Surly Troll

Please be fair and thoughtful in your opinions. No rants please.
maxglide
Posts: 194
Joined: 19 May 2013, 5:35pm

Re: Surly Troll

Post by maxglide »

I wouldn't shell out £1k for a beaten up demo bike, instead of buying say, a perfectly good brand-new Ridgeback Expedition for the same money.
reohn2
Posts: 45158
Joined: 26 Jun 2009, 8:21pm

Re: Surly Troll

Post by reohn2 »

maxglide wrote:I wouldn't shell out £1k for a beaten up demo bike, instead of buying say, a perfectly good brand-new Ridgeback Expedition for the same money.

I wouldn't say that's a direct comparison.
The Ridgeback is without doubt a good bike but the kit spec is much higher on the Surly.The Surly is also designed to take a bigger section tyre and has more brazeons than the Ridgeback,and I wouldn't term the Troll demo bike in the link as 'beaten up', more like very lightly used.
-----------------------------------------------------------
"All we are not stares back at what we are"
W H Auden
RRSODL
Posts: 186
Joined: 17 Apr 2012, 7:22am

Re: Surly Troll

Post by RRSODL »

Tiberius wrote:You are not the first person to be shocked at Surly price increases.

In April 2015 I bought a Surly Troll framset (black/large) from 'Triton Cycles' for £404.00....this year's frameset (Triton/black/large) is £712.49.

For me it was all about the versatility of the thing, mine has been very much a 'Frankenbike' in the drivetrain/brakes department. If I had known for an absolute fact that I would (say) always run a Rohloff and never run with discs then I would have gone with a Thorn (it WAS a very close call)

It's a great bike but I wouldn't pay circa £2K for one particularly if it's versitility was an irrelevance to me.


Last September I bought the Troll's big sister, the Ogre frameset, for the same reason, versatility. I have it as a touring bike configuration ATM but I'm sure that will change.

At the time all the prices I found here in the UK were around the £750 mark but I purchased mine from Germany for £509 and free delivery.... I took the opportunity to buy other bits and pieces.

I looked into buying the full bike for about £2k but some of the components put me off, you really don't ge a good deal in my view.

I spent about £1.6k in all and I definitely have a superior set of components and wheels.

The bike is great and worth every penny.
scottg
Posts: 1218
Joined: 10 Jan 2008, 8:44pm
Location: Highland Heights Kentucky,, USA

Re: Surly Troll

Post by scottg »

I've a Troll, you don't see them sold built up very often,
they're meant to be a parts bin bike.
Mine is built up with parts off a 9 speed era StumpJumper.
They're good value if you price them per braze on. :)
Here in the Colonies they're $625 in a shop, a bit more online.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
Deutsche Luftschiffahrts-AG
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
User avatar
Lance Dopestrong
Posts: 1306
Joined: 18 Sep 2014, 1:52pm
Location: Duddington, in the belly button of England

Re: Surly Troll

Post by Lance Dopestrong »

maxglide wrote:I've been looking at steel, non sus, 26" wheelers (old school MTB) for my preferred bike type. The Surly Troll came to my attention. It ticks most of the boxes and has positive reviews. So, it's a good bike. Doesn't look bad either.

Then surprise, when I saw the retail price in the UK: 2,000 quid for a bike with nothing special for components and an average frame? Where's the money going?


Then why not get an olde school MTB then? They can often be had very cheap, many have excellent quality frames, and even if you went the whole hog with new paint or powder coat and a rebuild with new parts you still won't have spent half of that.
MIAS L5.1 instructor - advanded road and off road skills, FAST aid and casualty care, defensive tactics, SAR skills, nav, group riding, maintenance, ride and group leader qual'd.
Cytec 2 - exponent of hammer applied brute force.
Bmblbzzz
Posts: 6258
Joined: 18 May 2012, 7:56pm
Location: From here to there.

Re: Surly Troll

Post by Bmblbzzz »

scottg wrote:I've a Troll, you don't see them sold built up very often,
they're meant to be a parts bin bike.
Mine is built up with parts off a 9 speed era StumpJumper.
They're good value if you price them per braze on. :)
Here in the Colonies they're $625 in a shop, a bit more online.

Interesting that shop prices are cheaper than online over your way. Counterintuitive for us olde worlders!
scottg
Posts: 1218
Joined: 10 Jan 2008, 8:44pm
Location: Highland Heights Kentucky,, USA

Re: Surly Troll

Post by scottg »

Bmblbzzz wrote:Interesting that shop prices are cheaper than online over your way. Counterintuitive for us olde worlders!


QBP is the major distributor for bikes shops here, they understand how to hold prices,
good for their profits and keeping the dealer base happy.
(QBP owns Surly, Problem Solvers, Whisky Parts, Salsa, All City, Civia etc)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
Deutsche Luftschiffahrts-AG
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
Thatsme
Posts: 103
Joined: 1 Sep 2018, 11:14am

Re: Surly Troll

Post by Thatsme »

I have a Mk1 Troll a friend brought the frame over from the U.S in 2010/11. I have had nitto drop & moustache bars on it both with bar end shifters. I am now happy with Thorn comfort bars and bar end shifters mounted with brackets, tyres are 2inch Marathon Supremes. Really comfy easy to handle bike, it's not great fully loaded, I think the chainstays are too short, you get a bit of sway.
After 8 years of constant use it is still going strong and with a 2005 XT rear mech.!!
Post Reply