Category: Touring Bicycles

Articles about touring bicycles and their components.

Surly Pugsley and Pug Ops

Surly Pugsley, Pug Ops — Real Blew Pugsley and Canvas Green Pug Ops

We had a chance to take the Surly fat bikes out this Labor Day weekend and this is my report.

From Bike Touring News H.Q. we did a quick 10.6 mile loop that took in some single track so we could see how the bikes handled.

I rode the standard Pugsley and Sky King was riding the Pug Ops bike. The main differences between the two, besides the color, are tabulated below:

Component	Pugsley	Pug Ops
Rims	Large Marge Lite 65mm	Rolling Darryl 82mm
Tires	Surly Nate 3.8″ 27 t.p.i.	Surly Nate 3.8″ 120 t.p.i.
Crankset	Sram X-5 36/22	Surly Offset double 36/22
Rear Derailleur	Shimano Deore RD-M591	Shimano LX RD-T670
Cassette	shimano HG61 9 speed 11-32	Shimano HG62 10 speed 11-34
Shifters	Microshift Top Mount 3×9	Shimano SLX Rapid Fire 3×10

So the Pug Ops gains a little more footprint by using wider rims and tires with a higher thread count. The higher thread count should make for a stronger and more supple casing for better handling at low tire pressures. Even though the tires on both bikes have the same nominal dimensions, the wider rim on the Pug Ops means that the tire is wide enough to potentially interfere with the chain when riding in the lowest gear. That’s why the Pug Ops comes with Surly’s offset double crankset.

The Ride

Me riding Pugsely — Surly Pugsley in the Boise foothills

sky king riding the pug ops — The smile says it all. Sky King on the Surly Pug Ops, Boise foothills.

We started with about 20 p.s.i. in the rear tires and about 15 in the front but I let a little bit out for the downhill sections. (I need to get me one of those low pressure tire gauges when QBP has them back in stock)
The single track on this particular ride, and most of the other trails in this area, is sand….some of it smooth and hard, some of it with washboard stutter bumps and some short soft and loose sections.

Impressions
Well, as Ed Sanders of The Fugs said (but not about riding fat-bikes); “Shit, it was more fun than squashin’ tadpoles.”
–Gearing; The two chainrings combined with a 32 or 34 tooth big cog in the back provided low enough gearing for everything we did on this ride. I don’t know if the lack of a larger front chainring will be too limiting with regard to top-end speed.
–Handlebars; Let’s just say the Salsa bars that come stock on these bikes are less than optimal from a standpoint of comfort. The sweep angle is anti-ergonomic and made my wrists and the joint at the base my thumb ache after just a few minutes. That prompted a call to Jeff Jones the next day to order some of his Loop Bars. We will have those in stock for customers wanting a comfortable bar with multiple hand positions for their fat bikes.
–Shifters; I am a fan of top mount thumb shifters and not a fan of under the bar trigger shifters. ‘Nuff said.
–Handling;
–Climbing; Another fat bike I rode one time had the tendency for the front wheel to bounce around and/or become unweighted when climbing anything technical but this Pugsley stayed planted and it was easy to get the front wheel to go where I pointed it. And traction, obviously, is not the limiting factor on any climb with 4″ wide tires sprouting aggressive, wide spaced knobs.
–Descending; I’m not a fast descender on any bike but the Pugsley made me smile. Some of the chatter bumps were a little jarring and the chain slapping on the chainstay was annoying, but lower tire pressures could help smooth that out. The bike felt magnetically attached to the ground on the bigger rollers and knobs, it just sucked them up without trying to buck me off. Again, the traction is astonishing when going around corners with some speed. These tires have a round profile and the big buttress shaped knobs on the shoulders of the tread bite into the loose stuff.

Conclusion

This bike makes me want to ride more and that’s a good endorsement. My original feeling towards fatbikes was that they might be a little limited in versatility, but these things are fun! They roll over anything and make it possible to ride terrain you would have to push or carry other bikes over. Single track, dirt roads, snow, deep sand, wet sand, and loose gravel all become fair game. Actually, now that I am thinking about it these bikes may be more versatile and less limited in many ways than non-fatbikes. And the market segment seems to be growing which is good news for the consumer because that means more innovation and products down the pike. Get a fat-bike. You won’t regret it, if you live. (apologies to Mark Twain)

Tags fat-bike, fatbikes, surly

Touring Bicycles

Surly E.C.R. and Straggler Bikes…..Coming Soon!

Post author By Bike Hermit®
Post date August 14, 2013
3 Comments on Surly E.C.R. and Straggler Bikes…..Coming Soon!

Side view of ECR — Surly’s ECR 29+ Camping Rig
*photo: surlybikes.com/blog*

Surly Bikes introduced a few new models for 2014 at the annual SaddleDrive event in Ogden, Utah last month. It was invitation only for “top dealers from across the country” and the seemingly arbitrary selection process for invitees left us out. Just so I know where I stand! I had to find out about the new Surly bikes after a customer came in looking for one which I had never heard of. Guess I don’t spend enough time surfing the web either, because several media outlets already had reviews out, which is where our customer heard about the bike. I think I am up to speed now and my rep even sent me an advance copy of the catalog pages for the new bikes which, in what I believe is an internet scoop, I am sharing with you lucky lot. We put in our pre-season order too so not only will we get some of the first ones but we should be first in line when the bikes come back in stock after the first shipment sells out (which I am predicting will happen). We are also supposed to get a couple of the Interbike display bikes after Interbike the end of September and should be able to keep them for a few weeks. Thanks Kory! You’re exculpated.

The Surly E.C.R. is designed to roll on 29″ (700c), 3 inch wide tires on Surly’s 50mm wide Rabbit Hole rims. The inflated tire diameter approaches 31 inches. The large contact point, high volume, big diameter should provide tractor like grip and traction. The bike is not just an Ogre with big tires and it is not the same as the Krampus. The geometry has been tweaked slightly from either of those and there are plenty of attachment points for racks and bottle cages making it suitable for off road adventure bike camping.
Surly ECR Catalog Page
Surly ECR Complete Bike Specs
ECR Frame Geometry and Specs

The other new bike we like is the Surly Straggler, which is basically a Cross Check with disc brakes and a few other differences:
-The rear dropout spacing is 135mm rather than 132.5 because most disc hubs are 135mm.
-The rear dropouts are a partially closed horizontal design with a set screw which can be threaded in either from the front of the dropout or the rear, depending on whether a derailleur or a single speed setup is being used.

surly straggler dropouts — I know, I can’t figure it out either. The set screw goes in from either direction but shouldn’t the axle be up in the horizontal part?

And the complete bike comes with the new Surly Knard 700×41 tires, placing it squarely in the monster cross category (For those of you who are into categories. You know who you are.) Also suitable for precious Gravel Grinders.

Straggler Catalog Page
Straggler Complete Specs
Straggler Frame Specs

In conclusion, this is some innovation right here, not just bafflement of the people with lighter, shinier and more expensive versions of the same old shit. Surly is exploring the the edges and pushing the boundaries. Bike Touring News is a Surly Intergalactic Dealer and we are excited about the new bikes. We think they have the potential to open up new areas…. in a physical sense as much as a mentality or attitude about riding bikes.

Tags surly, Touring Bikes

Rivendell Bicycles

A Tough Decision

A few years ago I bought a Rivendell Roadeo frame set. I always wanted a modern version of the Bridgestone RB-1 but Grant told me that would never happen. The RB-1 was a great bike and they sell for more nowadays than they did new, but Grant made compromises to satisfy sales people and company suits and bike dealers when he designed that bike, compromises he is no longer willing or required to make. So the Roadeo is probably as close as it gets, maybe- probably, even better.

But I also have a Rivendell A. Homer Hilsen and the two bikes overlap in design philosophy. So, after much deliberation, I have decided to sell the Roadeo frame set. No parts have ever been bolted on and the frame set is pristine. I even have the original shipping box.

59 cm
Threadless and un-cut steer tube
Frame and fork only…no headset or bottom bracket

I am asking $2000.00. New Roadeos from Rivendell are now $2200 and there is a 3 month (minimum) wait. If you are truly interested in buying this, please contact me (bikehermit at biketouringnews dot com)
Here are some pics:

The Touring Bicycle Wheel Touring Bicycles

Wheel Size- Myth and Theory

Post author By Bike Hermit®
Post date April 9, 2013
18 Comments on Wheel Size- Myth and Theory

Every size of the Long Haul Trucker bicycle, from the tiny 46cm bike to the gargantuan 64cm bike is available with 26″ wheels. 56cm and larger frames also come in 700c wheel versions while 54cm and smaller bikes only come with 26″ wheels. Why do they do that? Why can’t you buy a smaller bike with 700c wheels? And how do I choose between 26″ and 700c wheels on my 62cm Long Haul Trucker?

A Surly LHT in black with 700c wheels — 700c wheel on a 56cm Long Haul Trucker. Nice proportions.

Big bike..little wheels — 62cm Surly Deluxe Trucker with 26″ wheels

58cm Disc Trucker w/26 — 58cm Surly Disc Trucker w/26″ wheels

First, some bike design theory:
As a bike frame shrinks in size 700c wheels become problematic in a couple of ways. Georgina Terry from Terry Bicycles does a fantastic job of qualifying those problems in her videos about Bicycle Design
With a given wheel size- in this case 700c- there is a limit to how low the top tube can be before you run out of head tube and how short it can be before the rider’s foot starts hitting the front wheel.
Some bike manufacturers call some of their smaller bikes “women’s specific” and paint them in girly colors, which is nothing less than a marketing gimmick. Mainstream bike companies assume that the market will demand 700c wheels on their “road bikes” and so they compromise the design of the smaller bikes by changing the angle of the seat tube to make the top tube shorter and they change the angle of the headtube to mitigate toe overlap with the front wheel, which also helps make the top tube shorter.

A better way, and the way good bike designers like Terry, Rivendell and Surly do it is to change to a smaller size wheel as the frame size shrinks. Rivendell and Surly change both front and rear wheel sizes while Terry uses a smaller front wheel with a 700c rear wheel.

A truism I hear all the time is that 700c wheels are faster than 650b or 26″ wheels. But I don’t buy it. That’s what they make gears for. A 26″ wheel will be spinning faster than a 700c wheel would be at the same velocity so the rider might be in a higher gear. Surly makes the analogy of a tractor compared to a Formula One car….the controlling factors being gearing, suppleness and quality/type of tire and the motor.

What about handling of a bike with the smaller tires? Georgina Terry simply says that the front end is designed for the a smaller tires and so the handling isn’t twitchy. One of those design features taken from the Surly geometry charts is a slightly more slack head tube on the 26″ bikes which results in a similar trail when compared to the 700c bikes. I do think that a bike with 26″ wheels rides differently than one with larger wheels, simply because of that gyroscopic thing.

The reason Surly decided a couple years ago to offer every size LHT and Disc Trucker in 26″ wheel versions is that the 26″ wheel size is more ubiquitous around the world and replacement wheels and tires should be easier to find. So if you plan on touring in countries outside the US, 26″ wheels might be a good way to go. Come to think of it, there may more 26″ wheels and tires available here too in out of the way places. I’m reminded of the story of the couple traveling between Portland and Boise when they accepted a ride in a pickup truck and her bike fell out at 60 MPH. The rear wheel was ruined but their hosts had an old mountain bike in a shed from which she was able to salvage a serviceable wheel.

So, to summarize:
-Small bike…small wheels
-Larger bike and desire to find replacement wheels/tires wherever one may tour (or desire to run really fat tires) …26″ wheels.
-If you think 26″ wheels on bigger bikes look funny….700c wheels
-If you are convinced that 700c wheels are somehow faster…get those (assuming, of course, you think going faster is a good thing)

Tags Touring Bikes, Wheels

Touring Bicycles

A Touring Bike

This is the text of an email I sent to a customer who asked some questions about what makes a good touring bike:

A touring bike should be about comfort. Typically the tourist is not going to be doing too many short, hard efforts or sustained efforts in a paceline. Rather the tourist is concerned about riding at a moderate pace for a long time….6 or 7 hours or more.
-An extreme drop in height from the saddle to the handlebars, while allowing the competitive rider to take advantage of aerodynamics, might not be as comfortable on an all day slog at a moderate, steady pace.
-Tires are a major factor in comfort…use tires with 28mm minimum nominal width and 32mm or 35mm would be better. Don’t fall into the intuitive trap that hard skinny tires are faster. They aren’t and they beat you up on a long ride.
-You already mentioned fenders and we think they are essential, plus a bike doesn’t look right without them.
-Balance your load front and rear with more weight on the front (if the bike’s trail is suitable) On a good touring bike this will help stabilize the ride and steering. Your own weight on the bike is distributed about 60% rear and 40% front and adding more weight to the rear only can affect handling. We like Ostrich or Berthoud front rack top “rando” bags because they sit right on top of the front wheel/fender for a low center of gravity, they are easily accessible, and they have map cases.
-Drop handlebars offer more hand positions for long days and if the bars are up higher the drops are actually usable!

Get a traditionally spoked, cross three wheelset with minimum 32 spokes and 36 if you are heavier than 160 or so. Mavic or Velocity rims… they are the best.
Arguably, a good dynamo hub with a permanent headlight is a necessity. I think so.
We are big fans of leather saddles, for too many reasons to explain here.
A compact double crank set could work if you have a wide rear cassette and/or if you will not be doing much loaded touring. A triple is nice on loaded tours. 25 gear inches or less would be the recommended low range for loaded touring.

OK, you asked a loaded, open question. Hope I got close to answering it.
Regards,
Jim

Tags Touring Bikes

Touring Bicycles

Bike Fit

On The Bike is a bike fit service collaborating with Boise State University’s Center for Orthopaedic and Biomechanics Research. We met Benjamin Stein, the man behind On The Bike when he stopped into Bike Touring News World Headquarters (BTNWH) a few months ago. We asked if we could come see his operation and write a blog post about it and he graciously offered a complimentary fit session to me.

http://youtu.be/MLqZR0XvoUA

Even though I have read almost everything I can find on the subject and I am trained in a prominent “laser precision bike fitting” system, I am not a bike fitting professional. That does not prevent me from holding forth on the subject in my series of articles on bike fit. What I do know is that riding a bike efficiently is neither simple nor intuitive… there are a lot of moving parts and we simply can’t tell what our own bodies are doing. But the cyclo-tourist needs to be able to ride efficiently and in comfort for long periods, and while I’m not saying that a professional bike fit is required for bike touring, a set of trained and critical eyes can help identify changes that might need to be made to improve enjoyment and to prevent injury.

On The Bike’s approach to fitting a rider on the bike seems to be holistic. Beginning with an interview, Ben gets a feeling for the person’s history and their goals. Then he observes as they perform a range of prescribed activities including knee bends, squats and simply walking. Then, with the rider flat on his/her back Ben assesses flexibility and looks for asymmetries or discrepancies in leg length and so on. Then reflective dots are affixed to strategic locations on the riders body. These dots will be picked up by the 8 motion capture video cameras arrayed around the bike, which is on a stationary trainer. As the rider rides, a computer compiles all the motion capture information and displays a 3-D video representation of the rider- a representation of the skeleton of the rider actually. Using this video Ben can confirm how any asymmetries affect the rider’s pedaling motion and he can see other issues which might be important but cannot be seen in a static view.

As I was pressing Ben for formulas or rules of thumb he might use for things such as saddle height or crank length it became apparent that he didn’t have any dogmatic rules or guidelines… which I can appreciate, since no two people are exactly the same. With his background in physiology (Ben holds an M. S. degree in Exercise Physiology with a bio-mechanics emphasis) he can see how a rider’s body interfaces with the bike and make recommendations on how to achieve a better range of motion or better use of a muscle group.

I came away with a better understanding of just how complicated achieving a comfortable, efficient position on the bike can be. All those moving parts need to work together and changing one component, simply moving the saddle forward for example, changes the relationships of all the other parts. That recognition and appreciation may be one of the values of what Ben Stein is trying to do with On The Bike. When he then makes suggestions or observations based on his background and experience it can help the rider understand the reasoning and be more aware of what their body is doing.

To the person considering getting fit on a touring bike I would say; Beware of formulaic, rigid bike fitting “systems” and quickly move away from anybody who claims they can provide the “perfect” fit for you on the first try. Most of these people focus on performance or racing. Racers and tourist have different needs. The tourist will not be sprinting or trying to cheat the wind to go faster and their touring bike has a different geometry than a racing bike- plus it will be loaded, and so it will handle differently. Somebody like Ben who knows enough about physiology to be flexible in their approach will be best for the touring cyclist.

Tags Bike Fit

Touring Bicycles

650b Soma Buena Vista

Soma Fabrications is a company based in San Francisco, CA USA and they are responsible for producing practical, durable, comfortable bicycle frames, parts, and accessories and apparel. One of their frames is called the Buena Vista and I have really wanted to like this frame, but a couple of niggling design points kept me from it. The position of the brake bridge in the rear, combined with the semi-horizontal dropouts, and the position of the brake hole in the front fork made it difficult to mount fenders with normal side pull brake calipers. On Buena Vistas we have built in the past using 700c wheels we ended up using calipers with different reaches on the front and rear just to get clearances. The US distributor told me that long reach brake calipers such as the Rivendell Silver or Tektro 559 which accommodate reaches from 55-73mm will work with 700c tires up to about 28mm wide and fenders, but that is still sort of limiting.

bike frame — The Soma Buena Vista is a mixte design. A pair of small diameter tubes run more or less parallel from the head tube past the seat tube and on to the rear dropouts providing stiffness and strength to the step through frame.

An astute customer and reader of the Lovely Bicycle blog brought to my attention that the frames could be used with 650b wheels with tires up to 40mm wide! Well, I thought, I’ll be dipped in shit and called stinky. The US distributor also confirmed that the frame has always been suitable for either 650b or 700c wheels.

Berthoud Fenders and Grand Bois Hetre tires and Riv Silver calipers — Dry fitting the brake calipers and fenders. The brake pads contact the rims at close to the max 73mm reach. Plenty of clearance for the Berthoud 50mm fenders with Grand Bois Hetre 42mm tires.

checking the length — The rear brake works too!

Yes the bike is complete and it turned out brilliantly, thank you very much. We are waiting for the VO Zeppelin fenders to become available and then I can include some pics of the finished bike. Now I’m happy to recommend the Soma Buena Vista 650b as a capable light touring and commuting machine.

Touring Bicycles

Black Schwinn Mixte Resurrection

Post author By Bike Hermit®
Post date September 27, 2012
2 Comments on Black Schwinn Mixte Resurrection

A customer found this bike, an old Schwinn mixte, on Craigslist and bought it for his significant other. After bringing it to me to check for any obvious damage or misalignment he took the frame to a local paint shop and had it powder coated gloss black. Then he brought it back to me and we outfitted it with new components. I don’t know too much about Schwinn bikes except that there is enough history with that company to fill more than one book, but I don’t think this was a particularly high-end bike. But with new parts it rides surprisingly well and will make a nice commuter/day tripper.

She decided the Brooks B68s saddle was a keeper right out of the box. A 9 speed rear cassette and double chainrings provide a practical range of gears. The original bike had 27 inch wheels. The new wheels are 700c, a slightly smaller diameter, but work fine with the medium reach brake calipers.

The stem is the Nitto Technomic Deluxe 225. We could have got the bars as high or higher with the Nitto Dirt Drop stem but this was the aesthetically preferred solution. That actually is a huge cassette.

The Ahearne/Map handlebars have a slight rise and a nice ergonomic sweep and they look sportier than Albatross bars.

Dimension cork blend grips. The Tektro FL-750 levers are very clean and add a nice vintage look. The IRD XC-Pro 9 speed indexed top mount thumb shifters are a top of the line, modern version of a tried and true design.
Not counting what he paid for the bike, with parts and my labor, this build ran about $1275.00. Not cheap, in fact a new Long Haul Trucker can be had for the same price. But the end result is a unique, sporty, classic looking bike. It was fun to put together and the new owner loves it.

Tags bike commuting, Handlebars, Steel Bikes

Bottom Brackets and Crank Sets Drivetrain Touring Bicycles

Bottom Brackets

At the risk of talking down to some readers and over the head of others I feel the need to explain the term “bottom bracket”. According to Sheldon Brown’s Bicycle Glossary a bottom bracket is:
The part of the frame around which the pedal cranks revolve, also the bearings and axle assembly that runs through the bottom bracket shell of the frame.

SKF Bottom Bracket — This is an SKF brand bottom bracket. The red cup slips off to allow the unit to be threaded into the bottom bracket shell.

Looking at the late Mr. Brown’s page I realized I am opening a bona fide can of worms. There are several bottom bracket “standards”, and bottom bracket/crankset interfaces. We won’t even get into “outboard bearing” and “BB30” and other new standards which are mostly calculated to keep the buying public buying, while claiming to add some performance advantage…not performance related to the durability or function of the piece… but of the rider/bike.

“Square taper” bottom brackets are made to work with “square taper” cranksets and cranksets with suitable chain ring sizes for touring generally are of the square taper variety. Clink this link for a discussion of gears and gearing. So this series of pieces will be about square taper bottom brackets.There are still compatibility issues to think about though. The taper on Italian (Campagnolo) cranks and bottom brackets are different from the taper on cranks and bottom brackets made anyplace else in the known Universe, which actually is typical of Campy parts. And bottom brackets come with different spindle lengths. The correct spindle length for a given bicycle will be a function of the width of the bottom bracket shell, the shape of the chain stays and of the shape of the crank. For example: with a Sugino XD500 (XD2) triple crank set on a Surly Long Haul Trucker, a 107mm to 110mm spindle length works well.

Before the widespread use of cartridge bearings, bottom brackets were designed with loose balls or caged balls running on races inside the cups and races shaped into the spindle. Mechanical seals or o-rings were used to keep out water and dirt. Nowadays the spindle is held inside a case by means of sealed cartridge bearings pressed onto the spindle. The only seals being those on the bearings themselves. A less than ideal state of affairs for the part of the bicycle in a location that will be sprayed from time to time with a slurry of water, grease, oil, de-icer, sand and grit.

So, what’s the dyed-in-the-wool bike tourist to do? In the following posts we will explore some of the available options for touring bike bottom brackets. If the idea of reading about that titillates you, you should think about getting a life.

Tags bottom bracket, crankset

Surly Bikes Touring Bicycles

Surly Disc Trucker

Nate was here to pick out a Long Haul Trucker this weekend. He rides a mountain bike with hydraulic disc brakes, and so he was a little bit unsure about what type of brakes would work best on a touring bike. According to what he had heard and his experiences, disc brakes:
-are finicky and difficult to adjust
-are prone to failure
-have better stopping power and control than rim brakes
-interfere with the installation of fenders and/or racks
I imagine the same questions might come up when other people are considering the new Disc Trucker vs. the standard rim brake equipped Long Haul Trucker. (An earlier post discussed some different types of rim brake calipers.)

As a primer, there are two types of disc brakes: Hydraulic brakes and mechanical or “cable actuated” brakes. Actually there are 4 types: crummy hydraulic disc brakes, good hydraulic disc brakes, crummy mechanical disc brakes and good mechanical disc brakes. Good hydraulic disc brakes are not difficult to adjust, have incredible stopping power and are very smooth with great “modulation” or control. The downside is that if something does go wrong with the closed hydraulic system, the brakes will need a sometimes costly and time consuming repair. Good hydraulic dis brakes are also not inexpensive. Crummy hydraulic disc brakes may work ok for awhile but when there is a problem it might be better to replace them.

hydraulic disc brake lever — Hydraulic disc brakes have a fluid reservoir, typically integrated with the lever.

hydraulic brake caliper — Disc brakes require mounts on the frame and fork and the wheels need to have hubs made to mount disc rotors.

Mechanical disc brakes are more user friendly. Partly because they are actuated by a cable, just like sidepull or cantilever brakes, and partly because the individual pistons, and hence the individual brake pads, are adjustable. On a crummy mechanical disc brake only one piston can be adjusted. But on a decent mechanical disc brake such as the Avid BB7 which comes stock on the Disc Trucker, both pistons/pads are adjustable making setup and maintenance adjustments relatively easy.

I don’t consider availability of replacement parts to be a factor when comparing the suitability of mechanical disc brakes vs. rim brakes for a touring bike. Spare cables are cheap and small (and the same cable works in either type of brake) as are pads. In fact, replacing pads and adjusting them with BB7 brakes may be easier than replacing and adjusting cantilever or v-brake pads. In some cases the disc rotor may need to be replaced but these too are light and cheap and don’t take up much room in the bike panniers.

Avid BB7 brake caliper — A cable actuated or mechanical disc brake caliper. The red knobs adjust the pad postion.

More about disc brakes:
If a wheel spoke snaps, rim brakes will likely rub on the now out of true rim, whereas a disc brake will still work. Disc brakes may also maintain their stopping power better in wet conditions, but once the rotors and pads are contaminated with dirt and grease they may squeal. I appreciate the arguably cleaner look the bike has with disc brakes.

So, after all, Nate decided to get the Disc Trucker and is happy with the added stopping power. For those considering a Disc Trucker over a rim brake Long Haul Trucker, maintenance and service concerns should be low on the list.