Passed its first road test: Surly Trucker, loaded touring

[weisan]

First time taking the trucker out to test it on a local trail fully loaded. A couple of minor tweaks but overall I would say, "Passed QC!" :D

The plan is to take it on a nice and easy 100 miles 2-day overnight trip next weekend for some field testing, and also making sure I know how to operate and happy with some of these equipment; hennessy hammock, jetboil, Ortlieb, Therma-rest etc. Shortly after that, maybe step up to a week-long excursion somewhere in the Kerrville/Hunt Texas hill county area. We shall see how it goes. This is all rather new to me. :p

[1happygirl]

Awwwww. Awesome W.
I have eyed those frames for years.
Good for you. We will be expecting a FULL ride and gear report replete with lots of pix.:banana:
PS That is a beautiful setup.

[dustyrider]

Nice, indeed!
The more you use it the less you'll need to bring along.
Better take on those hills before it gets too hot!

[montag]

Looks like a great rig. I'd love to do some bike overnighters around Austin but I currently have neither the bike nor the time...

[weisan]

happy and dusty pals, thanks for your kind words.

Monty-pal, looks like we live in the same town.

I actually am looking for a "companion" of sort to join me on my road trips. :eek::p

[pinkshogun]

weisan pal, i would be more concerned about trying out the Hennessey hammock before your overnight

:help:

[weisan]

weisan pal, i would be more concerned about trying out the Hennessey hammock before your overnight

:help:

pink pal, i shared the same "concerns" :) don't worry, I will try it out before I go, in fact it's pouring outside right now and will continue raining tomorrow....perfect time to perform some "tests" :rolleyes:

[p nut]

Nice 'trucker. Looks set up for a world tour.

[Jesper64]

Nice looking Surly.

You've got a lot of saddle tilt, I assume it's comfortable?

[weisan]

jesper pal, I know what you mean, normally you wouldn't see that in my other bikes all set up with Specialized Toupes. Apparently, for the Brooks, it needs a wee bit more tilt to achieve the "hammock" effect and get to the sweet spot. I am still experimenting with it. Yesterday, I rode about 12 miles in rugged trail conditions and it was okay, no real discomfort to talk about.

I made the mistake of setting up a Brook B17 the way I did with my "normal" saddles several years ago and it wasn't nearly as comfortable so I gave up fairly quickly after a couple of rides. It was a brand new saddle and I probably gave up too early before it got broken in and the other factor might have been the "tilt".

This time around, I got a lightly used Brooks from a pal here and it's already been "softened" up before it ended up in my hands and yet still fairly new to provide the opportunity for my butt and the saddle to get "acquainted". :p

Again, I hear you....still work in progress, but so far, I have made it a lot further than I did the last time with the B17.

And the last thing we have to take into account is that with the current setup, I am sitting a lot more upright than I would otherwise on my normal road bikes, thus the need to get more "sunk" near the back end.

[weisan]

weisan pal, i would be more concerned about trying out the Hennessey hammock before your overnight

:help:

I actually started off shopping around for a one-person tent...and then I got a sticker shock at how much some of these so called "highly recommended" tent costs...upwards of $300 !!! :eek:

And then I remembered I already have a hammock, why not give it a go? I am definitely concerned and aware of its greater vulnerability to bad weather conditions. On the plus side, there's no $500 tent out there that will even come close to how much it weighs. :p

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51ItmT1A3hL.jpg

http://traipseabout.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/hennessy-hammock-bike.jpg

http://www.mosquitohammock.com/images/picJungleHammockKayak1small.jpg

http://hennessyhammock.com/images/uploads/Riding%20the%20spine%20photo%20hammock%20on%20grou nd(2).jpg

http://www.bikehacks.com/.a/6a0120a7ed5f9d970b0133f28729dd970b-pi
http://hennessyhammock.com/images/uploads/Hammock_at_Arches_Moon.jpg

[pinkshogun]

weisan pal, a friend used a piece of reflective cardboard to line the inside of the bottom of his Hennessey hammock to keep a straight shape and it kept him a little bit warmer

[weisan]

weisan pal, a friend used a piece of reflective cardboard to line the inside of the bottom of his Hennessey hammock to keep a straight shape and it kept him a little bit warmer

ah...right! the natural "air vent" circulation underneath a hammock makes it colder during the night.

Thank you Pink pal for the tip, I was planning to do something along those lines if it ever gets too cold. Fortunately, we are talking about April/May in Texas and it is getting warmed up pretty quick, night time temperature is now mid-60s, probably get down to the 50s in the valleys, so with the right clothing it should be comfy.

[pinkshogun]

we did the Natchez Trace pkwy beginning in Nashville and it was 30 degrees with howling wind in mid April. Luckily, their was a heated bathroom in the state park where i could park my frigid behind for the night

:butt:

[weisan]

I hear you pink pal, speaking from experience.

[p nut]

...there's no $500 tent out there that will even come close to how much it weighs.

Well...., don't know about that....

:)

http://www.tarptent.com/momentdw.html

Couple of years ago, I ditched my tent and went bivy and fly. 6.5oz for the bivy and 7.5oz for the tarp. I pack light, so every ounce counts for me.

These guys were great to deal with.
http://borahgear.com/

[Ken Robb]

The up/down tilt is very critical on a B-17. I think many riders are most comfy with some nose-up which keeps them from having to use their arms to keep from sliding forward. Very small adjustments can make a big difference in comfort. I had one seat post with such coarse "teeth" in its vertical adjustment mechanism that I couldn't get the saddle just right.

[Ray]

Looking good Weisan - I hope you enjoy loaded touring more than I did. I did a fair amount of it back in '98-2000. And, although I tended to be a seated climber who spun low gears anyway, I never learned to like the total loss of momentum a loaded bike would experience when you carried some speed into a hill and lost it ALL pretty much immediately. I did a few shorter loaded tours leading up to riding from northern Vermont back to my home near Philly. It was a memorable trip, and I had some good times and some bad times. The bottom line was I never again carried more than a credit card touring load.

But to each their own. Many people love it - i hope you're one of them! I had the Jamis version of a loaded touring bike - don't remember what it was called. But I bought my daughter one not too much later when she was about 14 or 15 and she's still riding it for fun and commutes sometimes on it too.

The long haul trucker looks like a great frame for that. I hope you have a blast!

-Ray

[weisan]

ray pal, I think I am in the same camp. The reason I am doing this is just because I don't want to say "no until I have done it." I don't really sleep well outside of my home or bed for that matter. I like the great outdoors, just not when it gets dark and an army of mosquito are trying to mate with me...:eek: anyhow, this is just an experiment and for the experience.

p -pal, thanks for the links, those are high quality stuff!
Talking about saving weight....the problem is 80-90% of the bulk comes from me and the trucker that is built like a tank. This is my first outing, I try not to over spent or agonize too much about equipment and their weight, that can come later.

ken-pal, thanks for chiming in, I hope you are having a good day. Yes, that's what I understood or read about the Brooks and seems to work that way.

I want to increase visibility on the road carrying all that load and being less nimble....think I will stick one of these behind. :hello:

https://www.americansafetyvest.com/cart/cw3/assets/product_full/BikeFlag.jpg

[Ken Robb]

I want to increase visibility on the road carrying all that load and being less nimble....think I will stick one of these behind. :hello:

https://www.americansafetyvest.com/cart/cw3/assets/product_full/BikeFlag.jpg

I never rode a bike with a pennant on a mast except a recumbent. How do you mount the bike?

[weisan]

Ken pal, that's what we are gonna find out...:-)

I took my "technical advisors" (my 6, 8, 11 yr-olds) to this place yesterday and bought a bunch of clamps, bolts and nuts, we gonna try something later this afternoon, stay tuned.

http://www.ourgeeks.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/lowes-logo.jpg

[kittytrail]

Ken pal, that's what we are gonna find out...:-)

I took my "technical advisors" (my 6, 8, 11 yr-olds) to this place yesterday and bought a bunch of clamps, bolts and nuts, we gonna try something later this afternoon, stay tuned.

best engineering team for the task methinks. :D

and if it ends painted in "safety pink" too, well, it's because it's way safer that way. ;)

[weisan]

Kitty pal, I agreed 100 percent!

[p nut]

And if that fails, this is an easy solution.

http://www.rivbike.com/v/vspfiles/assets/images/31-467c.jpeg

[JAllen]

Weisan, that is great! I know you were waiting on some stuff to finalize it last time we spoke on the subject. You've got a great thing going with it. Man, if I was in Austin I'd tour with you in a heartbeat! maybe someday.