Originally Posted by
unterhausen
a cheap steel fork is going to be a lot stiffer than an expensive steel fork. I would think that a LHT fork is still going to be relatively stiff. It's a budget bike built for heavy loads.
the curve of the steel fork makes a difference ... thats why some of the pashley steel forks are curved ... and they ride like cadillacs .... The surly LHT forks are also curved/swept but not as much as Pashley but still very effective on bumpy roads:
you can have any saddle/seatpost, but the ride depends on the forks .... a crap fork and you will feel all the vibrations through your arms IMHO
the surly is a budget bike because when you buy it off the shelf, it's basically a skeleton(but saying budget, £1300 ($1900 USD) is not cheap considering what you get) .... start customising it with fenders, decent saddle, etc etc and it's not so cheap
they sell them like this, because everyone has different aspirations/ideas on how they want to customise their bike .... I could have (and seriously considerded) a Koga world traveller, but opted for a surly LHT because IMHO the surly is a much better bike when customised