Originally Posted by
rschreck
My main concern isn't the drivetrain, as I have a 105 front and real just waiting to be put on a bike. It's the seat post, stem, bars, and ok, as far as drivetrain, the cranks. I've never heard of Andel cranks and it seems as if not many others have because I couldn't find a single review on the particular crankset Surly puts on the LHT. I'm also not a fan of Tektro brakes.
As for the bar end shifters, the 520 has Dura Ace and we all know that DA is really good stuff.
I'm asking about a complete bike because I don't want to build a bike part by part for my commuter/touring bike. I've already done that with my regular mountain bike.
I might just end up buying a Troll. It seems like it is spec'ed with decent parts overall.
About Andel Crank, you won't find any information about it because it's a crank that is only put on the Surlys. You actually can't buy it or its chainrings aftermarket. But it's not a bad crank. It's a standard BCD 110/74. Lots of companies have parts like that. The stem, seatpost, and saddle are the same. But why worry, they work. The reason they choose to do this is the 3 most likely things to change first are the saddle, seatpost and stem. So why should they put money into those. That's why they don't come with pedals.
Originally Posted by
bragi
105? Dura Ace? Do you actually contemplate using these on a heavy, rather slow steel touring bike frame? Good God, man, have you gone totally mad? What's next, the total absence of a B-17 saddle?!
Honestly, though, if you're really that interested in using high-performance, road-oriented components, I'm guessing you want to go fast; maybe you should be looking at something other than the 520, LHT, etc.
I think you're both a little confused, Shimano's 9speed bar-end shifter are only Dura Ace and their 8speed is Ultegra. The quality is no different between the 2. It's a bar end shifter that hasn't changed in 10+years, and has no performance value. I do agree, I don't understand why you would put 105 FD and RD. They are great part, great quality and strong. But they are rugged in the same way Deore, LX, or XT are.