Katy's Long Haul Trucker Nexus 8

I finally got all of the parts I ordered from Harris Cyclery and was finally able to build up the Surly Long Haul Trucker for my wife, whose old Bridgestone Sirus, just wasn't ever comfortable for her. We chose the LHT Because of its upright geometry, versatility and tons of braze-ons for fenders and racks. This is designed as an urban commuter and weekend recreation rider.



This 46cm LHT is a 26" wheel bike (larger ones are 700c) and few of the parts from Katy's previous bike were transferable to the new one. We kept her Nitto albatross Cromoly handlebars with break levers which work with both v-brakes (mtb) and caliper (road) brakes. which was great because the v-brakes I ordered were designed to be used with road levers. The LHT frame is designed to use either v-brakes or caliper brakes, whichever you prefer. Her Brooks Saddle and Shimano RX100 triple cranks were transferred. The bike came with a bottom bracket and headset, so we didn't have to install them.

We still need fenders, racks and lights to complete the build.


The best part of the build is to see the Nexus hub mounted with a clean straight chain line in a vertical dropout without having to use a chain tensioner. I used a KMC half-link to adjust the chain stay distance. The new chain feels a little tight, but does not bind and I'm sure will loosen up soon.



I used the online calculator from Fixed Innovations to help figure out the right chain ring and sprocket to use for the vertical dropouts. I ended up using a 39 chain ring with a 23 sprocket in the back. I intended on using 38 in the front and 22 in the back. It should be the exact same spacing, but I would need different BCD cranks to do that. I really wanted to install a Hebie Chainglider which needed the 38/22 combination. Maybe at a later time. The gear combo is really quite nice. It is geared pretty low, but that is perfect for where we live in the Berkeley hills and for carrying a load.

Internal Hub Revolution

In the last few years the development of internal geared hubs has really taken off and flourished. There are a number of great developments which I will address in later posts.

I've put together a chart to illustrate how the gear range of internal geared hubs is different than that of bikes with derailleurs. (click on the chart for a larger view.) The number of gears isn't really of most importance. The range and spacing of these gears is.

The chart shows the gearing of a popular commuting bike called the Breezer Uptown 8, which has a Shimano Nexus 8-speed hub, with red squares in the blue band. The blue band represents the range and how it compares to other setups. I call this graphic a comparative ratio plot.

One common misconception with derailleur systems is that, for example a 27 speed bike ( Triple chainring in front and nine sprockets in back) has so many more gears and a wider range than say a 21 speed, or for that matter, an internal 8 speed. The number spacing between the chain rings and sprockets has so much more to do with it than the actual number of combinations.

You can see in the above chart the range of various popular derailleur systems compared to a nexus 8 speed hub with various chainring/sprocket combinations (ratios.) One thing to note is how many duplicate "gears" there are in many of the derailleur systems. Note the "traditional 10 speed" has only seven unique gear combinations and a similar range. I use as a general rule, the number of sprockets plus the number of chain rings to estimate the number of usable "gears." There are plenty of exceptions to this, but it is the simplest method I've come up with.

How much range do you need in your gearing? The great advantages of internal gears over derailleur systems is simplicity and reliability. That is a reasonable trade off for some high end speed or low end hill climbing gears you may not use. Internal gears can be geared as low or as high as anything else, but may not have the same overall range as more expensive derailleur systems.