What tires did you use and what did you have before?

I didn't use them on the Trucker yet personally, only on my old bike, a mountain bike I used on the road. I have some crappy Bontragers but have also ridden a Trucker with Schwalbe Marathons and they rode amazingly well. They felt fast on the Trucker and very smooth.

I had 1.5" Continental City Contacts on the LHT before switching to the current tire, 50mm Schwalbe Marathon Supremes.

Marathon Supremes FTW!

seriously nice tires!

I've been riding with the very same tires for a couple of years now, and I LOVE them. These are fantastic tires. Marathon Supreme 50mm

I have 700x35 Marathon Supremes on my Kona Jake right now. I had 700x50 Marathon Supremes on a Marin Muirwoods 29er a few years ago. Definitely nice tires.

I was thinking about the 26x1.6 Supremes for the Trucker, but maybe wider is the way to go.

OK, this bike is officially my back's new BFF.

I'm an overweight middle-aged man, so backache is a regular visitor to my life. I was signed up for the Worst Day of the Year Ride for this past weekend and wanted to do the hilly 45-mile challenge route. A week earlier I pre-rode the two main climbs on my LeMond Nevada City and while I made it, my back was aching when I finished. On Friday, my back was aching for no particular reason. On Saturday I spent six hours helping my sister-in-law move and by Saturday night tying my shoes was a challenge. A lot of stretching and time on the foam roller eased things a bit.

In preparation for Sunday's ride, I had embraced the Trucker lifestyle and put a rising stem at the very top of the steerer (resting on no less than 11 spacers!), putting the bars slightly above the saddle. With some trepidation I set off Sunday morning to see how the challenge course would treat me. Four hours and 45 miles later, I crossed the finish line with a smile on my face, having enjoyed the ride and having experienced no back pain. Color me impressed -- this thing is comfortable! The ultra-low gears didn't hurt either, of course.

Have to admit that I'm not a huge fan of the "foot of spacers" look most LHTs (and many CCs) end up with, but I can't argue with what works for people.

I know this is a commuting thread, but I just sold my B.O.B to a guy that just arrived here in Florida on his LHT. He rode here from Alaska, and will be heading back in two weeks! I'm sure its the motor that made it all that way, but it is appealing that he was on a LHT just the same. Adds to the cult following and its mystique.

In that case looks don't matter for sure. I'd rather have a few spacers and a few odd looks from other cyclists than a sore back.

Yeah, I don't really like the tall spacer stack look either, but it seems to work. I figured that if I'm going to give the Trucker a fair shake I should start by setting it up the way people who love them typically have them set up.

It's "only" 57mm or so of spacers. I just didn't have anything but small ones on hand. I'll worry about making it look good later. For now, I'm just riding it.

You might be able to get to the same place (same reach/height for the bars) with one of these - https://salsacycles.com/components/pr...25-degree_stem , and reduce the stack at the same time. I contemplated that for my Vaya, but wasn't sure that it would look good/better.

I know the LHT might reject it like a bad organ match since its made by Salsa, so there may be other options

Same here. Suffered years of back pains from past work and play activities. Rode recumbents for a few years to keep me cycling, stopped in my LBS a few years back to test out a LHT...left the store with what is still to this day, my favorite riding bicycle

More spacers=more mounting options

Here's the 2-month version:



Changes since the 24-hour version:

* Adjusted the fenders to mostly fit
* Properly spaced and redished the rear wheel (it was 130mm with a couple of washers outside the locknuts )
* Silver spacers (only four now!)
* Silver 110mm Dimension stem
* Silver Thomson top cap
* Silver Civia seatpost
* Silver Soma HWY One handlebars
* Tektro RL520 brake levers
* Brown Charge Spoon saddle
* Brown Salsa cork tape
* Forte Team V-brakes (and no more Travel Agents!)
* 36T & 26T middle and small chainrings
* Deore LX M580 rear derailleur
* Topeak Super Tourist MTX rack

That sounds like an awful lot, but I got it all for around $250. I kept the 8-speed shifters and 12-28 cassette, which I actually like a lot. The new 44-36-26 front gearing has also been great, though the front derailleur looks a little odd where I had to put it. I'm really happy with how the saddle and bar tape came out. I like the look of the Brooks tan saddles, but I also like to leave my bikes out in the rain and not have to do maintenance on the saddle.

I might still swap the stem out for something a little shorter. I picked this one up on the cheap and it might be a tad longer than I want. I'll need to try a couple of others to see.

I'm also considering a silver seatpost clamp. I think the black looks OK, but I feel like it should match the headset (and I'm not likely to get a black headset).

Comments? Critique?

Outstanding!! Well done.

Looks good to me, even if it doesn't have a B17.

Love the look, and like you, my back gets a bit sore-ish from riding...I ended up putting a Kalloy stem (with a bit of a rise) on my commuters (Schwinn Racers) and they have definitely made a world of difference in the back pain department.

Also, Charge makes some great saddles, do they not? I've got a Bucket on my 2013 Racer.

My only complaint about the Charge saddle is that it feels a bit tacky. That is, my shorts seem to want to stick to it. That said, it looks good and it's been comfortable on rides up to 40 miles, so for the price ($28) I'd say it's outstanding,