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.
The bar end shifters on both bikes are the same. They are both Dura Ace. I believe all of Shimano's 9 speed bar ends are DA.
I bought a LHT for my wife's daughter last year. The components were good & some excellent particularly the rear derailleur, hubs, rims, & seat post. The brakes are fine, but I would opt for the Disc Trucker (wasn't available when I bought the LHT). Also, very cheap to swap out for some V-brakes. The Andel cranks are fine. I wouldn't worry about them. I've seen them for sale as a separate item as well as on other bikes.
As far as worrying about components, I would be much more concerned about the Trek. They seem to be doing things backwards by using a lower lever rear derailleur & hubs. I would much prefer the Deore LX hubs & rear derailleur over Trek's Deores. Trek actually put a lower level derailleur on the rear than on the front (deore rear, deore lx front). What is that about?
The 105 rear derailleur you have won't be an upgrade on the Surly, and it is not going to be very compatible with the mountain bike cassettes that come on both the Trek & Surly. If the 105 front is not a triple, it won't be compatible with the cranks.