Saturday 21 March 2015

Surly Long Haul Trucker (LHT)

At last I have my long distance bike. It's a Surly Long Haul Trucker which is generally called a Surly LHT. Please see the pic below. The steel frame should go on and on ...... I don't really intend to buy another bike. I took a long time to decide on the LHT and then quite a while to get it 'sized'. Like a lot of things the Surly is designed in the USA but the components come from everywhere. The excellent frame comes from Taiwan. British components being the legendary Brooks B17 saddle and the Carradice Audax saddlebag. Brooks saddles need time to break in so early days yet.

Britain has a thriving frame building and bike building industry but hand built bikes are outside of my budget.


In the end I bought it from Brixton Cycles as they had a good number to try out and have been very helpful with sizing and working out the options. Brixton Cycles is a workers co-operative and has quite a buzz to the place. I changed the saddle to a Brooks B17 added SKS mudguards and a Tubus rack all fitted by Brixton Cycles. I have the Bath to Bournemouth (link to Just Giving here) in May and  the Dartmoor Ghost ride in July both of which are quite hilly. I have a Brompton M6R which has done nearly 4000 km in just over a year including some Audax rides but personally it's best suited to railway commutes and fun rides round London. In addition its not ideally suited to 'bikepacking'  a bike touring format which is my plan for my pre and post retirement years. I have touring plans for the future so will most probably go with the Ortlieb Classic Roll Top Panniers though I may go Carradice as they are really good too. My setup will end up being a pretty typical Euro-touring affair geared towards tarmac and gravel surfaces.

Routes in my mind include:

London - Paris
La Manche - Le Med
North of Scotland and the Isles
Anglesey to Cardiff
The Rhine
The Elbe
Round trip of the Baltic

Being 60+ means that speed is tricky but distance is ok - just about .....


Brixton Cycles guy!


Happy Cycling!

Friday 6 March 2015

Rear Derailleur Problem on the Brompton

This lunch time I got the tyre pressures up to recommended 100lb/ins and that was great and then realised the rear derailleur wasn't working meaning I have 3 gears as opposed to 6.  Rear derailleurs do have adjusters and you can re-tension at the lever end but still no go.

This is the first 'mechanical' I haven't been able to fix myself. I'm taking it to C & N Cycles in Redhill tomorrow. They are Brompton dealers so should be able to sort things. Not all bike shops really know the Brompton mechanicals too well so fingers crossed.

I'll have to sign up to a C+G bike mechanics course before I do any long treks. Still had this happened in any lonely location I would still be mobile just restricted in gear choice.

Thursday 5 March 2015

Brixton Cycles

 
 
This afternoon I went to Brixton Cycles to get sized for a Surly Long Haul Trucker. I'd been to another favourite shop before visiting here but they didn't have enough Surlys in stock to be able to get a good vibe on the size. Brixton Cycles keep a good number in stock and were very helpful. It's a rather cool shop too. It's at the Brixton end of Stockwell Rd. Deposit is paid and plenty of cycling adventures to look forward to. This will be my long term touring bike and will be the bike for the Bath to Bournemouth Ride. There are really so many great rides out there. The Highlands and Islands of Scotland is on the list as is La Manche - La Med let alone the North Sea Cycle Route or a lap of the Baltic Sea!

Tuesday 3 March 2015