EKW in DC

My wife had purchased me a Groupon for a local bike shop good for $400 towards a bicycle or accessories purchase. I wasn't sure it could be used for the Long Haul Trucker frame I've been wanting, so I called when I got it several weeks ago. The guy on the phone said no, because they didn't stock Surly items. I was a little leary since Surly bikes are available through the QBP catalog and Surly is adamant on their website that any shop can order from them.

Sooooo... not taking no for an answer, I submitted an inquiry through the LBS's website today. A response came quickly, and it appears that I can indeed use the Groupon toward the frameset order!!! That means I have enough budget to go ahead with the purchase! So, within the next couple days, the frame will be ordered as will all the additional parts I need to build it up w/ the components on my current bike (which, besides being a POS BSO from Target, made servicable only by the fact that I have literally replaced/upgraded everything on it except headset, bottom bracket, frame, and stem, is too small for me)!

Build will look like this:I've been wanting an LHT for well over a year for a solid commuter/tourer/errand runner/weekend ride machine. I'm very excited that it looks like it will finally happen!!!

Will post pics once everything's built up and ready to go.

jeffpoulin

Nice! Though I'm curious why you're going with the 7 speed. Are you getting a great deal on the shifters?

alan s 

Congrats! Looking forward to seeing pics of the finished bike.

HardyWeinberg

Congrats!

TurbineBlade

normally I'd say that going 7 speed is advantageous for the ability to easily friction shift if the situation calls for it -- with trigger shifters it doesn't make much difference.

Chains last longer...

EKW in DC

Because I already have the shifters. I'm moving as much as I can from my current bike (no n+1 for me yet) to the LHT frame, and my current setup is a seven speed. So, if free is a great deal, then I'm getting one!

I am considering an upgrade to eight speed down the line, but for now, the budget is still tight, so change has to be incremental. Generally, though, I've been pretty happy with the seven speed setup over the last two years, so no urgency.

monsterpile

That sounds like a good deal. I wonder how much the coupon was... People seem to love the LHT so I bet you will be very happy.

7-speed is just fine. I have 8-speed on my commuter, but I certainly wouldn't miss one gear. I'll probably never upgrade my MTB style bikes from 8-speed since I sorta unintentionally stocked up on Deore 8-speed trigger shifters a while ago. They work great and are pretty cheap. If I build up a beater MTB I'll probably use friction thumbshifters.

EKW in DC

I think the coupon was $200. So basically half price on the $400 of stuff. I've seen a QBP catalog and catalog price for the LHT is like $250, so if I bought only the frame, the LBS would basically be only giving up their mark-up (retail is $430). Of course, I'm ordering a couple hundred dollars more of other parts I need for the build, so they'll still end up making some $ off me. And it's a newer LBS which is also opening a store closer to my house this month, so they may have gained a new regular customer if the service and prices on everything turn out to be good. It's a win-win-win-win or whatever it was that Michael Scott said.

CptjohnC

Congrats on the new bike. I'm sure you'll enjoy it, and I expect lots of pics once you have it built up.

monsterpile

LOL Sounds like a nice deal. Thats what those coupons do alot of peoiple feel like if they got a really good deal they almost feel guilted into doing business with that place again. At the very least it gives a positive effect. Those groupon things are really great.

alan s 

Don't forget the Framesaver before you add all the parts.

jeffpoulin

Ah, that makes perfect sense. Sounds like it'll be a nice ride! Nothing wrong with 7 speed technically, I just asked because in my neck of the woods, 7 speed shifters and cassettes are getting really hard to find so maintenance could be an issue in the long term. As you already have the gear, though, it makes sense to use it until it wears out. The nice thing about the LHT is that you can upgrade it as much as you like and the new components will never seem to be "too much" for your frame.

johnr783

BLURGH!

Congrats but it makes me upset because I cancelled my groupon subscription because I never saw anything that I wanted.

grandjeanius

Looking forward to pics! Congrats on the buy!
How the heck did I miss that groupon?!

zoltani

Preemptive post. Please come back when you have pics of the frame and build.

Thank you and good luck.

gerv 

UN-53 is better and cost is very, very slightly more.

irwin7638

You'll never regret the LHT, I can ride mine all day and then some. Somewhere in my travels I heard this old saying: 7 is heaven, 8 is great, 9 is fine, 10 is just plain ridiculous. 7 speed works!

Marc

Brian Whitten

congrats! I too ordered a LHT frame but is out of stock until late January or early February Not to hi-jack your thread!

iforgotmename

Enjoy EKW... The LHT is a great bike. Welcome to the Surly Cult...

CCrew

Shimano 3x7 speed Alivio/Acera/Altus v-brake/shifter levers w/ trigger shifters

EKW, I believe I have a couple sets of these if you want to try to leave your current bike intact. They're the all in one shifter brake combo. May have the BB, and have a couple Acera/Alivio level hybrid triple cranksets. You have to buy me a soda for them though (I don't drink beer ) All the stuff was pretty much new pulls.

I'd have to look, may have some 8 speed stuff. I'm a bit of a packrat

CCrew

Ok, walked out in the garage and did a cursory look.
Have the triggers in both 7 and 8 speed triple. Have a FC-191 triple crank (42/34/24) in silver arms. A SRAM PC-870 chain, have a 73mm BB for it so don't think that'll do ya much good. I swear I have a 8 speed cassette or two around here but can't seem to find anything but 9 and 10 speeds. Do have a brand new in the package 5500 105 double (53/39) with the BB I'll let go cheap

Couple sets of brakes, Tektro to SD5's The SD5's are solid but far from new.

RD"s I have an acera and a long cage 2010 Sora.

Don't make me look at all the 10 speed stuff I'm hoarding.. that'll cost ya!

EKW in DC

Congrats to you, too, Brian! What size and color are you getting? If it's the 56cm black 700c frame, then there are some available again. That's what I got. LBS told me the good news this AM. Order has been placed. Hope to have everything in about a week and build it all up next weekend. Very exciting!

EKW in DC

Thanks. I am super-excited. The Kool-Aid tastes good!

EKW in DC

ccrew, sorry I didn't respond to your post. I didn't realize there'd been more posts to the thread until this AM.

Space is limited, and while I've had many a happy mile on my current hybrid frame, I'll probably be parting ways with the frame. Thanks for the generous offers, though. I may PM you at some point if it's OK to see what we can work out on a set of those 3x8-speed shifter/brake lever combos. I'm sticking w/ 7 speed for now, but I think a change to an 8-speed setup in the back may be in the cards this spring.

EKW in DC

Thanks for the advice. I ended up ordering a UN-54.