We are creatures of habit. We don’t like change. Change is hard. But what can you do when one of your favorite bikes is no longer being made? This is the situation for die-hard fans of the Surly Pugsley, Surly Troll, and perhaps its most beloved bike, the Surly Long Haul Trucker.
The Long Haul Trucker has been, for years, the workhorse of the bike touring world. It’s tough, it can haul lots of gear, and parts are easy to come by. Joe Cruz of Bikepacking.com says in this obituary-of-sorts:
On a personal note, my first Surly was a Long Haul Trucker. That decision was probably inspired by the fact that when you typed “touring bike” into the search bar back then (probably Yahoo!, or who knows, maybe even Ask Jeeves), a boatload of photos featuring gear-bedecked LHTs were usually the first to be found. Surly had that market cornered.
Oh yeah, other companies did and do make touring bikes. But the classic Long Haul Trucker, it will be missed. Here are a couple of pictures below– fully loaded and ready to roll, and in action.
A green LHT, fully loaded and ready to hit the road. 
A woman riding a loaded LHT by some pretty blue water.
Full disclosure: I’ve never owned a Surly Long Haul Trucker. But, I know lots of people who have.
Another full disclosure: Surly is making a new version of the LHT with disc brakes and different geometry. But it’s not the same. Hence the nostalgic outpouring here.
But surely you get this, right? Tell me, what bikes or boats or other gear are do you have oh-so-fond memories of, but which are gone now, replaced by newer but not better-to-you models? Feel free to unburden yourself; I’m here and I’m ready to be very sympathetic.
And maybe we can also dish about the new models coming out this year… 🙂
I’ve never cycled any of the Surly touring bikes. My partner does have Surly touring bike where he did bike several km. in western Canada and down into U.S. I’ll have to ask him…. I can’t even remember the model number. He loves disc brakes on all his bikes.
I only have disc brakes on my folding bike.
I’m looking for my first LHT now and cannot find one, even though the bike is still featured on their website (with rim brakes) as if it were in stock. That’s misleading if they cancelled the model–a poor business decision for a bike that should still be in high demand. Disc brakes look like black boxes to me and I’ve no interest in learning new tech at this point in my cycling life.