{"id":143662,"date":"2023-07-23T13:52:29","date_gmt":"2023-07-23T04:52:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bluelug.com\/blog\/?post_type=review-global&#038;p=143662"},"modified":"2023-07-23T13:52:29","modified_gmt":"2023-07-23T04:52:29","slug":"real-rider-certified","status":"publish","type":"review-global","link":"https:\/\/bluelug.com\/blog\/review-global\/real-rider-certified\/","title":{"rendered":"Real Rider Certified"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>This admirable bike below is a SURLY Long Haul Trucker ridden by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/freewheeling.jp\/?hl=ja\">our tour guide Brad<\/a>, who kindly showed us around Hokkaido for our Swift Campout Hokkaido team.<\/p>\n<p><a title=\"Swift Campout 2023_Furano\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/bluelug\/53042906720\/\" data-flickr-embed=\"true\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/53042906720_62b22a8278_h.jpg\" alt=\"Swift Campout 2023_Furano\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1067\" \/><\/a><script async=\"\" src=\"\/\/embedr.flickr.com\/assets\/client-code.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>26&#8243; inch wheels on a large frame, V brakes to gain wide tire clearance, 2&#215;9 bar end shifters with a drop bar brake lever&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>Rather than building the bike to pursue a certain style, this bike reached a certain style by gathering all the essential functions.<\/p>\n<p>That&#8217;s what building a SURLY is all about, and\u00a0of course the bike completely stole my heart. (Well, not just the bike, but in combination with the rider, Brad&#8217;s lovely personality.)<\/p>\n<p>Seems like he&#8217;s been smashing out the great land of Hokkaido with this LHT, not as a touring bike which it was made for, but a &#8220;Gravel Road Bike&#8221;. 200km a day sometimes. Simply stunning.<\/p>\n<p><a title=\"Swift Campout 2023_Furano\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/bluelug\/53041928437\/in\/album-72177720309731700\/\" data-flickr-embed=\"true\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/53041928437_27ac694e9f_h.jpg\" alt=\"Swift Campout 2023_Furano\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1067\" \/><\/a><script async=\"\" src=\"\/\/embedr.flickr.com\/assets\/client-code.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>(Brad is always playful as you can see!)<\/p>\n<p>So as a bike mechanic, there&#8217;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&#8217;s have a closer look, shall we?<\/p>\n<p>As a bike rider myself, there&#8217;s always something to learn from how people choose parts and gears.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-143462\" src=\"https:\/\/bluelug.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/IMG_5878-900x675.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"900\" height=\"675\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bluelug.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/IMG_5878-900x675.jpg 900w, https:\/\/bluelug.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/IMG_5878-640x480.jpg 640w, https:\/\/bluelug.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/IMG_5878-1048x786.jpg 1048w, https:\/\/bluelug.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/IMG_5878-800x600.jpg 800w, https:\/\/bluelug.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/IMG_5878.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Huh?<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-143463\" src=\"https:\/\/bluelug.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/IMG_5879-e1689310404899-900x1200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"900\" height=\"1200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bluelug.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/IMG_5879-e1689310404899-900x1200.jpg 900w, https:\/\/bluelug.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/IMG_5879-e1689310404899-360x480.jpg 360w, https:\/\/bluelug.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/IMG_5879-e1689310404899-590x786.jpg 590w, https:\/\/bluelug.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/IMG_5879-e1689310404899.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Huhhhh???<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>I knew he was often grabbing onto the tops of the handlebar.<\/p>\n<p>There we found a Cross Lever by PAUL Components, (the untidy bell attaching, that&#8217;s a laugh!!)<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>Because Brad chose a V brake on his LHT, most levers can&#8217;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.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p><a title=\"*BLACK MOUNTAIN CYCLES* monstercross (52)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/bluelug\/52351470506\/in\/photolist-2nL7Yeb-2nL9dBQ-2nL9BDH-2nL7Yhs-2nL7Ygf-2nL36tx-2nL36sR-2nL36ro-2nL9dwz-2nL7Yfy-2nL7Yf3-2nL7Yij-2nL9dxG-2nL9dyo\" data-flickr-embed=\"true\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/52351470506_1db712411f_h.jpg\" alt=\"*BLACK MOUNTAIN CYCLES* monstercross (52)\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1067\" \/><\/a><script async=\"\" src=\"\/\/embedr.flickr.com\/assets\/client-code.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>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.<\/p>\n<p>But now I&#8217;ve seen how Brad-san is using on this bike. It&#8217;s so sick, gotta use it again!!<\/p>\n<p>In the end, parts used by a great human being always looks great as well!!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":143464,"template":"","better_featured_image":{"id":143464,"alt_text":"","caption":"","description":"","media_type":"image","media_details":{"width":1280,"height":838,"file":"2023\/07\/be70a2621f8a6718d0d61e4b02ef1644.png","sizes":{"thumbnail":{"file":"be70a2621f8a6718d0d61e4b02ef1644-640x419.png","width":640,"height":419,"mime-type":"image\/png","filesize":491450,"source_url":"https:\/\/bluelug.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/be70a2621f8a6718d0d61e4b02ef1644-640x419.png"},"medium":{"file":"be70a2621f8a6718d0d61e4b02ef1644-900x589.png","width":900,"height":589,"mime-type":"image\/png","filesize":878991,"source_url":"https:\/\/bluelug.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/be70a2621f8a6718d0d61e4b02ef1644-900x589.png"},"large":{"file":"be70a2621f8a6718d0d61e4b02ef1644-1201x786.png","width":1201,"height":786,"mime-type":"image\/png","filesize":1454891,"source_url":"https:\/\/bluelug.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/be70a2621f8a6718d0d61e4b02ef1644-1201x786.png"},"post-thumbnail":{"file":"be70a2621f8a6718d0d61e4b02ef1644-800x600.png","width":800,"height":600,"mime-type":"image\/png","filesize":811876,"source_url":"https:\/\/bluelug.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/be70a2621f8a6718d0d61e4b02ef1644-800x600.png"}},"image_meta":{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0","keywords":[]},"filesize":1776205},"post":143459,"source_url":"https:\/\/bluelug.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/be70a2621f8a6718d0d61e4b02ef1644.png"},"acf":{"not_to_displayed_on_top":null,"ctm-post-priority":null},"post-meta-fields":{"_edit_lock":["1690087829:63"],"_edit_last":["63"],"_thumbnail_id":["143464"],"_my_meta_value_key":["[{\"pid\":11801,\"name\":\"*PAUL* cross lever (silver)\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/global.bluelug.com\/paul-cross-lever-silver.html\",\"src\":\"https:\/\/global.bluelug.com\/media\/catalog\/product\/cache\/58380b5adbf00c5b2741afb4fc1b2f76\/_\/g\/_grewmg_2874.jpg\"},{\"pid\":11798,\"name\":\"*PAUL* cross lever (purple)\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/global.bluelug.com\/paul-cross-lever-purple.html\",\"src\":\"https:\/\/global.bluelug.com\/media\/catalog\/product\/cache\/58380b5adbf00c5b2741afb4fc1b2f76\/_\/m\/_mg_2884.jpg\"},{\"pid\":11802,\"name\":\"*PAUL* cross lever (black)\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/global.bluelug.com\/paul-cross-lever-black.html\",\"src\":\"https:\/\/global.bluelug.com\/media\/catalog\/product\/cache\/58380b5adbf00c5b2741afb4fc1b2f76\/3\/2\/3232_mg_2848.jpg\"},{\"pid\":11800,\"name\":\"*PAUL* cross lever (polish)\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/global.bluelug.com\/paul-cross-lever-polish.html\",\"src\":\"https:\/\/global.bluelug.com\/media\/catalog\/product\/cache\/58380b5adbf00c5b2741afb4fc1b2f76\/r\/g\/rgew_mg_2862.jpg\"}]"]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelug.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review-global\/143662"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelug.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review-global"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelug.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review-global"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelug.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/37"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelug.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/143464"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelug.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=143662"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}