Surly LHT bike - dual use as full on tourer and as cyclocross?

[Jack Murphy]

Lots of folks around here are riding the sand/gravel roads on cyclocross
bikes in the winter, its a nice way to get out of town on a chilly day and
get a good workout.

I've ridden my Gunnar Sport with 28c road tires with them, and while
possible its not the best setup. So I end up riding a mtn bike with 2"
knobbies, way overkill for the surface.

My plan is to get a new touring bike in the next year, and am looking at the
Surly LHT. I wonder about the suitability of putting cross tires on it
during winter for commuting and gravel road riding. How would this compare
to a standard cross bike? Is there room for cross knobbies along with
fenders? This of course wouldn't be for racing, but you know once I get
going with the group I'm gonna ride hard and want to go as fast as the next
guy.

Any experience with this type of riding on a LHT?

J Murphy

 

[Gooserider]

"Jack Murphy" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Lots of folks around here are riding the sand/gravel roads on cyclocross
> bikes in the winter, its a nice way to get out of town on a chilly day and
> get a good workout.
>
> I've ridden my Gunnar Sport with 28c road tires with them, and while
> possible its not the best setup. So I end up riding a mtn bike with 2"
> knobbies, way overkill for the surface.
>
> My plan is to get a new touring bike in the next year, and am looking at
> the Surly LHT. I wonder about the suitability of putting cross tires on it
> during winter for commuting and gravel road riding. How would this compare
> to a standard cross bike? Is there room for cross knobbies along with
> fenders? This of course wouldn't be for racing, but you know once I get
> going with the group I'm gonna ride hard and want to go as fast as the
> next guy.
>
> Any experience with this type of riding on a LHT?
>
> J Murphy

The LHT is kind of a truck. I have heard of people touring on cross bikes,
but not really doing cross on touring bikes. Have you considered the Cross
Check or Bianchi Volpe?

 

[[email protected]]

'cross bikes rule!! I use my C'dale xr800 on fire roads /light trails,
on the road and with a rack and panniers or trunk it's good for light
tours/long rides. Check out this
http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/motobecane/fantom_cross_preorder100.htm

Jack Murphy wrote:
> Lots of folks around here are riding the sand/gravel roads on cyclocross
> bikes in the winter, its a nice way to get out of town on a chilly day and
> get a good workout.
>
> I've ridden my Gunnar Sport with 28c road tires with them, and while
> possible its not the best setup. So I end up riding a mtn bike with 2"
> knobbies, way overkill for the surface.
>
> My plan is to get a new touring bike in the next year, and am looking at the
> Surly LHT. I wonder about the suitability of putting cross tires on it
> during winter for commuting and gravel road riding. How would this compare
> to a standard cross bike? Is there room for cross knobbies along with
> fenders? This of course wouldn't be for racing, but you know once I get
> going with the group I'm gonna ride hard and want to go as fast as the next
> guy.
>
> Any experience with this type of riding on a LHT?
>
> J Murphy

 

[landotter]

Jack Murphy wrote:

> Any experience with this type of riding on a LHT?

Should be no problem. The LHT handles 45mm tires w/o fenders, and
you'll likely be fine with 35mm which will leave room for fenders.

Cxbikes generally have a higher bottom bracket, but it doesn't sound
like that's needed in your case.

The Volpe's a compromise between the two, and a pretty good deal at
$900 list. If you thinking about heavy touring, with front panniers,
I'd stick with the LHT, Fuji Touring, or if you're on a budget, that
cheap and cheerful Windsor Tourist.

 

[Jack Murphy]

Good info

Right, the primary use of this would be as a full on tourer, carrying
camping gear deep into the mountains (at least that's the dream, we'll see
when I can make that a reality). But it will get several full gear long
weekend tours through the year. The LHT seems to be the right bike for me in
that regard, if I can spec it out within budget. I'll have it for 25 years,
judging by my other bikes, so I want some long term quality.

I just want to get an idea of how to re-purpose it for regular rough road
riding, commuting in winter, etc when I'm not touring.

I haven't dealt with cross tires any - I 've seen them as a bit knobby but
nothing like mtn bike tires. How do these work as a commuter tire, for
example - do they roll on pavement decent or is it more like mtn bike tires
buzzing along giving me a great workout (as opposed to a nice ride...) on
pavement?

I'd love to have the full stable of bikes, each one for a single purpose,
but that's just not going to happen. Gotta have my fast road bike (gunnar
sport with the racks and fenders off), commuter (early 80's Trek, still
plugging away), I've "stolen" my son's Gary Fisher mtb to replace my old
solid mtb that's now got fenders for real bad weather, and now I want to add
a tourer to the group to keep from overloading the Gunnar. I'm not too sure
the wife's going to accept the idea of a cross bike and a race style bike,
but maybe one of these days....

jm



"landotter" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> Jack Murphy wrote:
>
>> Any experience with this type of riding on a LHT?
>
> Should be no problem. The LHT handles 45mm tires w/o fenders, and
> you'll likely be fine with 35mm which will leave room for fenders.
>
> Cxbikes generally have a higher bottom bracket, but it doesn't sound
> like that's needed in your case.
>
> The Volpe's a compromise between the two, and a pretty good deal at
> $900 list. If you thinking about heavy touring, with front panniers,
> I'd stick with the LHT, Fuji Touring, or if you're on a budget, that
> cheap and cheerful Windsor Tourist.
>

 

[landotter]

Jack Murphy wrote:
> Good info
>
> Right, the primary use of this would be as a full on tourer, carrying
> camping gear deep into the mountains (at least that's the dream, we'll see
> when I can make that a reality). But it will get several full gear long
> weekend tours through the year. The LHT seems to be the right bike for me in
> that regard, if I can spec it out within budget. I'll have it for 25 years,
> judging by my other bikes, so I want some long term quality.
>
> I just want to get an idea of how to re-purpose it for regular rough road
> riding, commuting in winter, etc when I'm not touring.
>
> I haven't dealt with cross tires any - I 've seen them as a bit knobby but
> nothing like mtn bike tires. How do these work as a commuter tire, for
> example - do they roll on pavement decent or is it more like mtn bike tires
> buzzing along giving me a great workout (as opposed to a nice ride...) on
> pavement?

Don't bother with cross tires on pavement, it's like purposely poking
yourself in the eye. Buzzy, inefficient, and poor grip. I like the
Michelin Idilis, with their hardpack tread,if you can find any old
stock, but I doubt you'll find any. Took a several mile fire road jaunt
this week on a pair of IRC Tandem 30mm tires. No knobs, but just a
teeny bit of tread to keep me from totally biting it on grass sections.
They're a really awesome option for a commuter.

There are those tires that are fairly smooth in the middle, with knobs
on the sides, but in my opinion, they're the worst of both worlds.
Might be panacea for some folks.

 

[Gooserider]

"Jack Murphy" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Good info
>
> Right, the primary use of this would be as a full on tourer, carrying
> camping gear deep into the mountains (at least that's the dream, we'll see
> when I can make that a reality). But it will get several full gear long
> weekend tours through the year. The LHT seems to be the right bike for me
> in that regard, if I can spec it out within budget. I'll have it for 25
> years, judging by my other bikes, so I want some long term quality.

Jack--

Surly is going to sell a complete LHT for $1000 or so, starting Spring
2007. No spec list has been published. I'm sure it will be less than top of
the line, but probably not chintzy.

 

[Booker C. Bense]

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----

In article <[email protected]>, Jack Murphy <[email protected]> wrote:
>Good info
>
>Right, the primary use of this would be as a full on tourer, carrying
>camping gear deep into the mountains (at least that's the dream, we'll see
>when I can make that a reality). But it will get several full gear long
>weekend tours through the year. The LHT seems to be the right bike for me in
>that regard, if I can spec it out within budget. I'll have it for 25 years,
>judging by my other bikes, so I want some long term quality.
>
>I just want to get an idea of how to re-purpose it for regular rough road
>riding, commuting in winter, etc when I'm not touring.

I'd make sure your budget has room for two sets of wheels, makes
switching between mostly dirt to mostly road a lot quicker and
easier.

>
>I haven't dealt with cross tires any - I 've seen them as a bit knobby but
>nothing like mtn bike tires. How do these work as a commuter tire, for
>example - do they roll on pavement decent or is it more like mtn bike tires
>buzzing along giving me a great workout (as opposed to a nice ride...) on
>pavement?

Cross tires stink on the pavement. It should be relatively
straightforward to swap wheels around though. The only "cross"
tire that is okay on pavement is the Avocet Cross II with it's
inverted tread, however it isn't that great off road. It's fine
for hard dirt roads, but suffers a lot when the terrain gets
really soft. If you stick to dry fire roads it's a great all
round tire. Most MTB and cross tire treads are massive overkill
unless your wheels are sinking deep enough into the surface to
enage the entire tread. It's like 4wd, 99% of the time you don't
need it, but when you do need it you really need it.

_ Booker C. Bense



-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: 2.6.2

iQCVAwUBRaKgPmTWTAjn5N/lAQEJtQP+OFXxLnwuTufJ93tiekqzJTvAOivCg0jj
EABU2VgeeC3a4VWBI86ZeoishgvJ1SNZZJDXuSQiY1np7Zgp7ItHYm1XMyQUQ75g
jPLZ5jwt2dTUYKrD8jlIip+HEPPccTxZ18BaBoP8jWQ2vbDe1Zj6tqllpC8ABBOg
hzeq6K9sgoo=
=1FRT
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----