On May 21, 9:32 am, "Paul M. Hobson" wrote:
landotter wrote:
For my money, a Surly LHT is nearly a perfect do everything bike right
out of the box. I'd replace the tires first thing with Pasela 32s to
make the bike a little more nippy. It's going to be 95% as fast as any
sport bike out there at 25# or so, and you can bolt the kitchen sink
to it when you want to tour. I don't see any reason for it to sit and
rust other than you finding long chain stays unfashionable. You
thought your Trek was comfy over long distances...try something with a
good wheelbase and nice tires at 90 psi.

I just built up a Pake C'Muter for the ladyfriend. $300 bucks got her a
lot of frame a fork. Tange Prestige tubing no less. That thing is
steel and super light. Canti--bosses, double eyelets front and rear,
rear cable hanger, 132.5 mm rear spacing, the whole 9 yards...

I'm impressed and might pick one up after the relocation to PDX.

I'd pretty much compare that to a Surly Crosser to be fair. Good price
for a light Tange frame for sure. The stays are 35mm shorter than a
LHT--cross bike short or fashionably short if you're calling it a
"commuter"--but not an issue, unless you're a guy like me with Real
Man (46+) size feet and want to run panniers without going "fppp fppp
fppp" all the way home.