unterhausen

They announced they were going to start building bikes in the U.S. 5 years ago, but I haven't heard anything more about it.

That Ghost Grappler doesn't appear to be anything special.

Kapusta

I am pretty sure Surly has a good idea what is selling and what isn’t.

Some folks over on the MTBR Fat Bike forum are having meltdowns over the discontinuation of the Pugs. Somehow they seem to think it is unconscionable to discontinue a bike that they already own and nobody else wants to buy. The Pug was arguable one of the top 5 most important bikes to be released in the past 20 years, but it has done its job (made Fat Bikes a thing), and it is time to move on.

I do see how the Troll gets lost in their. wide-tired touring lineup. Kind of a niche bike at this point.

The only one that surprises me a little is the LHT. I can see dropping the non-disc trucker, though it does seem like it would not be a bad idea to have the LHT be both rim and disc compatible.

PDKL45

In terms of materials etc., no, it's not, it's just another 4130 Surly cromolly frame.

The interesting thing about the bike is the geometry of the frame and the unconventional 97er wheel mullet it was photographed with. I mentioned it only to make the point that Surly aren't just killing off old bikes, they're actively developing new models for their line up.

twm182

What changes did they make with the disc trucker that you don't like? I don't know much about geometry but they look fairly similar. Do you just prefer rim brakes?

phughes

They are two completely different frames. Look them up.

PDKL45

Looks like the ECR's days are numbered as well, in addition to the LHT, the Troll, the Pack Rat, the Pugsley and maybe the Big Fat Dummy. Surly/QBP are really slimming down their lineup.

Darth Lefty 

Well we’ve all been telling each other for a few years now that plus tires are headed to the dustbin of history, more’s the pity. And the ECR has always been a little redundant with the Krampus/KM. So maybe that new ghost grappler thing is filling the bikepacking segment.

I saw that Surly brought out a midsize 29er Dirt Wizard for this year and then was surprised the newest KM build a few months later kept the 27.5+

PDKL45

It looks like mid sized 29er tires are where the industry is at regarding plus size tires; 29x2.6 tires seem to be increasingly popular on bikepacking type bikes. There was a lot of redundancy in the pre discontinuation Surly line up IMO; the Ogre can fit mid size 29er tires as well as 27.5+, so in the touring category, the ECR overlapped it in many respects. Sort of strange how they started out really distinct and sort of merged together.