This admirable bike below is a SURLY Long Haul Trucker ridden by our tour guide Brad, who kindly showed us around Hokkaido for our Swift Campout Hokkaido team.
26″ inch wheels on a large frame, V brakes to gain wide tire clearance, 2×9 bar end shifters with a drop bar brake lever…
Rather than building the bike to pursue a certain style, this bike reached a certain style by gathering all the essential functions.
That’s what building a SURLY is all about, and of course the bike completely stole my heart. (Well, not just the bike, but in combination with the rider, Brad’s lovely personality.)
Seems like he’s been smashing out the great land of Hokkaido with this LHT, not as a touring bike which it was made for, but a “Gravel Road Bike”. 200km a day sometimes. Simply stunning.
(Brad is always playful as you can see!)
So as a bike mechanic, there’s no way I can not do a bike check of this bike, which is very well used and loved, by a true cyclist. Let’s have a closer look, shall we?
As a bike rider myself, there’s always something to learn from how people choose parts and gears.
Huh?
Huhhhh???
I knew he was often grabbing onto the tops of the handlebar.
There we found a Cross Lever by PAUL Components, (the untidy bell attaching, that’s a laugh!!)
Inline/top mount brake levers are to add an extra brake lever on the tops of drop bars, but normally, those levers are just made for short-pull, caliper/cantilever brakes.
Because Brad chose a V brake on his LHT, most levers can’t be used. BUT, the Cross Lever made by PAUL is designed so that you can use it for both short and long pull brakes, including V brakes and disc brakes. Extremely thoughtful.
It is a niche product for sure, but that is exactly the reason why I always get surprised at how PAUL keeps making products for every small detail, and cannot stop respecting them as well.
From time to time, I saw REAL bike riders who ride with Brad who used the same lever. I do own it myself, simply because of how cool this component is, but unfortunately having been using it much.
But now I’ve seen how Brad-san is using on this bike. It’s so sick, gotta use it again!!
In the end, parts used by a great human being always looks great as well!!
