Surly Long Haul Trucker with trekking bars.
 

Does anyone have any pics of this set up on Surly LHT or any opinions on it, shifters, brake levers?

Have a look here.

It's just the same as running them on any other bike. Use MTB brake levers / shifters.

Here's some pix of my just completed LHT with trekking bars

http://s18.photobucket.com/albums/b1...r/Surly%20LHT/

I used Paul Thumbies to mount the Shimano shifters and picked up a Set of levers that work with both canti's and v-brakes. Used cork grips and tape from Rivendell Bikes.

Brian

Here's my LHT with trekking bars: http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/p..._id=44716&v=H4

I really like it, especially when standing.

I built 2 LHTs recently. Mine has a 'Zoom' brand trekking bar, XT 7 spd thumb shifters (will work with 8 spds) and Ritchey Logic brake levers, when they used to be made in Japan. Old school stuff, until I succumb to a 9 spd drivetrain.

http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/p..._id=71385&v=1v

The other LHT has LX shifters and Avid V brake levers and an On One Mary bar for pretty relaxed riding. Not that great for climbing and is a little scary on fast downhills, but the owner loves it's retro city bike looks.

Looks to me like all the shifters pictured are 'thumb' shifters. Is there a reason to use those rather than bar end shifters?

Some bar end shifters wouldn't fit because they would be too close to the other side of the bar end, and they'd be real awkward to operate sideways like that. Thumb shifters, including mountain grip shifters are the way to go. I like good old friction thumb shifters; reliable, simple, cheap.

Thanks. One other question - if you are converting stock drop bars to trekking bars are the cables long enough? Can you switch the bar end shifters for thumb shifters and use the existing cable or is it more complicated than that?

A couple of minor problems I've noticed with my Trekking bars (non-LHT). When pedaling out of the saddle my knees can strike the shift levers of the SRAM X7 shifters. I'll probably eventually go to grip shifters.
When doing some tough downhill in the dirt loaded for camping and clamping down on the brakes hard, if it's rocky and rugged you aren't getting enough leverage to control the bike well with the hands that close together. Of course I should have avoided that road in the first place but that's another story. :)

Love the Trekking bars though.

I was a bit hesitant to try trekking/butterfly bars on my LHT, but after putting in some miles on the bike, I could appreciate the pros and cons.

Pros : a relaxed, more upright upper body position, multiple/at least 3 hand positions for controls, climbing/bar ends and an aero, lower more aerodynamic grips right in front of the bars.

Also easy removal of the well protected shifters and brake levers (compaerd to a drop bar) without messing with the grips.

Con : probably the hefty weight, compared to a flat or riser bar, and as noted above, a little loss of control for off road downhills.

Being a purely European/Dutch? invention (I could be wrong) and used mostly on 700C and 28 inch wheeled bikes on bike paths and good roads, I'd use my mountain bike for the rough stuff.

I find the stem length to be critical as the controls would be set back much closer than say a flat bar, and had to experiment with quite a few lengths to avoid the dreaded knee hitting the bar syndrome. Especially important as the LHT's top tube is shorter than my MTB and road bike, though the looong chainstays make up for a very comfortable touring ride.

I'm also using the outermost position the most, the part that mimics bar ends on a MTB. That's a bit distant from the brake levers, so I've got to be more alert in traffic or maybe ride more in Tibet :)