Surly cornered the market for nicely made, sensible, useful, fairly priced bikes. They are not extra-special, ultra-light, artisan-made or anything fancy.
LHT is not a competitor to std road bikes, it is a touring bike. Compared to other tourers, it is a good benchmark. Most production tourers from major brands are poorly specced for loaded touring.
The mid-small sizes are available in MTB wheel variants.
As an everyday, doitall bike the LHT is a bit overbuilt but there is nothing wrong with that. Ive never heard it described as whippy. It is a lot stronger and stiffer than my fancy pants Bob Jackson World Tour and probably more useful for expedition touring.