charbucks

Just wanted to share my excitement...

When I went to find a 42 cm LHT in May, it turned out that even the Canadian distributor was sold out. However, they were getting *one* in, and I made sure that it would be sent to my LBS. I called to check on the status yesterday, and they said it should be in town by the end of the week and ready for me to test ride!

I'm a little nervous that it won't be quite the right size, or the right bike, but I'm excited nonetheless. I can't wait to start exploring the Rockies in style!

OldZephyr

My wife recently got a LHT (42 cm) and it fits her better than any other bike she's ever had. She's 5'2" or so with an inseam of a little more than 28".

The steering tube comes uncut. We did not have the bike shop cut any of it off, and even though the bike shop folks were skeptical, she loves it that way! Yes, it requires a lot of spacers, but so what?

I'd suggest that you not have the steering tube cut at first. Once it's cut, you can't put it back, and you might like the LHT set up with the bars at or above saddle height.

Combined with a Brooks B67 saddle, and some inline brake levers, it's the most comfortable bike for her ever.

charbucks

That's great to hear - I'm about an inch taller, but I thought the jump to 46 cm would be too much.

Those spacers *do* look a little silly, I have to admit, but I definitely want it to be a bit more upright than my roadie so I'll take your advice. I'm starting to regret that I didn't get the blue now (not that I had an option), that's a cute bike!

lhtowner

Hey, charbucks, as a 60cm LHT owner since 2008, let me just say - congrats! You are gonna love it. They are awesome bikes. Mine does everything - shopping, touring, taking my laundry to get done (panniers on, of course). The frame is rigid yet flexible, the thing is so darned fast and responsive. A dream bike. Enjoy (believe me: you will)!

OldZephyr

The people at the bike shop were kind of whimsical with the spacers and alternated black and silver spacers to make the "barber shop pole" motif. We think it's funny. A more conventional look would be to use all of one color of course. And if you used all black spacers, maybe that would look pretty good with the black paint.

indyfabz

My 5' tall Supergirl riding her 42" LHT around southwest Montana a few weeks ago. Blacktacular with pink bar tape.

photogravity

Great pics! I take it that the Lost Trail pic was taken near the Lost Trail Pass? That is one of the most gorgeous and remote places on the planet! I still have a long and abiding love of Western Montana, though Southwest Texas has supplanted some of my travel attention in recent years.

eofelis 

I have a 42cm LHT (the original sage green color) and I didn't have the steer tube cut at all. It looks a little odd with all the spacers, but I like the ride position. Mine has a full xt mtn bike drive train (22-34 low gear), v brakes, inline brake levers, and bar end shifters on Pauls Thumbies on the flat part of the bars.

charbucks

Great to hear! Mine's going to be a do-everything as well... though you're the first person I've heard refer to it as "fast and responsive" - I've been expecting a tank!

indyfabz

You are correct, sir.

Got back a few weeks ago from 9 days touring southwest Montana. Loop from Missoula to Darby, Wisdom, Elkhorn Hot Springs, Divide, Twin Bridges, Butte, Phlipsburg and Ekstrom's Stage back to Missoula:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7-k2ZMFL_I

Went through some even remoter places like the 20 mile unpaved Melrose Bench Road connecting Melrose and Twin Bridges shown in one of the above photos. Sjkalkaho Pass was washed out so we ended up riding 30 miles of unpaved Rock Creek Road, whic runs along a beautiful crfeek known for its great fishing.

I hard ridden Lost Trail and Chief Joseph back in '00. We were actually going to take unpaved Gibbons Pass, but when we cheked at the ranger station in Sula, which is right where the road to Gibbons starts, a ranger told us it was still snowed in. Afert heading up to Lost Trail for almost four miles a white truck passed us and pulled over. The ranger got out to apologize for giving us the wrong info. Gibbons was open. It was a side road that was still closed. She then proceeded to tell us how beautiful it would have been since the wildflowers were sure to be blooming. She chased us down so that we didn't pass on inaccurate info. to any cyclists we met riding west. Thanks, lady. There was no way we were going to backtrack 4 miles.

charbucks

Looks beautiful! Seems like you found some nice quiet roads with great scenery. Did you wild camp, or find places to stay?

Bike shop just called... my bike is ready a day early! My boss will understand if I leave at lunchtime, right?

lhtowner

Well, when fully loaded, she's a bit of a tank, sure. But take the panniers off, and everything changes. One night shift, a colleague and I were outside smoking a cigarette, and he asked me if he could try her out. It was weird to see someone else on my Surly, but anyway he zoomed around the car park for two or three minutes and then came back and exclaimed, 'Dang, she's fast!!'

(actually, he didn't say 'dang' as this is the West of Scotland and his language was a lot more fruity, but you get the idea..)

I went out for a little jaunt today to a town near here called, well .. see for yourself. A few miles past that town, there's a long descent near the oil refinery at Grangemouth, and although I chickened out when my CatEye speedo was reading 54 mph, the Surly still felt rock-solid on the downhill.

I've become a bit of a 'bike bore' with friends, and like fifteen minutes ago, I just went out into the hall and stood there for five minutes, just looking at her.

Man, what an awesome, awesome bike!

CCrew

I think the more conventional look would be to cut the steerer and do away with a half dozen or so of them

indyfabz

No wild camping. We stayed at 4 private campgrounds, including one the night before we started riding and a very nice, BLM campground on the Big Hole River. As planned, we stayed in a motel in Butte because the only campground in town was next to the interstate and generally not very nice. We also camped at the free, cyclists-only facility in Twin Bridges. It's a very nice place along the Beaverhead River right on the edge of town. Screened-in shelter, shower and toilete. Picnic tables, clothes line, and lots of lawn to pitch a tent. In Wisdom we got a room because we got into town late, the camping place (city park) was pretty beat up and the mosquitoes would land on you before you got off your bike. Another night we stayed at Elkhorn Hot Springs when we found that the nearby U.S.F.S. campground we intended to stay at was closed for renovations. (The campground's web site said nothing about this. I alerted the FS and they put a notiation on the site.)

charbucks

So happy right now, she definitely isn't too small! And lhtowner, you were right... unloaded, she's actually pretty snappy! I can't believe how smooth a ride it is. I barely notice the roots on the MUP that I curse at on my road bike. I only put about 15km on her yesterday, but so far I'm very happy. I'm averaging about 5 km/hr slower than I would on the roadie, which is totally reasonable in my books, particularly given the gearing. What a grannie on that thing! I can't wait for my racks to arrive to do a loaded test.

indyfabz: I think the shop cut the steering tube down a wee bit, but there's still 3 spacers on top so I've got lots of room for adjustment. I'm pretty happy with the current setup, but I'm going to go back to the LBS when the bike fitter gets back from vacation so I can get set up proper. Here's what she looks like now:

Also, that free bike camping in Twin Bridges sounds fantastic! Campgrounds in Canada are brutally expensive. Anything under $20 is considered cheap, and that's with non-potable water. Forget showers. Maybe I'll have to dip down to Montana...

OldZephyr

Glad to hear you like it! It looks great, good looking color, and you've got lots of room to go up if you'd like.

Congratulations!