My Christmas shopping, such as it was, was done at the last minute, and I had no idea what I was going to get for Donna until I saw a 46cm Surly Long Haul Trucker frame for sale on Trademe.
Over the years she has had three different commuting/town bikes, all based on mountain bike frames. All of them required various manky solutions to fit utilitariana such as mudguards, and the riding position was less than ideal once a rigid fork was fitted to a 'suspension adjusted' frame geometry.
The Long Haul Trucker has a braze-on fitting for every conceivable accessory, including several that Donna will never use unless she renounces her short distance, fast-twitch ways. It was a pleasure not to have to attach the mudguards with zip ties, though a spacer was needed behind the chainstay bridge to maintain a pleasing mudguard line.
I like to use good quality parts on these bikes (check out the spec on Donna's old GT Outpost, ferinstance), and this one seemed to justify some top shelf junque I have been saving- Ritchey WCS cantilevers, Nitto 185 bars, and Sugino Pro Dynamic cranks. A few minutes rummaging turned up an all-Suntour gear set- Sprint front derailler, XC Pro short cage rear, and a pair of Superbe Pro friction downtube shifters. The wheels, with Shimano dynohub and Lumotec light came from Donna's Specialized M2 commuter.
Currently, the Carradice Lowsaddle saddlebag sits on the rear mudguard, so a small rear rack will be required. I'm working on something similar to this Sycip rack in 8mm high tensile steel tube.
More photos here at the Wool Jersey Gallery.
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