Finished building my LHT today...
 

Except for odds and ends the last thing I was waiting for were the rims. They finally arrived on Thursday so I built the wheels Thursday and Friday, assembled the bike yesterday, and wrapped it up today.

A couple of things left to do, the LBS only had black stems and I want silver so I'll be exchanging that when the silver one comes in. Also, I want grips that match the seat but I haven't decided on what yet.

I'm pretty excited to start using it!!!

Here's the build list:

Surly Long Haul Trucker frame, 54cm
Mavic XM 719 rims, 36h
Surly front hub
Deore XT rear hub
Schwalbe Marathon Plus Tour tires, 26x1.75
Shimano UN54 bottom bracket
Ritchey headset
Deore crank, 22-32-44T
Shimano cassette, 11-34T
Deore derailleurs, front and back
Deore V-brakes, front and back
Deore shifters and levers
Crank Brothers handlebar
Brooks B-17 standard saddle
Surly racks, front and back
Planet Bike Cascadia ATB fenders

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=219272

Nice. Just an fyi... Bikes always look better pointing to the right in pics.

Good job ! Love the wheel builds.

Looks real road and trail worthy with the 26" wheels and straight handlebars.
Enjoy!

What kind of fenders? Just my personal opinion here, but I'm wondering if the silver stem would look better with silver headset spacers. I bought some Origin8 ones (actually packaged as Sunlite) from niagaracycle that look nice.

As for grips, some ideas:
Dimension tan cork grips
http://www.niagaracycle.com/product_...ucts_id=408547
Dimension tan leather comfort grips
http://www.niagaracycle.com/product_...ucts_id=408543
XLC sparkle blue grips hehe
http://www.niagaracycle.com/product_...ucts_id=449197
Sunlite blue grips
http://www.niagaracycle.com/product_...ucts_id=509454
Strida grips
http://www.amazon.com/Strida-CYSP221.../dp/B00273WMHC
Strida grips (here you have to click on the other photo to see what they are, the locking leather model)
http://www.amazon.com/Strida-Grip-Pa.../dp/B004PC7S6S

@hybrkibkrdr

Oops, I guess I did forget to mention the fenders. They're Planet Bike Cascadia fenders, 45mm. I'll go back and edit the post.

You're right, I'll be swapping out the spacers too when the silver stem comes in.

Thanks for the links. Another one I'm looking at is the Ergon cork:

http://amzn.com/B004P8FN28

Looks great and ready to roll. Got a trip planned?

Looks good! You should be justifiably proud of yourself. Great job!

Nice Job-Enjoy!

Nice build. Sharp looking bike. I've seen some other LHTs with MTB bars and wasn't a fan, but yours actually looks good. :thumb:

Where'd you get your crankset? I've poked around online thinking about replacing the crankset on my LHT which I built up in the spring using an older second hand crankset. Only 22-32-44 Deore cranks I've seen were not square taper. Best new square taper Shimano anymore seems to be Alivio grade...

Have fun w/ the new rig!

@EKW in DC

Thanks for the comments.

I bought the crank at Jenson USA. It's the only thing I got from them. It appears that they don't carry it anymore. Hmmm.

I wanted to thank everyone for their comments. Thanks!

@Bike Hermit

Yes, I have a couple of different trips in the works but I'm still in the planning stages. First, I'm going to do a couple of rails-to-trails, like the Katy trail in Missouri and another trail in Pennsylvania.

Right now though, I'm just doing short, weekend trips with my Cross Check until I'm ready, gear wise, to do something longer. I'm getting close though!

Very Nice build, it's a beaut!

Looks great!

Nice build ! Gotta go and enjoy it now. :)