

What got my chuckle was realizing that "good locking procedures," for a coupled bike is more nuanced than "good locking procedures" for a normal bike. I normally don't even think about whether my cable's gone through the rear triangle or not. I typically have a u-lock running around both front wheel and frame, and post. I use the cable to loop around the rear wheel to the u-lock. Whether it passed through the rear triangle or not was never a question I had to think about. On a coupler-less bike...that arrangement is arguably as secure as any other routing.

If my frame were coupled, and I tried that, you could literally undo my work by opening the coupler, and walk away with the gorgeous frame, with only thing left around are the wheels! :) Woops!

That rig is the hotness!
You did it right.

Love it! Can't wait the year+ to hear about the trip too!

And that is how you build a touring bike people. Congrats on the purchase, now go pedal it to far off lands!

that is a class looking bike ,you have the same excellent paul canti brakes as me .
enjoy it and keep it clean.

Thanks for the compliments everyone. I've since begun locking it up with bock a U-lock and a cable lock and am just praying it'll stay that way.