ChipSeals

I brought home a 56cm Disc Trucker this week. I have a large Carradice saddle bag that I use for commuting duties, and I’ll soon be putting on a Tubus Cargo in the rear.

My first impression is that it’s performing as I expected, and it’s pleasant to ride overall. I test rode one before purchasing but never owned one before, although I did have a Straggler for a very short time. (I disliked the short head tube and the rear dropouts of that frame. My own mistake for not beta testing it before buying.)

I bought the DT because I wanted a do-all errand / shopping bike that I could ride in the winter as well. It was a very extravagant purchase for that, but I do hope to go on some tours in the spring, where I imagine it will really shine.

I’d recommend the DT, but I did come across a few annoyances, that while aren’t deal breakers, do lead me to question some of the reputation of Surly bikes being smartly specced:

— The crank is 175mm on my 56cm. The size smaller comes with a 170mm crank. I think 175mm is too long for this frame size. They should have gone with 170 or 172.5mm, in my opinion. I’ll take off the crank and sell it and get the 170mm size I need. I definitely feel the difference between 175 and 170.

— The stock saddle is 135mm wide. I wonder what percentage of people who ride 175mm cranks and 44cm bars, and set up their bars and saddle mostly level (as LHT or DT usually do) ride a narrow 135mm saddle? I’d wager that it’s a minority. I’ll give it away and use one of the saddles from another bike I own.

— The brake levers out of the box are set up way too far up the handlebar ramps. I always wondered why people with LHTs or DTs had “fanged” brake hoods, with a sharp “v” valley between the hoods and the bars. And now I know why. Again, I can’t imagine how this would be good for the wrists of people who usually set their bikes up with a level saddle. Not to mention that you have to contort yourself to reach the brakes from the drops. I’ll be undoing my bar tape and lowering my brakes about 2cm to get a nice, level transition from the ramps to the hoods, and less fussy look on the bars. More ergonomic, too. I think it’s a disservice to customers if bike shops let people ride out with their bars set up like that.

— Lastly, the cable routing down tube is slightly offset, and it isn’t totally flush with the frame where it crosses the bottom bracket. This is a total nitpick... I just think it could look a little tidier without much more effort.