Surly World Troller - touring thread

#comfortgainz #tacticool

Looking good!

Packaging on point, Canyon!

Tourer looks great!

Any reason why you didn't get a brooks flyer instead?

Mainly because I irrationally thought that I couldn't live with a 860g saddle on a bike that already was going to be so heavy. So far in terms of comfort I already like the B17 better than the 2kg jobby that's on my Kronan gaspipe dutchbike though

I hope the setback post will help me in terms of fit because right now it doesn't feel ideal

Hi,
I'm about to finish a London - Berlin ride on my Troll, our first big tour since I built mine up a couple of months ago. Just thought I'd share my experience.
Putting the weight on the front works great, the fork handles it well and doesn't affect steering or balancing, when out of the saddle for example. I run my tires (hard Schwalbe Land Cruisers ... not fancy but reliable and good for the mixed terrain on this ride) at fairly high pressures. With the weight spread across the bike it's just enough bouncy.
I think I'll swap the wheels for 700c at some point as there's lots of space left for clearance, although I enjoyed the 26" with cantis in the back to save weight, was never short of braking power with just the front disc. Again, weight in the front does help deceleration and your front brake will do most of the job anyway.
In terms of stuff carried - of course I took too many things. No need for six tshirts, three is plenty.. but good to carry extra warm layers and a second waterproof jacket. In the saddle bag I could fit a pair of shoes, full waterproof layer (trousers - jacket - overshoes), a high vis vest for the odd occasions when I had to take busy roads, and a foil emergency blanket.
I left my B17 at home because I wanted to try something else but that would be my choice as well had I been out on a longer ride.
The setup is a rather boring 3x9 deore with dura ace thumbies and deore hubs on mavic xc rims. No issues whatsoever I expect these to go a long way. Will maybe swap out the bb and cranks for square tapered ones at some point.
Good luck with the preparations!

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Hey there, that sounds like a great trip. I'm thinking the same about front end loading on this bike, feels really good and stable even with heavy loads. It convinced me that a stiff front end is the key to this rather than trail/geometry, which is also important ofcourse.

On another note, should I bring an extra freehub with me?

On another note, should I bring an extra freehub with me?

No the likely hood of it going wrong is low and it would mean having to carry around the tools to fit it. If it does go wrong and you can't get a lift or its a short journey, ziptie the cassette to the spokes for a ghetto fixed gear.

Ah that's a good trick, thx. If I brought one with me I could at least do that and get it fitted at the nearest shop, wherever that may be. The chance of people stocking such a product will probably be smaller. On the other hand the freehub costs as much as a new whole hub, which should be more common stock, so I might as well relace the wheel with something else should the freehub fail?

Yeah, or sit in a hotel for a few days and have a replacement posted. You would probably be able to get a 26 inch wheel and continue on as normal though just as easily.

Reminds me of a story I read about someone driving around the world in an Citroen 2CV. Something major broke in the middle of the nowhere and he thought he'd be stranded for days. He packed a bag and started walking, just to find an isolated house around the next bend. He knocked on the door and found a thrifty guy with welding equipment so he was on his way the same day.

You never know, you might find a bike repair shop in rural nowhere :)

Isnt that the story where he made a motorbike out of it?

For anyone else interested in the above 2CV/Motorbike shenanigans.
http://www.nydailynews.com/autos/photos-man-escapes-african-desert-doom-turns-wrecked-car-diy-motorcycle-article-1.1107099

No idea if its the same guy btw. I'm guessing not as stories don't match.

Mythbusters did a story on it where they tried it to see how hard it was to recreate

That's my Saturday afternoon sorted.

Testing if it's really that loud, turns out it is

https://youtu.be/9D2e68B8El8

Also less ostentatious thread title... Definitely not crawling back 😂

In other news I had an awesome couple sleeping over this weekend who cycled all the way from Taiwan and took the same route but then the other way around. Very inspiring duo indeed. Having which will hopefully be my last BA exam tomorrow; thesis due in 21 days. Can't wait, don't fuck it up now :)

Just catching up on this thread, coming along nicely and you don't seem to have gotten cold feet yet, awesome trip ahead of you!

Good luck on the exam!

Thesis submitted, another test trip done, almost ready now!

Looking good, and congrats on wrapping up the thesis!

Hey ho, we left already, here's a little update. I copied it straight from my blog cycletello.wordpress.com it was mainly intended for friends and family etc. but you guys are obviously invited as well.

Leersum to Duisburg - Day 1 & 2

The last two days were beautiful. I enjoy the views that are brought to me by both the scenery and by living on the bike. Oddly enough I also enjoy the pains that cycling bring when you're on a bike for such long hours. I already managed to develop a scrape near my anus, my right knee is developing stinginess and my my lower back hurts like hell sometimes. Obscene enjoyment at its purest.

In Kleve, my stop for the second day, I stayed at a typical German RV camping. I was the only person there with a tent, the rest of the guests sit in front of their super-deluxe-satellite-dish-fridge & Netflix equipped buses aaaall day errayyday, enjoying the spectacular view of others doing the same. Sleeping at a German RV camping also meant that I was banished to the small strip of land next to the mini-golf area, which lay there untouched except for the bunnies and the occasional squirrel coming by. Of course before I got banished only after I already had set my tent up. It wasn't that bad though since a nice Dutch couple invited me to join their sit in front of their RV accompanied by a nice cold beer. They were pensioners who often traveled to Germany to sit on RV campings and make fun of their moffen neighbors. I laughed with them, drank my beer and after that moved into exile.

My own St. Helena. Note the mini-golf, thankfully nobody was playing cause obviously I didn't have pants on

After sleeping for about 10 hours I woke up in the shade, with the burning sun quickly rising. I had to move fast.

'Pack your shit ya cunt, the sun's risin''
'But the tent sheets are still wet and I'm hungry :('
'Fuck it we gotta go, let's eat at the supermarket'

I gotta say in the end I'm glad I made haste after sleeping for so long. The supermarket had a salad bar; I got three cooked eggs and left the other salad-y ingredients for what they were. Add two bananas, one iced coffee, juice, new batteries for my SPOT tracker and we were good to go. Being on the bike means making important decisions: breakfast on the RV camping or at the supermarket; viewing some awesome Roman ruins in the scorching sun or move on (Xanten high school throwback) and make some distance; eat döner kebab or schnitzel, etc.

You guessed it. German döner kebab is renowned to be the greatest in the world. I found this gem in Rheinberg at the famous Saray Döner Rheinberg.

It was reaaally feckin' hot today. I didn't put on my cap or sunglasses trying to get a nice tan. Ended up putting my hat on cause I thought I was starting to hallucinate bugs all over my shirt. Turned out some insect pooped it's miniature babies in my shirt last night, I think. By now I am sure they were real though because I have some black miniature baby insect blood spatters on my arms from swatting them. In the end all was well as I reached Duisburg, a few minutes waiting and my kind host Jan was there. For now it's König Pilsener, a good night's sleep on the couch. Tomorrow a 100 km sprint through the rural areas of Düsseldorf and Köhlen to Bonn. Let's go!

Note on the bike: next time I'd go smaller on the front. Rarely ever use the big ring

Awesome! Been looking forward to this. Must be a weird feeling leaving home, knowing what lies ahead. Keep it up.

Excitement. Keep it up!

Amazing! Hope you keep us updated along the way!