Note: A Surly Disc Trucker weighs as much as a battle tank. If you are light, or travel light, a Disc Trucker might NOT be the bike for you. Look instead at the Kona Sutra, Genesis Croix De Fer, a converted mountain bike or a titanium frame (Spa Cycles or Van Nicholls do these).
Introduction
In July 2015 I set off from the UK on a one year cycle tour. My route took me 19,000 miles to the Himalayas, Australia, New Zealand and South America before finishing in Cuba. To reach the Himalayas before winter set in I needed a fast bike. It also needed to carry all my gear including camping equipment.
Big wheels roll faster than smaller ones, also I am quite tall, so I wanted 700c wheels. I choose mechanical disc brakes to prevent rim wear, give less maintanence as minor wheel buckles could be ignored and to give better braking especially in the rain.
This narrowed my choice down to a Thorn Raven (too expensive), a Kona Sutra (great spec. but I am not sure an aluminium frame is up to this job) and a Surly Disc Trucker. Spa Cycles of Harrogate, England could make up a Surly with a CHOICE of spec. for under £1200 including racks. I did make a couple of mistakes in my choice of kit - I will mention these later.
Performance
The fully loaded bike (62cm frame) and luggage weighed 44 kg. Pulling on the handlebars when riding up steep hills did cause flex around the rear stays. Also riding quickly over smooth undulations in the road caused flex around the rear stays. This is fine on a steel bike, but I would not want to subject an aluminium frame to this continual stress.
The dropped handlebars were a god send in head winds. Also they give you a choice of three or four different hand positions. This put quite a lot of pressure through my palms and so I had to wear padded cycle mitts.
The Surly was a great mile muncher. Handling was slow but predictable. Top speed was 84 kph when it remained rock steady. At walking pace or below the weight of the front panniers did cause the steering to have a tendency to flop left or right so you had to keep a good grip on the bars.
The 35 mm tyres rolled easily over shallow gravel, steering on deeper gravel was unpredictable. Muddy tracks were also a pain as dirt got stuck between the wheel and the mudgaurd. Removing the mudgaurds, fitting a Crud Catcher on the downtube and bigger tyres (it will take up to 45 mm width) may improve its off road capabilities. Later it had a 38 mm tyre fitted and this was about the limit of what could used with the mudgaurds in place.
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| The Surly handles hardpack well. (Alps to Ocean Trail, N.Z. ). |
The longevity of components was amazing. The Shimano 9 speed set up lasted the full 19,000miles. It got a quick clean with WD40 about every three days and then a little relube. Nine speed does give you a bigger chain than ten speed so its a wise choice. The Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyres were brilliant. The front lasted the full distance, the back needed replacing every 10,000km. The Avid bb7 brakes provided reliable, progressive braking in any weather. Pads lasted about 10,000km, replacing them was a little fiddly, so keep the instruction booklet. I spoke to another rider whose rim brakes had over heated the rim on a long descent, his tyre had exploded and he was thrown off at speed. Disc brakes are a good choice for a loaded tourer.
I saw many other long distance cyclists, many rode Surlys, none had any complaints. It is a great bike especially if you can get it made up with your choice of well researched spec.
Mistakes:
1) I opted for a Spa Nidd leather saddle, this never really got comfortable. I would of been better getting a leather saddle from one of my other bikes.
2) Gearing. My biggest sprocket was 50 teeth, this was too big and I rarely used it. 48 teeth or fewer would of been more useful.
3) Mirror and bell. I had neither. A mirror you could switch to go on either side would be useful. If you are going on cycle trails shared with pedestrians (like the Danube Cycle Way) then a bell could be handy.
Specification:
Tyres: Schwalbe Marathon Plus 700c, 35mm width. Great.
Wheels: 19mm Sputnik rims made up by Spa Cycles. Very strong. I did get one broken spoke so do ask for some spare. (There is a holder on the Surly frame for these).
Gearing: 9 speed Shimano. I used shifters on the downtube to keep the changers out of trouble.
Saddle: Spa Nidd - I didn't get on with this
Racks: Tubus. Great
Luggage: Ortlieb panniers and dry bag. Vaude handlebar and waterproof map case - really good.
Garmin: Not needed, the free mapsme app for a smart phone is very useful.
In action in the Himalayas.
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