My current touring ride is a Jamis Aurora. Drop bars, 3x9 set up with bar end shifters. I love the bike and have ridden it a little over 15,000 miles. It has done well on several fully loaded rides. It's limitation is tire width. I'm pretty much limited to 32c tires. I'd like to build something more suited for dirt/gravel roads to explore off the beaten path. I also plan to take it on tour in central America. I moved to a rural, hilly area and the roads are in less than stellar condition. I'm looking for comfort. I've got a good collection of parts that I can use but I'm not opposed to buying new if it makes sense. So here's the plan:

Frame: Surly LHT with a trekking bar. I'm debating over disc or canti
Wheels: I've got a couple pairs of Mavics with different tires mounted for every day use. I'll have a set built with 36 hole deore or XT hubs and Alex Adventurer rims for touring.
Crank Set: Sugino XD600. I believe the spare I have is a 26-36-46. I'll pair this with an 11-34 cassette and possible swap the inner for a 24 tooth ring. If I go 2x10, I'll use a 26-42.
Shifting: Dura Ace 9 speed downtube. I've also got a set of Apex 2x10 flat bar shifters but I'm just not sold on 10 speed for touring. I considered shimano trigger shifters but like the simplicity of the indexed downtube shifters with friction availability. I definitely like the friction front with trim ability. It also keeps clutter off of the bars. I've got a new deore shadow rear and 105 triple front derailleur already, I also have a long cage Rival if I decide to go with the Sram setup.
Brakes: Here is my dilemma. I've got a set of BB7 and a set of Tektro 720 cantilevers with shimano levers. The discs make a lot of sense from a performance standpoint. Rain, dirt, mountains all combine to push me in this direction However, I like the simplicity of the cantilevers, especially for travel in remote areas.

What do you think? Disc or canti? Shifters?

I like Magura Hydraulic Rim Brakes and Rohloffs hub gears .. Trekking Bars on the Koga WTR..



IMHO no touring advantage of more than 8 speed cassettes, the stuff just costs a lot more to stuff in 2 more cogs .

got in decades of tours, with a 110-74 triple crank & 7 speeds on the hub. My shifters: friction, Bar end (drop bars on that one)

rim brakes are fine, better if you have a 2nd winter bike to take the foul weather wear & tear

Thanks for the input. I'm not sold on hydraulic brakes for remote areas. A broken cable is a 5 minute fix, a broken/leaking hydro line, not so much. I agree that extra gears aren't needed for touring. I am just trying to make use of what I have. If not suited, I'll replace them, but I'd prefer to use what I have as long as it is high quality and in good condition. I took a look at the Koga web site. Nice looking bikes!

If you're really going off the beaten path, then I wouldn't choose a Long Haul Trucker. I have one that I have loved riding, but I've recently switched over to Troll in hopes of tackling a larger variety of terrain. I have never been crazy about how it feels on gravel (some people have no issues with how their LHT feels on gravel, but I don't find mine comfortable), and I feel like I have to pick my way pretty carefully if I take it entirely off road. The low bottom bracket may also not be ideal for true off-roading, although I doubt it will be a problem on gravel. I'm sure other LHT owners will chime in if they agree/disagree, but I think my LHT has been a great pavement bike, but if I wanted to get away from pavement, I'd choose something else (and I did).

That said, a 26" Trucker will take wider tires than what I can run on my 700c Trucker, so that, at least, might help. I run 40mm tires and don't have room to go much wider unless I ditch the fenders. When I get my 26" wheels built up for my Troll, I plan to start with 2" tires and see if I want to go wider or narrower. If I had a 26" LHT, 2" tires would be almost the max. That may be plenty for the kind of riding you're planning on doing. But if you're looking to fill out your options, you might want to look at something more specifically designed for off-road/rough road trekking.

As for brakes. I just switched to disc brakes, and I like them. Not a big difference when it's dry, but when it's wet, they stop pretty much the same as when it's dry. That's not how it was with my rim brakes. Also by riding in all sorts of weather, I eventually wore through the sidewall on my rim. It took years, but the wheel would still be useable if it had been used with disc brakes. I haven't had to try to fix them in remote areas, so I can't speak to that, but they don't seem that complicated. I'd carry a spare set of pads when I thought they were getting thin, and otherwise I wouldn't worry about it. But then I don't plan on touring outside of the country. Some bikes have the ability to take disc or caliper/linear pull brakes, in which case you could always change brakes if necessary. I don't know if the Disc Trucker is one of those bikes.

As for shifters, it sounds like you have a preference, and there's no reason not to indulge it. But I will say that when I have run trekking bars, they have put me in a more upright position. That was a positive for me, because I'm not a drop bar fan, but it does mean that it puts a little distance between my hands and the downtube shifters. For the brief period of time that I had both trekking bars and a downtube shift lever, I did not find it terribly convenient. I didn't find it horribly inconvenient, either, but it did seem that the downtube shifters were more optimal for a more traditional riding position. I now run a hub gear with the shifter on my bars, and I find that I prefer being able to shift without my hand leaving the bars.

I'd get the troll over the trucker for this application as well. I'd probably go with a velo orange crazy bar rather than a trekking bar.

Shifters -- I prefer and recommend the friction option. Little adjustment needed to keep it working and functions with most any type of gearing option.

Brakes. There is certainly appeal to disc and that seems to be where bikes are headed. However, canti brakes with good brake pads -- and this is key -- work well, are easy to repair, adjust, and obtain replacement parts in areas throughout the world. If you look at the crazyguyonabike site, you can find folks who have toured thousands of miles in remote areas using canti (or v-type) brakes.

For example, here's a tourer using a bike similar to the options you mention - trekking bar, 26" wheels, rim brakes - who has toured more than 50,000 miles.

Peter Gostelow -***Adventure Cycling, Photography, Speaking, Writing | Adventure Cyclist, Speaker, Photographer, Writer

My only objection to using rim brakes is the abrasive effect on the rim. However, rims can last for many thousands of miles before needing replacement due to brake wear so in reality this is not a key issue.

P.S. As posters above noted, if you plan to use flat-type bars, the Troll is a great option. The long top tube could make it difficult to fit with drop bars. Also, have a look at thumb shifter mounts for friction shifters. Very handy.

I can't argue with that since that's exactly my set-up. I have used trekking bars, and I currently have them on one bike, but they're not my first choice. They're still in use because it was the easiest way to get the reach I wanted on a bike that was otherwise a little too cramped, but on my Troll, I'm really liking the Crazy Bars.

The Troll looks like an interesting option. When I say off the beaten path, I don't mean trails or off road as much as more remote areas. Some of the areas I've backpacked in Costa Rica have decent roads, but services are few and far between. That said, the Troll may work well. There will definitely be long stretches of dirt and gravel involved.



I do like the downtube shifters, but realize there may be better options. I had the dura ace shifters on my Fuji Connoiseur, but just switched to 105 brifters which left these as spares. I like the bar ends on my Jamis and will have to think hard about this.

I built My Own ,, friction shift Freewheel, hub: Bullseye Tandem .. 7 by 3 rim brakes ..

worked fine for 20 years ..




happen to like the Rohloff Better Now .




Magura's rim Brakes have proven them selves over 7 years on my bike,

they're in 25th year of Manufacture , In Germany .. worlds fastest snap in pad replacement..

While the Troll can accept wider tires and work very well off-road, the Trucker performs well off-road well too. I have a 52cm 26" version that I often ride on trails with 2.1" tires. Below is an image of my LHT on trail. For the type of riding you describe, the LHT may be the better ride since you don't plan to encounter rugged terrain.

I've had a Troll since they first came out, and it is a great bike. I can run 700 x 35 with fenders and 26 x 2.35 with fenders. Disc brakes, of course. Search up Surly Troll Commuter Build on BF.

Have you used downtube shifters while riding a loaded touring bike? It's been many years, but I don't recall it being all that much fun (and this was back when all I rode was bikes with downtube shifters and it was second nature to me). For flat bars I'd sure lean to shifters on the bars. I know you can't really go friction with most (all?) flat-bar shifters, but they are built so robustly that it's fairly rare for them to break (compared with STI drop-bar shifters, for example). And they are pretty much the standard world-wide, so a replacement should be easy to find (not so much if your downtube shifters break).

I've used these shifters on my bike for the last four years. Cheap and easy and they mount just below the stem on the riser.

That is a valid concern. I have been riding DT shifters on my road bike for several years but just changed to brifters as I found them easier for fast group rides. I'll definitely consider trigger shifters.

If I was going to Central America, I would use a good dynohub on the front for battery charging.