staehpj1

I agree on some of your points. I really didn't like it much for me either. I thought it was excessively heavy, I didn't like the relatively unresponsive handling, and I too do not care for bar end shifters. To be fair this is personal preference and these same features are a plus for some folks.

Inside coating... Is that standard on any bike? None of mine have ever had or needed it IMO. Besides it is easy enough to treat with Boeshield T-9 or Frame Saver if you feel the need.

Frame flexing... It is one of the more stoutly built frames so i suspect that what you are calling frame flex is more about the geometry than the materials and probably just the feel of a long frame with long top tube and stays.

Shimmy... More likely to be either PIO (pilot induced oscillation), poorly adjusted headset, or other bearing issues.

Bottom line... It is all about personal preferences and touring style. The LHT is well thought of by much of the touring community and works very well for them. It isn't everyone's cup of tea though. For those who like me travel light and/or like a lighter, shorter, more responsive bike, it seems like pretty gross overkill.

Squeezebox

Yea, kinda like getting a 40' RV when all you need is a small station wagon for car camping.
I still can't imagine what the person with 110 lbs of gear is bringing along, and they won't tell.

mstateglfr 

Will you tell what you bring along and how much it weighs?




I genuinely have no idea what all my stuff weighs. I pack differently for the summer vs spring/fall and if camp cooking or now, so weight is always different.

I am doing the Katy next week and am trying out a different packing system than Ive used before, plus accounting for cooler weather. Do share your specifics so I can pick up a tip or two.

Sharpshin

Well, who knows?

But inflatable women hardly weigh anything at all

...and could possibly save your life in the event of a flash flood event

mm718

Do we have actual unloaded, rackless weights for the most classic time tested touring bikes (LHT, Trek 520, Novara Randonee, etc)? Based on some weights in CG journals I've seen, I doubt that in actuality the LHT is that much heavier if it all.

It didn't really mind the SUV-like handling... Are you really going to need incredible handling on a touring bike? The slow acceleration did bug me bit when I did day rides so I'll give you that but on a (loaded) tour this would not bother me at all.

I've had no issue with shimmy but have heard of one other case of this...

I've gotten used to the bar-ends. Not quite as convenient as STI but I like the shifting feel better--the ability to do multiple shifts in one motion, knowing which gear you are in based on the position of the shifter, etc. Genevale shifters would be the best of both worlds. More convenient and easier to trim shifts.

Doug64

From my experience it is more like getting a medium sized SUV compared to a small station wagon

There are times when a SUV is the right tool. Put your aluminum small station wagon in the middle of that mess on the deck of a rolling ferry and hope for the best. I'm not trying to sell anyone on the LHT, but just trying to share some real life touring experiences with it. My wife rode an aluminum frame Cannondale T800 for a number of years. I can guarantee you that if you are going to use an aluminum frame bike to tour with, it will get dented.

My LHT is the dark cherry red one in the middle, and my wife's Co-Motion is the blue one near the middle.


It is also comforting to know that your bike might be just a little overbuilt


The Amtrak employee is picking my bike up from the station platform after it fell off the baggage cart



I just completed an experiment (of sorts). Instead of taking my bike that is equipped to pull a trailer to get our groceries today, I took my LHT with my Ortlieb Back rollers. We put 50 lb.+ of groceries on the back, which is quite a bit more than I haul on tours; and rode home with it. There is one short 9% hill, and I can get up to 28 mph going down. I tried to induce a shimmy and could not get it to cooperate. I think some of the shimmy issues are caused by using a poor rack. I have a Tubus Cargo on the bike.

robow

Nice photos Doug.

My LHT was rock solid and I never suffered any shimmy. I did run into a fellow in southern IL one time while on tour, and while we shared some shade, he complained that he was having shimmy problems with his LHT. I grabbed his front brake lever, gave it a tight squeeze and rocked the front wheel back and forth and it was immediately obvious that his headset was way too loose. Took 5 minutes to fix and it was no mo shimmy shimmy ko-ko bop.

corwin1968

I've test ridden a 56cm (my size) 700c LHT and a 54cm 26" LHT. My impression was that the 700c was a smooth, stable and solid ride. Like I would expect from a touring bike. The 26" was very nimble and sprightly. In fact, it was too nimble for my tastes and I think a lot of that was the skinny tires they put on those 26" wheels and the drop bars, which I despise. A 56cm 26" LHT with 50mm tires and MTB handlebars would be a blast to ride!

bradtx

mm718, There is an older thread in this sub forum where a lot of us posted up our bike's weights. Generally it consisted of all bolt-ons on a bike that can be rode so some were 0, 1, or 2 racks. Weight was all over the place because of so many different configurations and sizes, but overall most bikes were in the upper twenties to lower thirties. I don't know if they were in the majority, but there were plenty of LHTs reported.

I think we cyclists can become a little too concerned with the bicycle's weight. I'm not so sure I thought this way until we had a pretty severe drought over a three year period in my area. Because of the dehydration's effect on the rural road's roadbed, in particular in the section we generally ride on, I used my touring bike for it's wider tires. No problems with the 6.5 lb. extra weight. Once up to speed the heavy wheel set and tires may've had a positive flywheel effect.

Brad

LeeG

a) that's odd, touring bikes designed to carry heavy loads should be light like 18lb road bikes. You must have got a heavy one.
b) I too have ridden a 56cm LHT and bar ends on different bikes but not experienced that problem. Sounds like stem or down tube shifters would solve the problem.
c)
d) an issue easily solved but steel does rust. You might consider titanium.
e) 180lbs is not big. What is you reference for other touring bikes with loads?
f) that is unfortunate. I'm 230lbs and never experienced shimmy on a 700c or 26" wheeled 56cm LHT with a variety of loads. Again what is your experience with loaded touring bikes?

LeeG

A 56cm 26" wheel LHT is nimble even with 2.0" tires compared to a 700c 56cm with 35mm tires. I had a 700c LHT and now have a 26" wheel LHT. Both can carry a heavy load, one is responsive for low speed handling in tight quarters, one is not.

phughes

A 56cm 26" LHT with 38mm (1.5") tires and drop bars is a blast to ride. I can attest to that. I would have the 2.0", 50mm tires but ordered the 1.5 Marathons by accident. They were sufficiently beefy so I kept them.

DropBarFan

Tire choice can affect nimbleness & "fun feel". I've Conti touring 38 mm, Marathon (Plus?) 38 mm; very sturdy but a bit of a stiff feel. Tom Slick 38 mm was pretty nimble but not good flat resistance, had to add a liner. Marathon Supremes have moderate flat resistance but handle & feel nice. The 50 mm doesn't feel like a fat tire so much.

Lewis Downey

My wife loves her Disc Trucker; I tolerate mine.

It's heavy. A mechanic at a pop-up bike shop on 2013 RAGBRAI refered to it as the 3/4 ton pick-up of bicycles. That's about right. It is heavier than my previous touring bike, a 1981-era Fuji America. Less alive when loaded too. To be fair, the Surly can go places the Fuji could not. The things that get my goat are the ridiculous little irritants that keep going sideways.

I cannot get the seat post bolt to keep the seat post from moving. It drives me crazy when the seat has changed height. I contacted Surly about it a couple of times; they completely shrugged me off even though the bike exhibited the problem from Day 1. Probably 3 or 4 bike mechanics adjusted it and confidently pronounced that it would not slip again. It always does. Eventually the original seat post bolt broke. The second bolt, which came from a local specialty shop not a bike store, is holding better but the seat post still occasionally slips. Less of an issue but almost as annoying when it comes up, I find the clamp holding the saddle rails hard to adjust and really hard to return to a previous setting.

The front disc brake drives me absolutely bonkers. Intermittently it rubs when the brake lever is not applied. It gets inside of my head to think I am dragging the bike up a hill with the brake rubbing. I do not know how many mechanics have taken their turn at adjusting the brake - I'd say 6 to 10. One called Surly and if I understand correctly, was shrugged off. Keep your eye out for a YouTube video of a Surly DT fork or frame brought into submission with a sledge hammer. I could do it.

I do not much care for the handlebars - really the drop and reach. On the Fuji I could stay in the drops when climbing a steep hill fully loaded and time the gear shift to maintain momentum just exactly so. With the Disc Trucker, the drops are not a comfortable place to be. Timing a shift means that I have to move my hand from the top of the bar to the bar-end shifter. Less precise. It's not the end of the world, but I do not like it. Fixing it is probably just a matter of figuring out a better fit. Doing so is largely a matter of trial and error with each trial costing time and money.

I do like the index shifting with the rear bar-end shifter. It can be used friction-only, like the front shifter, if it becomes necessary to fashion a repair on the road. The indexed shifting has been perfectly dependable on my bike.

I can replace the front brake, seat post, seat post clamp, and handlebars, but would be spending a meaningful portion of the cost of the bike to do so.

Other than an unending array of annoyances, it is pretty much reliable and an okay bike. It carries my weight + gear and feels good when loaded. No shimmy to speak of. I do not ride 'no-hands'.

Spoiled by my original touring bike, I do not encourage people to buy a Surly LHT/DT. Other touring bikes may be better or worse. It's not like I have anything to recommend in its place.

For what it is worth, to me it is sluggish only when taking off. While not a twitchy super-responsive machine, mine accelerates well enough after I have overcome the resting inertia. YMMV.

ColonelSanders

Just as well I am only looking to buy the frame and fork and build up the rest myself.

mdilthey

The other 30,000 satisfied bike tourists must be delusional!

36Oly_Rider

Kona Sutra LTD frames are $550 this year...Blaze Orange though and Kona's order is 4-5 months. I ordered my 2016 Kona Sutra frame (the Sky Blue version) last year about this time and didn't get it until the end of January this year. I guess the frames are made when they're ordered...But I'm happy with it. I just got the lowrider on it, completing the build and now looking at panniers and whatnots to go on a tour.

elcruxio

I see the LHT as a frame upon which I build my own kind of bike. Granted I made some messups when building my own model (for example not using road style brakes as the levers for those are so much better than Vee levers) and would not even dream of buying a complete bike.

That said, I probably will never again buy a complete bike as the vast majority seem to be compromized in some meaningful way. By building my own I get what I want and don't have to deal with the incompetence of the designer.

revcp 

I don't think the designers are incompetent. They're building up a bike to hit a price point and satisfy many people, each of whom wants a specific thing. I start with a frame as well and then figure out the components. On my Troll I decided it made sense to spend more on wheels, bottom bracket, bars, saddle and pedals. Everything else is middle of the line. A company oyher than high end boutique companies will typically create a build that's middle of the line throughout. Those who buy a bike either accept the compromises or tweak as desired.

corwin1968

Have you tried Surly's constrictor seatpost clamp? I'm 400 lbs and my KM seatpost has never slipped with a constrictor clamp.

jonc123

I'm using it also, but the real fix was a Thomson seatpost. Funny thing, I took the stock seatpost out and it was pretty loose in the frame. I had a hard time getting the Thomson in; I didn't need a hammer but it was tight. That seatpost also solved the problem of my seat moving in the clamp.

Inpd

As a former big guy (once 250 pounds), I'd go with the Thompson seat post. Over clamping the seat post can cause issues down the track.

mdilthey

Did you have the wrong sized seatpost? There's a 27.0 size and a 27.2 size, and the latter is modern.

Anti-seize (buy it at the auto parts store) provides a nice friction between seatpost and frame, and will completely prevent corrosion from freezing the post in place if you ride in the winter.

jonc123

Surly says 27.2, that's what I ordered. I chunked the old one in the trash, not worth my time to measure it. It could have been a 27.0.

I was real happy with the fit of the Thomson.

The bike shop did try some of the carbon fiber paste stuff on my first seatpost, that didn't work.

gauvins

The dealer is supposed to apply a rust-proof coating prior to delivery (from Surly's instruction sheet : "We recommend applying J.P. Weigle’s Frame Saver to the inside of the tubes before the frame is assembled into a bike"

I'd suspect that the flexy feeling came from the tires. The one time I felt a spongy ride was when my rear tire was going flat.

The front wheel feels light and may have a tendency to deviate from a straight line at speed, when the bike is heavily loaded on the rear panniers. If the load is properly balanced front and rear, or if I ride with a trailer, the front wheel tracks solidly. I've not experienced "shimmy"

---

As far as components go, a stock/complete LHT may indeed not be that great. This is precisely why I've purchased the frameset and added components of my choosing.

As far as weight goes... the frame + fork combo is listed at 3.36kg. It may be twice as much as what a lightweight frameset could be (in fact, some road sets are well under 1kg), but is nothing if you consider the total load of a touring rig (components + racks/panniers + gear + food/water), that will easily push you upwards of 30kg.