I have a 50cm Disc Trucker that I built up from frame & forks last summer. It is my commuting bike, so built mainly for reliability, but also I wanted a nice ride and to use as many UK-made bits as possible. I did everything on it apart from pressing in the headset (I don't have the tools). The frame was excellent out of the box- no facing or thread cleaning needed.
So, being a bit of a heretic, I have flat bars, a MTB drivetrain (Shimano XT medium cage, 2 x 10), Hope BB, headset and stem, wheels are "Hope hoops" with Hope hubs/XC rims and Schwalbe Marathon Supreme tyres. Brakes I used BB7 with the Avid levers and 160mm rotors. I also have Hope flattie pedals (please don't try convert me to clipless
). SKS mudguards and a Tubus Logo rear rack finished it off, along with a hitch for a Carry Freedom trailer (useful for lugging 10kg bags of catfood....
).
I have no idea how much it weighs, but as I am not light myself, I am not worried about the odd kilo or two. It's light enough for me to carry upstairs into my office when I get to work and with the decent wheelset it feels lively enough when riding; being honest about my physique, that's all I need to worry about as far as bike weight goes
. What the Disc Trucker is though, is a stable, comfortable bike that takes pretty much everything that gets chucked at it, including very potholed roads. In spite of foul winter weather (bad enough I resorted to lubing my chain with railway-bearing grease at one point), maintenance needs have been minimal. It just keeps going.
In short- the Disc Trucker (and no doubt the LHT) is a great, reliable, "honest" bike that just yomps along steadily for mile after mile; but it's no lightweight. "Trucker" sums it up; you really don't notice the weight once you get rolling, and the stability of the frame helps a lot when you need to climb hills in a low gear. It's not until I have a loaded trailer on the back that I
really notice the load and find myself needing a cog or two down on a hill.
Not trying to criticise, but is shaving 1.5 lb off the bike really
that important? And if weight
is important to you, much as I love my Trucker, I would suggest looking for a more lightweight-orientated frame-set and building it up accordingly.
TPO