Time to build up a new travel mule! aka Surly Troll

[Victorian]

Hi folks,

Long time in the planing but I finally got my new frame! To be precise: a Surly Troll. A frame I first didn't even consider... For the longest time, my mind was set on a long haul trucker from Surly. But when it came to the ordering I found out that it was only available in a brown color... Dislike! To my delight, my dealer pointed me to a frame tucked away in the corner. Nice and bright orange! Looking closer at it I noticed that this frame was more of a mountain bike style then just for touring but still offered all mounting options for racks,fenders and such. Even better, with it's horizontal drop outs it allows for a Rohloff speedhub, can be used as a single speed and even has mounting points for bob trailer nuts!!
Next day I put some money down, dropped my suspension fork off and let them play with it

After I got the frame home, it was busy swapping parts from my IBIS mojo to my new ride.
Several cables and brake lines needed to be sorted and shortened. Off to the shop again and get the pros to do that job....

Next step:
Finding a seat, fenders and cranks that will blend in.... Any ideas?

Bike is now home and waiting for it's first ride! My old ride

 

[Victorian]

First ride today! This frame is way more nimble as my old touring bike. Only managed a 20 minute shake down run but I can already seeing me loading it up for some adventures

Question: What kind of seats do you guys use? I'm thinking of Brooks but also like the Selle Anatomica sattles... Also, what tires would you recommend? In the past I have been a firm believer in Schwalbe Marathons... but have no idea about the newer versions for all terrain use.

 

[Christophe Noel]

Congrats on the new ride!

I have a good buddy who just arrived in southern Argentina on route from his home in Anchorage. He will ride Schwalbe tires or nothing. Hard to find, but I agree they are worth the search.

Seat choices are so tough to suggest. I've ridden on Selle Italia seats exclusively for 20 years, so that's all I reach for. That said, for cushiness, I do like some of the WTB seats.

Fenders? I have a strange suggestion - Woody's fenders. I bought mine for my commuter thinking they'd "look nice." They've turned out to be crazy durable. The hardware is beefier than most fender sets and the marine grade laminated wood is stiff, light and extremely solid.

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/66908-ExPo-Build-Project-Salsa-Fargo/page6

 

[Victorian]

Thx for the feedback! Wooden fenders could be a cool touch to my bike Your Fat Schwalbe tires, think they are durable enough for touring?

 

[Christophe Noel]

You could definitely tour on Schwalbe Fat Franks, but they're a tad heavy. Maybe that's a good thing, dunno. They do ride extremely well with a very plush and comfortable roll. If you contact Woody's Fenders, but sure to tell Cody you saw his fenders here.

I do love my fenders.

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/71672-Woody-s-Fenders

 

[kmacafee]

I own a bike shop and Schwalbe is the tire we primarily sell. Check out the (http://www.schwalbetires.com/bike_tires/off-road_tires/marathon_plus_mtb) for off road touring. Great tire and as puncture resistant as they come.

 

[bucketosudz]

Nice Troll! I am looking at building an Ogre to go with my Moonlander next year. I have ridden both the Selle Anatomica Titanico and Brooks B17, I like the Selle better myself.

 

[Plannerman]

Nice ride! Congrats!


Sent via fat thumb

 

[Victorian]

I like the idea/design of the selle Anatomica... but have only found mixed reviews. Not sure what to do...

 

[EMrider]

Not sure how I missed this thread......but I'm a troll fan too!

I've had mine for about 6 months and it gets ridden more than all my other bikes combined.

Most of my rides are 50/50 road and trail and the troll is the ideal utility bike to handle a bit of everything. The ride position and geometry are ideal.

I bought the complete bike from Surly and have replaced the outer ring with a bash guard and swapped out the bars and wheels. I like a wide bar so went with a 720mm MTB bar with a 1 inch rise. Also went with a stronger set of Rhynolite 36 spoke wheels.

At some point, I'm going to need to swap out the crank for a true MTB dual ring setup that has a 22 inner ring. I'll probably go with XT. Some of the trails I climb are pretty steep and I want the lower gearing.

As for tires, I'm using the stock kniption tires, but have a set of Maxis holy rollers in the garage. I've used these for years on others bikes and find them to be a great all purpose and durable tire.

Enjoy the ride.

R