I'm caught between rebuilding my Tourist or buying another bike entirely. I'm really into the smaller wheelsize as I am a shorter rider. This bike will be used for everything, as my Tourist has done it all.

So, which bike would you choose? I think both have advantages and disadvantages. Discuss.

(P.S. pictures of either bike loaded would be appreciated!)

It basically boils down to drop bars vs flats / jones. Which are you more comfortable with? Straggler also only fits up to a 42, while the Troll fits up to a 26 x 3.0.

gong sound from The Gong Show

meaning, no, you can run a Troll with whatever setup you like bars wise and it works great.
Ive had mtn bike slight risers, butterfly/trekking, and drops.
Drops was my intention all along, and it works wonderfully, albeit with a short stem due to the longer toptube, and the uncut steerer is great for bar height.

the top tube on the troll is too long to comfortably put drops and hoods on if you size it properly for flat bars. i've got converted MTBs, too. they're all 1-2 sizes smaller than what I pick for bikes that are going to have flat bars.

Your point is completely accurate and a very valid point, I was very concerned of not wanting to end up with too much reach.
In the end however, a 55mm stem and bars with shallow reach and drop worked fine for me. I'm about 5'10" and the medium troll and salsa cowbell bars worked out, a even slightly shorter stem would have been nice, but steerer height helped a lot.

Using a short stem had no negative affect on the bikes handling, and I was extremely happy with the handling characteristics of it loaded at all speeds on all kinds of terrain and surfaces, and I place a bikes ride and composure right up there on the list of things that give me great pleasure, especially around corners.

Going to Tour France, 650B is more common there than here in the USA where it made inroads recently as 27.5 in mountain bikes

wall mart wont have tires.
Smaller wheels ? Bike Friday,, 406 20" is part of their getting a bike that packs in a suitcase*..

USA Built You have OOdles of options.. I Own 2..

*making it easier to get to the places you want to see..









....

The Straggler is a "light duty touring bike" (says Surly), the Troll is a heavy duty expedition bike.

Here is my Troll somewhere in Honduras.

I havent ridden a Straggler, but I've had or do have similar bikes, so to me it really comes down to what sort of touring you expect to do.
For all around riding, the Straggler will probably be more fun and a bit faster, but the Troll really does live up to its reputation as being a solid, do all kinds of things bike.

26 has some advantages still, and a big thing is being able to take up to 3in tires now on the 2017 and newer models. Even the older ones like mine can easily take 2.5s, so you can set the bike up for all kinds of diff riding.

My trip with it that this photo is from, certainly confirmed to me that its a very capable, sturdy, and solid bike that can handle a load of 50lbs and still handle very very well.
My example of it with dropbars shows it can work well in this setup, again though, you do need to be aware of the longer toptube than other dropbar bikes, and need to be aware of this for both frame and stem size choices.
My bike was bought used and came with lighter stuff than the stock build, so is a pretty good weight, even with spd pedals, bottle cages, front and rear racks, it comes to about 30-31lbs, its been a while since I weighed it, so forget the exact number. Stock ones like my wifes Troll is about 35 I think. I also have lighter tires on it, which can be 2lbs easily compared to heavy tires.

I'm sure you are aware of the main differences between the two bikes, so to come back to waht I said earlier, you need to figure what you prefer for the majority of your riding.

My wifes bike is a XS frame, so being 26in is great for not having toe strike issues.
Personally I dont see a big diff in speed between 26 and 700 or 650, but then gearing, and bike+gear weight come into play here, so if on paved roads, I find it pretty hard to really see a diff.

what made you consider a Troll? Lets hear your views first.

it's winter.
you're stuck inside.
bored.
watching reruns of rick and morty.

rebuild the tourist.
you say it's done it all.
it can continue to do so.

Actually, the children have been watching the Beverly Hillbillies all weekend... so far anyway.

How tall is your wife? Reason I ask is according to Surly's website, I would fit a XS frame.

I never ride in the drops. I'm always on the hoods. Even on my SS/FG Kilo TT with bullhorns, I'm on the flats more than stretched out of the bullhorns. The Jones style bar always did intrigue me, though.

about 5', although her bike has butterfly bars on it, and she prefers a slightly more upright position for neck etc, although stem choice of course can change stuff, as well as where on the steerer bars are positioned.

ps, butterfly bars with a kind of regular length stem, maybe 90mm or thereabouts.

I would add that overall in the past, I've used the drops only on downhills, sprinting, and the odd headwind.
With the drop setup on the Troll, the combo of height of the bars, and the slight flareout of the cowbell salsa bars I have, makes using the drops for longer periods much more comfortable than earlier bikes.
This really is appreciated if you ride in horribly windy periods that go on for hours.

as with all bike stuff, sometimes just a few cm's of less reach, or slightly higher bars, or slightly diff dropbar dimensions and shape, can make a big difference.

[QUOTE=saddlesores;20069791]it's winter.
you're stuck inside.
bored.
watching reruns of rick and morty.

/QUOTE]

steve, you might want to stick a piece of tape over your computer camera......;-)

The Troll with my wider tires allow me to ride on hard pack snow and ice (carefully).
I wasn't able to do this (confidently) with my former bike with 32mm tires.
If you do any winter riding I would choose the Troll.

Troll is a great bike. I had one a few years ago that I had built up with drop bars. My only gripe with it (aside from it being essentially similar to my Disc Trucker, is that rear wheel removal with the horizontal dropouts was a HUGE PITA with the fenders. I liked the disc trucker better primarily due to the dropouts, so I sold the troll. Disc trucker tires only go up to 2.0 with fenders. I might be able to pull off a 2.1 without the fenders.

I would probably vote Disc Trucker if it were here.

Of the two options, Straggler 650b.

650b isn't really a "solution" for smaller riders because a wide 650b tire is just as tall as a skinny 700c. 26", or more correctly, 559, is the answer for smaller riders.

Anyone who tells you that the trucker will be heavy/slow handling is bsing you as well; I rode a 200k on mine and I regularly take it on metrics and longer.

I have a Gen 1 Troll and World Troller. I like 26” wheels for packing the travel bike and for high volume tires on trails. Wheel size is overrated. Fit is far more important.

Re fenders and rear wheel removal, I purposely left space between tires and fenders, and this amount is enough to remove the rear wheel easily. In my case, I didn't mind the space as I was thinking of mud buildup possibilities, but with regular tight clearance the horizontal dropouts could be an issue.

As I was reading this thread I was thinking the same thing. The Disc Trucker is extremely versatile; it is certainly an all-rounder bike. Here's my set for bikepacking with Schwalbe 26" Big Ben 2.1 tires. There is room for fenders too, if desired.