seeker333

LHTCO - that seems awfully fishy.

Surly discontinued production of the LHT Deluxe in perhaps 2012, two years after the 2010 article you linked. This is why LHT Deluxe is not listed among current models at surlybikes.com in 2018.

My 2006 LHT (not a Deluxe) had the serial number M6012345 (M for Maxway, 6 for 2006, followed by 6 digits which I believe are a simple serial number indicating order of production.

My 2012 Disc Trucker is stamped M12012345, again M=Maxway, 12=year of manufacture and the following 6 digits are serial number. This whole M12012345 serial number is stamped on the right/drive side of the underside of bottom bracket, and on the left/nondrive side is the stamp DISC700-56, indicating brake type, nominal wheel size (700 or 26) and nominal frame size as described in Surly's published geometry tables.

When you contacted Surly (derby@surlybikes.com), did they confirm Deluxe models were actually stamped LHTCO (LHT COupled)?

I hope an informed LHT-Deluxe owner will soon refute the following comment, but I wonder if you may have some sort of counterfeit LHT on your hands. Perhaps it's a prototype, thus the departure from normal stamping which might explain the lack of serial number. Do you have any other LHTs around to compare for authenticity? Any more pics you can post?

One thing you can check is the top tube (TT) diameter. Real LHTs have an unusually large ~32mm TT (measured at center, not ends where they may be ovalized). Down tube is 32mm too, which is not uncommon for DTs.

While on the topic of counterfeit bike parts, readers be aware that Thomson stems have been counterfeited for ~5 years now, and they are not safe, reliable stems. I seen several on eBay that look suspect - the counterfeits evidently have poor anodizing that flakes off easily.