2 out of 2 cyclists found the following review helpful:
| Rating: |  | Thursday, July 10, 2008 |
Hardy a Roadie from Olympia Wa writes:
This is an outstanding bike. It does everything I ask it to, and would be the only bike I need if I didn't also happen to have an interest in a couple other completely frivolous bikes. I love riding it every single day, 15 months later I'm still happy to see it every morning.
Product Used For: 1 Year
Product Strengths:I love the loooong headtube on my 54cm frame. I think the 60 and 62 are the only other frames w/ longer headtubes. Stable ride (uphill nohands!), stability improves with load (load it down hard, panniers front, panniers rear, large handlebar bag, keep loading it!), geared appropriately, clearance for wiiide tires (I use 26x2.0 and also fit cascadia fenders, and can still put minipump *behind* the seattube), excellent part selection. I like the bar-end shifters; face it, indexing a triple crankset is difficult at best, so using tiagra der and friction just makes it always work.
Product Weaknesses:I think the spokeholder is precious but it doesn't really get in the way, and I can't ever get the chain to stay on the chain peg. I replaced the saddle and tires w/o using them. I also wound up replacing the seatpost in the 1st month. 4500 miles along, I'm on my 2nd chain, 2nd front shifter cable, 2nd front brake cable, 2nd set of brake pads. And I broke down and replaced the 26t granny ring w/ a 24 (what can I say I carry a lot of cargo up a lot of hills).
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4 out of 4 cyclists found the following review helpful:
| Rating: | | Friday, July 04, 2008 |
Dave a Roadie from Moraga, Ca United States writes:
I bought this bike specifically to serve as a 34+ mile roundtrip commuter bike. I had given a lot of thought about what to buy, and at times considered building up a Rivendell Bleriot or Soma ES. But I just couldn't justify spending a whole bunch of money on a commuter bike. Talked to folks who owned Rivendell's (they all love them, and rightly so), but one owner mentioned a cycling friend of his who just loved his Surly LHT. My friend said this fellow had ridden the Surly cross the good ole US of A twice and said if could only own one bike, it would be the Surly LHT.
So I decided to take the plunge and buy the LHT. I bought the bike in early January and wanted to do my best to protect the steel frame and fork from rust. So before taking delivery, I asked Jenson (where I bought my LHT) to shoot some frame saver in the bike (they only charged me the cost of the JB Weigel Frame Saver). After taking delivery, I installed a pair of SKS fenders, a wider Nitto Noodle handlebar, Jandd Expedition rear rack, and Plestcher dual leg kickstand.
What I've come to discover over the months and many miles, is that the LHT is sort of a fun bike to ride. It's comfortable, stable and I don't get fatigued from riding it and there's no "road" sensation. You certainly can't go fast on it (although I have tried to keep up with other roadies just for the heck of it). On the LHT you seem to spend your time just kind of spinning along. In fact I find the LHT to be a great "recovery ride" bike.
If I want to go fast or hard, I've got other bikes for that. The Surly LHT on the other hand just isn't meant for that type of riding, and that's not why I bought it. It's just a good old reliable friendly and predictable bike that never seems to fail to get you from point A to point B.
Product Used For: 6 Months
Product Strengths:Excellent value and good component selection for its intended purpose (those, "I'm in no hurry" getting from point A to point B rides). Surly did a good job on the frame angles and bringing the handlebar up to produce a nice comfortable riding position. The steel frame and fork dampen well to really add to the comfort of the ride. With the wide tires and longish wheelbase, its extremely stable on downhills with loaded panniers. The bike is so stable that it actually makes riding in the rain fun.
Product Weaknesses:I purchased my 52 cm bike as spec'd by Surly, which calls for a a 41cm handlebar. This is just way too narrow a handlebar for a 52 cm bike that's supposed to be used for touring or long rides. I replaced mine with a 44 cm Nitto Noodle handlebar. It really added to the comfort and stabliilty of the bike.
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7 out of 7 cyclists found the following review helpful:
| Rating: | | Saturday, March 22, 2008 |
Robert (Brian) a Roadie from Napanee, On Canada writes:
A WONDERFUL BIKE TO RIDE,VERY EASY ON THE AGEING MIDDLE AGE BODY. CLIMBS SMOOTH AND STEADY IN A STRAIGHT PATH AT EXTERMELY SLOW SPEEDS (4.5KM/HR ON 20% GRADES.
Product Used For: 1 Month
Product Strengths:Rock solid spinning on a 20% grades at 4 miles per hour. Smooth and GENTLE ride on flats at 40 km/hr. It is so.... nice to be riding a steel touring frame again. aluminum frames ride hard and break your body down as the day wears on. Put a Brooks B-17 saddle on, SKS 45 fenders and Tubus racks (Cosmo & Nova), all items fit like fine gloves. This bike was well thought out and designed for trans-continental tours or the weekend trip to the local camp grounds. I was very surprised at the ride with the 700 mm tires inflated at 85 lbs. The effort to propel the bike is only very slightly more than my light weight day bike I use on century rides. I will use this bike on club rides as well as my camping tours, the ride is that smooth. DON"T Worry about the 4 lb frame weight diet for two days if it concerns you. The frame and components are bomb proof and that's what you want on a loaded touring bike.
Product Weaknesses:I changed out the 26 tooth granny for a 24 tooth ($15.00 extra), if your going to have a granny have the best that will fit the bike. The fender seat stay mount is horizontal- if it was vertical you would not need the fender clamp- a little cleaner looking. Have Jensen leave the fork head tube 20 mm longer then the 40 mm spacer length, if you are going still be riding in middle age you will appreciate this extra back relief on longer days. You can always cut the tube shorter at your after playing with the stem height, can't stretch a cut tube though.
My Bike:SKS 45 (SILVER) FENDER, TUBUS RACKS(NOVA&COSMO), WATER BOTTLES X3, COMPUTER, CLIPLESS/PLATFORM PEDALS,BROOKS B-17 SADDLE.
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22 out of 23 cyclists found the following review helpful:
| Rating: | | Friday, January 18, 2008 |
Joe a Weekend Warrior from Rockville, Md United States writes:
This is a really nice general purpose (or touring) bike. I put fenders on mine and, combined with the grooved/treaded tires it came with (Continental Contact) I can ride safely and comfortably on wet pavement. Also, it shifts gears beautifully. The bar end shifters really function well (and/or the guys at Jenson really adjusted everything well before shipping the bike to me!). The one for the rear derailleur can be set to be either indexed or not. I use it indexed b/c it works so perfectly.
Product Used For: 1 Month
Product Strengths:This bike is geared like a mountain bike which is partially why I bought it. The top end gears are sufficiently high as long as your not racing (which this bike is not intended for.) So, with the low gearing, if you're out on an extended ride and you're "feeling it" (tired), and you're faced with a substantial climb, you have the option of sticking it in a low gear and spinning instead of standing.
Product Weaknesses:One little glitch is, the cable for the front derailluer might interfere with the water bottle cage on the underside of the down tube (if you choose to put one there). It depends on which cage you use. I had to do a lot of filing at the base part of my water bottle cage so the front derailleur cable wouldn't interfere with it. I was a little surprised with the Surly guys for routing this cable so close to these water bottle bosses.
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28 out of 32 cyclists found the following review helpful:
| Rating: | | Thursday, October 18, 2007 |
Karl a Roadie from Portland, Or Us writes:
So far so good. I've been primarily using it to commute to work, which equates to ~100 mile per week and it is very comfortable. Adding the front lowrider rack and panniers which got the backpack off of me helped the comfort level and it is very stable when operated in this fashion.
Product Used For: 1 Month
Product Strengths:As advertised, it's a work horse of a bike. The complete option is impossible to beat component wise, great value for the price. Added a Brooks saddle with matching handlebar tape and it's a great looking beast if I do say so myself.
Product Weaknesses:The only thing I can think of is lack of color choice and availability. I almost gave up on it after 2 months of hunting, and I got pretty lucky to get it when I did. Some have waited (and many still are) much longer then I. Though I guess this might be better then flooding the market.
My Bike:well, it is a bike, so this section is NA.
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