Help me officially build my Surly Long Haul Trucker!!
 

I will be purchasing a LHT frame from surly within the next month! I am first and fore most looking to what groupset is best for me! I am ordering through a friends bike shop so I will get a major discount, limiting me to SRAM groupset only... but non the less I will be running some normal tires 32-35mm mostly, I would like 1 or 3x8 or 9 of possible. And I will mostly be commuting and long rides to practice for future touring. Any input helps, starting from the ground up and will be posting pictures so keep up with my story!! And help me build my surly!

I think the lowest level SRAM road group is Apex 10 speed. Your choices are 1X or 2X.

I would go SRAM GX 1x11 with 40T front, 11-46T rear

you want to go 1x or 3x? those are seriously different drivetrains.

SRAM doesnt make 8 or 9sp road drivetrains so those also arent an option. SRAM doesnt make a 3x road drivetrain so that isnt an option. And 1x for paved road touring is...well it can obviously be done, but should it be? Really not sure what the appeal for 2x paved road touring would be.

You should at least list the style of drivetrain and the style of shifting you want. What have someone suggest a 3x8 flatbar drivetrain when you want a 1x drop bar drivetrain? Or why have someone suggest a 1x drop bar drivetrain when you want a 3x9 with bar end shifting?

For what its worth- I wouldnt at all consider SRAM for a paved road touring bike due to the shortcomings stemming from SRAM not offering anything remotely close to a touring drivetrain. I would go with Shimano or Microshift for STI or bar end shifters, Shimano for derailleurs, and any number of 3x cranks for the proper gearing.
And why can a bike shop not buy Shimano products?






edited to add-
a 1x drivetrain with a 40t crank and 11-48 cassette will get you close to the high and low of a typical 3x9 drivetrain. The jumps on the 1x will be larger and the top end will be limited so any time you are riding with the wind on flat road or a slight downhill you will be spinning like crazy(have to pedal at 93rpm to go 27mph), and this doesnt at all address and sort of actual descent. Compare that to a 3x9 drivetrain where a 46-38-26 crank is mated to an 11-34 cassette and you can spin at 80rpm to get the 27mph. The top and bottom ends of drivetrains arent used all that often, but when they are, I would rather not feel limited either way.
Then there is the reality that a 3x9 drivetrain is dead simple to use, super reliable, and not expensive. Thicker chain, smaller cassette(lighter), and a wider gear range to help with going up hills carrying weight and to go fast when you have the wind or downhill.

I never mentioned a 2x because I do noy know the appeal behind that either. And the only and i stress ONLY reason i wanted SRAM is due to I could order from the jbi bike catalog and get it discounted but as I looked over you are correct SRAM is mostly road bike groups and thay is not what I want. Maybe I explain well enough and I apologize.

The touring aspect I za very light right now and I plan to tour tour I will upgrade in a much later time. I want to be able to commute comfortably (6 miles daily, 5 days a week, 400 feet incline total). I LOVE my 3x9 but I am willing to try anything and I have been told that 1x11 would be what I seem to be looking for. However I love the touring set up because its comfortable that's the only reason I reference it. Right now. Anyway I only want something that would be a nice comfy commute and smooth shifting on drop bars but something that can take a little rough stuff. I would like to bike pack in some if the newer near by mountainous areas. The roads aren't crazy so I dont need full suspension and 26 inch tires that are 3" wide hy any means. Maybe what I am looking for doesn't exist so that's why I come to you guys. I want something as close to that as I can get. And I'm willing to try and build anything so I am open minded. I would be looking for I integrated shifters and disc brakes as well. Also the 1x11 is most appealing to me bc its less weight and less ti maintain (I love my bike maintenance but I've never been good with derailleurs)