Several years ago, I purchased a Surly Disc Trucker bicycle frame. My goal was to build my dream touring bike and pedal across the United States. I was drawn to the disc trucker because I loved the disc brakes on my mountain bike and thought it would be great to have them on a road bike. At the time there were very few road bike with disc brakes.
While I could have purchased a complete Disc Trucker, I like the idea of assembling my own bike from scratch with the parts and components I want. Otherwise, it feels like you purchase the bike twice with all the upgrades and changes you end up making to a stock bike. Also, since I am using 9 speed components rather than the latest and greatest components on the market, I am able to buy high quality parts at discount prices allowing me to build a much nicer bike for the same price as a stock Disc Trucker
Unfortunately, my wife objected when she learned of my plan to ride across the country by myself. At her urging, I changed my plans and I had a wonderful experience riding with about fifty other rides while supported by Bubba’s Pampered Pedalers in 2015. Regrettably, less than a week after completing the Coast to Coast ride I was hit by a car and the Disc Trucker has hung in the basement ever since collecting dust.
I am happy to announce the Disc Trucker is now hanging in my bike work stand and I’ve resumed building this bike. My new plan is to use this bike to begin exploring the rail to trails around the country. Since I purchased the frame at a discount price because the decals on the right side of the bike had been damaged, the first step in the bike build was to replace the damaged decals. Step 1 complete!
Ken Whittaker