Agentbolt

Okay so what would be a rough estimate of the cost to build a Surly LHT from scratch? I'd buy the frameset, the components, and then the tricky stuff (handlebars, crankset, etc..) put together by an LBS and finish it up myself.

In terms of components, I'd probably ebay stuff to find the best deals, and I'd try to keep it relatively close to the Tiagra/XT stuff most Surly's come with.

Any idea what I'd be spending here, roughly? The only reason I'm thinking of doing it this way (and please don't make fun of me TOO much) is that I like the LHT, but both Olive and Truckachino are ugly colors, I want a blue one.

bwgride

Sometime back I estimated my total cost, including racks, mirrors, etc. to be about $1800. Certainly possible to get prices below that especially if you go with Deore-level components. Ebay won't necessarily save you money especially when shipping is factored.

Hamish200sx

So buy a blue one. You can still find them online. I have an 09' in truckacino and I was a little hesitant about the color but it actually looks really nice. If you haven't seen it in person, you should try to.

Agentbolt

If you've got a link I'd be your friend forever. Trust me, there's no blue ones to be had.

Hasek

When I decided to get a LHT, before I decided on the "complete", I built up a frame on paper. I was at about $1,200 without wheels or a shifting system. I hadn't figured out which type of shifting I wanted at that point.

I built it up with medium level components, priced from interweb sites.

staehpj1

Consider buying the complete and having it painted whatever color you like? Or maybe consider something other than the LHT, there are lots of other nice touring bikes available.

bugly64

name some other tourers. I am not being a smarty pants either. I feel like the only touring frame or bike ever talked about is the Lht.

mihlbach

I just went through the same problem and ended up buying a green 2009 LHT complete. I put together many many theoretical custom builds, finding the best prices on the web (including used parts on ebay) for as low as possible, but just couldn't get anywhere near the price of a stock LHT without major component downgrades, and it still would have ended up costing me more.

Here's a cost-cutting suggestion.....www.bikesdirect.com lists 2008 LHTs on their website for $929, but out of stock. Nobody else is selling them for nearly that cheap. However, I was able to get several online shops to instantly price match it. I ordered mine (a 2009 olive green) from www.ebikestop.com for $929 +$18 shipping. The bike came mostly assembled. I paid the LBS $5 to install the star nut and cut the fork. Total cost=$952. There is simply no way to beat that unless you already have most of the parts.

Color is just not that important. I usually cease to care what my bike looks like after I've had it for a week or two. The olive green is pretty subdued and not that far off from the 2008 ultility blue.

staehpj1

Not a complete list by any means, but off the top of my head here are a few.

• Cannondale Touring 2
• REI Novarro
• REI Safari
• Jamis Aurora
• Trek 520
• Fuji Touring
• Windsor Touring

mihlbach

If you want to go custom and keep it cheap, Nasbar sells an aluminum touring frameset for $200, sometimes much cheaper than that. I actually ordered one, but returned it because the headtube was crushed when I got it. Otherwise the frame looked OK. The paintjob was decent and it was pretty light. It has a rediculously short headtube though, which would have required me to run an absurd number of spacers. Even with that frame, it was having a hard time keeping the cost from going higher than a stock LHT. In the end I'm glad I ended up with the LHT.

quester

I went through the same process, eventually buying a complete.

Since then I've replaced:
- both wheels
- saddle
- chain
- cassette
- chainrings
- pedals
- shifters

The chain and cassette were replaced because of wear and tear, the rest of them were upgrades. It was still probably more fun this way (got the bike immediately, got to plan each new upgrade individually), but overall I certainly didn't save money.

Torrilin

I'd figure a build up from the frame would run between $1500 and $2000, assuming you don't go for top of the line components. I haven't priced out what powdercoating would cost, but I doubt it's anywhere *near* $400 (msrp on a LHT is about $1100).

Since you can get a Randonee for about $800 during REI's bike sales, and a Fuji or Windsor tourer for under $700, I don't think it's a good idea to do a build up from a frame *just* for color reasons.

kayakdiver

Bikesdirect is doing nothing more than bait and switch when it comes to the Surly LHT. That thing has been out of stock for at least a year. Funny how it is posted on the website beside the Windsor Tourist. As far as i'm concerned the Windsor tourist is a pretty decent touring bike. Swap out the rings and off you go. That being said.................... bikesdirect marketing practices really suck.

Edit: Glad to see you able to take advantage of bikesdirect shady advertising and get a good deal elsewhere. Good job!

mihlbach

Yeah..BD is my best friend, and I've never given them a penny!

enfer singe

Do you know when you ordered or what stores were able to price match? Just looking at jenson and even ebikestop their policies pretty much say that it has to be the exact same item (year, color, size) and must be in stock for them to match the price. I would be really interested if they were able to match the bikes direct price.

HardyWeinberg

It might be cheapest to buy a complete bike, and a frame in the color you want, and swap the parts over.

rodar y rodar

I never would have thought of that, but you`re right- probably very close to the same price as a repaint (much cheaper than buying in pieces) and you get the extra frame as a souvenier. I`m generally not very hopeful about reselling stuff, but you could probably get at least a few bucks for the frame. Or just stash it up in the rafters and some day maybe find a use for it.

mihlbach

Try one of the sites with the auto-price match feature, such as ebikestop. To my disbelief, I was able to pricematch at several places, but honestly I don't remember which other ones...I tried several. Jensonusa was wise to the whole thing and didn't price match. Some places wouldn't meet the pricematch but still came down considerably. Keep trying different places 'til you get a bite. These price match features aren't foolproof and sometimes you can sorta trick the system

Just out of curiosity, I tried to pricematch it again at ebikestop. Here is the immediate response...

Hasek

Universal Cyles does instant price match via e-mail; the price match is next to "add to cart". If I can't get what I want local, I have made Universal Cycles my place to buy. They haven't always matched the best price I've found on the interweb, but on the occasions they wouldn't match, they came damn close. I like sending my money to a brick and mortar bike shop as well.

They carry Surly stuff. The LHT is on the second page:

https://www.universalcycles.com/compa...?Company=Surly

The Smokester

What size do you need? I saw a blue LHT Complete at my LBS last Thursday!

I build my (blue) 54cm LHT up from the frame with components comparable to, or slighly better than, the complete. With Brooks B17 saddle, DT shifters, XT derailleurs, Avid Digit Ultimate Linear Pull brakes with Dia Comp 287V levers, Race Face Atlas 46/36/26 cranks, Salsa seatpost, Salsa Bell Lap handlebars and stem, Crane Creek S8 headset, fenders and bottle cages, but no racks, it came to US$1800. Included hand-built 36-spoke wheels with XT hubs and Velocity Aeroheat rims and Conti Travel Contact 26x1.75" tires.

HardyWeinberg

How do you like those levers? Can you brake OK when your hands are up on top of the hoods?

The Smokester

Yes. They are very good. The Dia Comp 287V levers work just like any other drop bar levers except, of course, they take a longer cable pull to accomodate the linear pull brakes. In fact, the Avid Single Digit Ultimates with these levers are the best brakes--the most powerfull, smoothest, and best modulating--in my stable which includes Ultegra road, Shimano 600 series long reach and Avid Juicy 7 hydraulic disk brakes.

When I purchased, the Dia Comp 287V's were the only option for road levers and linear pull brakes. You could also adapt regular road levers using an adapter called a "Travel Agent" which I have heard good things about but never used. Now, apparently Tetkro sells a long pull road brake lever, too, so there are more options.

These Linear Pull brakes just barely clear the fenders.

BigBlueToe

I didn't keep tabs on what my buildup cost (I didn't want bad news, and I didn't want to know if my wife asked me how much it cost), but I'm confident it was significantly more than I would have spent for an LHT complete. However, I got a nice bike with components I like and I learned a ton about wrenching. (I even built the wheels from scratch.)

AlanK

I know this thread has been dormant for awhile, but it pretty much covers what I'm considering as well. After mulling the decision for about a year I've decided to get a LHT. I'm 5'9", 150#s, so the 54cm size should be perfect for me. While I generally like the complete rig, there are a few comps I really want to change and a couple I'd like to change (not critical):

Stuff I really want to change:

- Saddle (to Brooks B17)
- Handlebars (to trekking bars)
- brakes (to single digit V-brakes)

Stuff I'd like to change (not critical):

- crankset [to 44-32-22, and square taper BB (though I'm not set on this)*]
- bar-end shifters (to down-tube shifters for even more simplicity/ultra reliability)

* What do you think of the square taper BB idea? I know it's sort of antiquated, but several mechanics have told me they're actually more durable than cartridge BBs, and they'are also serviceable.

As you can tell I'm basically looking to put together an ultra-simple and ultra-reliable workhorse bike for commuting, touring, and utility use. I'm not an idealogue, I just want the most functional, reliable, and durable components, regardless of whether they're new or tried and true.

So considering what I'm looking to modify, do you think it's worth it to do a complete build myself, or would it still be less expensive to just get the complete bike and make the modifications?

Another thing to consider: I'd kind of like to have the experience of doing a complete build so I really understand my bike. While I'm no bike wrench I've been a regular commuter for the past 15 years and in that time I've learned most mechanical fundamentals. That said, I've never done a complete build myself and I'd certainly need help.

I'm open to other suggestions as far as set up/components. Thanx in advance for the help

Garthr

Tapered cranks are anything but antiquated. Don't tell TA, Sugino, White Industries and others it's antiquated Tried and true. How long before OBB cranks are shoved aside for yet another "evolution" of cranksets?! Think about that.

A 110 BCD can only go down to 33t chainring though, the small ring no smaller than 24t. For a road bike this is low enough with a 32 or 34 cog.