Originally Posted by
dwmckee
It means that:
(1) Disk brake technology has firmly and decisively surpassed rim brakes
(2) Lots of people that used to buy full touring bikes were really doing 'light' touring or creditcard touring and those people are now finding many of the lighter gravel bikes are better choices for light touring than full heavy touring bikes.
We sell about 500 bikes every year and stock touring and gravel bikes. We carry the LHT and did not sell a single one last year. Other more up to date touring bikes like the Marakesh are still pretty stable in sales but the LHT is waning in popularity. Side by side with a Marakesh, the LHT is hard to sell. The only folks that seem to buy an LHT are people that decided to buy one before they came in and do not look at anything else.
I'm another person who agrees with your take on it.
To me, Surly is simply following market trends, which are clearly "light" and "gravelly" stuff---BUT, and a big BUT--is that who cares if the frame top tube is slanted, and it can take wider tires--to me these are complete pluses, and doesnt take away at all doing all kinds of touring on this bike.
My Troll is a good case in point. No downsides to it.
even though Im an old guy who grew up riding "traditional frame shapes", it doesnt make a smidge of difference to me, so I get it.