As you may recall, a couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that I was contemplating the idea of buying a new bike, in the form of a Surly Long Haul Trucker a concept that had been brewing ever since I returned from South America, having seen how well they coped with all manner of conditions on the open road and having been bitten by the bike touring bug.....
The more I started planning & visualizing myself cycling around Europe, the stronger the urge became, to the point I'd started thinking how I'd set it up, etc. Heck, I even had a couple of chats with my mate from Commuter Cycles about potentially putting an order in to get something built up....
The more I started planning & visualizing myself cycling around Europe, the stronger the urge became, to the point I'd started thinking how I'd set it up, etc. Heck, I even had a couple of chats with my mate from Commuter Cycles about potentially putting an order in to get something built up....
It was only when another friend reminded me that I was "touring" and should be taking it easy rather than worrying about Strava segment times or time spent in the saddle getting from Point A to Point B, that I realised that a few minor modifications to the Troll would not only make the trip a little easier / more reliable but would also save me money & storage space in the bike room....
As a consequence, I've revised my "list of essential equipment", I mean it is Europe after all, with towns or villages every 50-100KM or so, not like I am riding the Birdsville Track or The Canning Stock Route.
Hence the need to buy / fit some additional panniers on the front forks, etc, went out the window as it would after all just encourage me to buy / carry more stuff and I probably wouldn't use it all anyhow, so why bother.....
Hence the need to buy / fit some additional panniers on the front forks, etc, went out the window as it would after all just encourage me to buy / carry more stuff and I probably wouldn't use it all anyhow, so why bother.....
Instead, I have invested in a Dynamo Hub and properly mounted lights as opposed to USB rechargeable ones, which now means I can charge a number of my electronic gizzmos, whilst on the go as well as running a set of lights, front & rear, whether I am riding with panniers, handlebar bag or not...
It also means, I can now ride all night, should I choose to do so, without worrying about batteries going flat.
During the course of my conversations with the good folk at Commuter Cycles I also came to the conclusion that, should I wish to fit panniers to the front of my bike, I'd be better off doing so, with fixed forks rather than the set of suspension forks currently adorning the Troll. Why, cause the weight within the panniers, dampens the effectiveness of the suspension anyhow, as well as limiting the number of suppliers of racks on which to hang the panniers, etc.
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