Cycling UK Forum

If you come off the canal at Chirk Bank, there are a number of bridleways/green lanes linked by quiet lanes which take you over the hill and drop into the back of Llangollen - but a mountain bike would be best as they're quite rocky in places. If my memory is correct you cross the Glyn Ceiriog road by Bronygarth up past the Chirk Castle Estate and then climb up lanes to the top, where there is a green lane which takes you down to the 'three trees'.

Thanks for your replies. I must admit I was more concerned about the fork - it does have an alloy steerer and I have noted the other post on this forum about carbon fork breakages!

I don't know what to do now - I could keep the frame and just replace the fork with something more durable (a surly pacer or similar) or go the whole hog and get a new surly pacer frame and fork which would let me have a nice winter-proof bike for a bit more mpney. Meanwhile would the cannondale frame be saleable - it's otherwise pretty immaculate?

My cannondale caad 5 frame is about 4 years old. It hasn't had a hard life although gets used all year long and has probably done no more than 3000 miles.

Recently I've noticed paint blistering where the seat stays meet the chain stays around the small 'holes' which I think allowed hot gas to escape during the welding process. I suspect the blistering has resulted from water ingress adjacent to these holes resulting in some form of corrosion beghind the paint. Also a similar type of blistering has occured around the top of the carbon fork although in this case the outer layer has come off around where the caliper bolt goes through. Pictures are attached.

What do people think? Is the frame terminal or are these just superficial blemishes?!

Hi - have a look at the thread 'A Surly Long Haul Trucker is born'. There's a lot of info on there, including details and photos of my own LHT with 26" wheels.

The bike rides brilliantly unladen even though it's no lightweight - I use it for work and for longer rides - which it does easily. What it lacks in finesse it makes up for in comfort and very stable handling. I have a pair of 2" tyres which soak up road buzz/bumps yet run fairly quickly (mine are Kenda Kommuters although Schwalbe big apples are reputedly very good).

Hope this helps

Hoppy

So for the smallest size for an adult, it could be worth opting for 26" wheels. As for whether the LHT frame for someone used to riding a 54cm frame would give toe over-lap, I don't know, but here is a very extensive geometry table for the LHT.

Absolutely no toe over-lap on the 52cm LHT.

Hoppy that's a good-looking build. Can I ask how tall you are, so I can get an idea of an appropriate frame size for me?

I normally ride a 54cm road bike, and I think I'd need the same sizing for the 26" wheel LHT, but it's been years since I've ridden anything other than 700c wheels.

Mike - I'm 5'8" - My road bike is a 52cm cannondale the same size as the LHT - beware the Surly has quite a high standover - especially if you use bigger tyres. (The s/o figures quoted by surly assume a 1.25" tyre - my 2" tyres add approximately another 3/4" height.)

I think a 52cm frame was right for me, but I think I could probably have got away with a 50cm which would have given a bit more standover, although reach may have been a bit short! It actually took me ages to get the ride position correct and I ended up with a 110mm stem, whereas I would usually use a shorter stem - youv'e just got to persevere until you get it spot on!

Hoppy

I know what you mean about the 26" wheel frames. I think the smaller frames look ok with 26" wheels but the bigger ones look a bit out of scale - bigger tyres help the appearance, as does getting the guards to fit correctly - mine took quite a bit of adjusting to get an equal gap all the way around the tyres. Anyway here's a front view....

Right.. hopefully my photo is attached.

It's a 2010 52 cm frame built up with Mavic 221/LX front and Mavic 222/deore wheels. front is 32 and rear 36 spoke - both left over from an old mountain bike but in good nick.

Cranks are old LX with relatively new rings 44 32 24 - SRAM 8 speed cassette 11 - 32 - a new octalink bb for £5.00 in a sale! ebay dia compe bar end shifters and ebay brooks competition.
The shifters are friction (both f and r) and can be used with any rear sprocket (5 to 11 speed) - alledgedly they'll work better with a worn cassette and chain because they're not dependant upon indexing - although I can't vouch for this. What I do know is that they work really well and shifting is intuitive once you're used to them.

New cables and new Cane creek S3 (fitted by LBS - this is the only job I wasn't happy doing.) Deore f and r mechs. Kenda Kommuter 26 x 2. tyres.

The bars are on one midge - which I find very comfy as they have a short flared drop and are great for descending on - especially on rough stuff. The brakes are dia compe V levers and deore v brakes. I must say this is the comfiest bike I've ridden and I'm really pleased with it.

How do you post a photo direct on the forum?

I've also built up a black LHT, albeit on a budget using the 'spare part box' together with a collection of some new bits. I've used 26"x 2" Kenda kommuter tyres - these are very comfy and smooth - quite fast too - and no punctures all winter! I'd post a photo up but I'm not sure how to!!