I love the Surly touring bikes, I’m curious as to why you decided on the Disc Trucker, Instead of the standard LHT or…

I test rode the standard LHT and although stopping wasn’t a problem by any means I did notice some “stuttering” while braking going down hill, and in general braking seemed a little less responsive than the disc brakes on my commuter that I’m used to.

That being said, the brakes I’m used to are worn in and I have flat bar / mountain bike type levers. The road hood levers and riding in a different position with hands on the hoods is completely new to me, it could be that I’m just less confidant in that position and the style of lever has an inherently different feel than what I’m used to. I wasn’t able to test ride the DT, so I won’t really know until I have it.

Everyone on the LHT / cross check google group seemed to think there was no real difference in overall stopping power between the two, with each “side” making claims about bad past experiences with disc or rim brakes… in general the consensus was pretty neutral with most people recommending going with what you feel most comfortable with.

I think what it came down to for me is that I’ve been riding disc brakes on my commuter  now for almost 5 years and have had zero issues with them. 

On a purely aesthetic basis I also like the sleeker look of disc brakes ;)

I didn’t want to deal with speccing additional parts or driving the cost up more (way over my initial “new bike” budget already) which is why I didn’t go with the Trucker Deluxe.