06 March 2015

Surly Troll with Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14 and Schmidt Dynamo


We built this eye-catching purple Surly Troll for a local customer who wanted a bike for daily commuting and long-distance touring. He asked us to build it up with versatility and ergonomics being the primary concern. With Surly's nearly indestructible steel frame, a worry-free Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14Schmidt dynamo front hub, dynamo-powered head light with USB charger, and a pair of steel Tubus racks, this bike is ready to serve as a reliable transporter for many years.

The Surly Troll frames are a trusted choice proven on many different kinds of terrain. From commuting to mountain biking to mixed terrain touring, the Troll is an easy choice for versatile builds based around 26 inch wheels. Like all of Surly’s frames, it features sturdy 4130 chromoly steel tubing to ensure longevity even under the harshest of conditions. It includes gussets on the key tube junctions where frames tend to fail - where the seat tube meets the top tube and where the top and down tubes meet the headtube. Troll frames also offers a full array of threaded mounts for racks, water bottle cages, fenders, and Surly's trailer, making them adaptable to satisfy any rider's needs, no matter how they intend to use it.


For the wheels, we used Sun Ringle’s MTX33 rims, which are rated for downhill mountain biking, making them plenty strong enough to handle just about anything thrown at them. The 33mm width also helps spread out the tire casing for better traction. We laced up the rims using Sapim Race spokes and brass nipples for an appropriate blend of weight and durability in mind. Naturally, we chose a black Rohloff SPEEDHUB in the rear and a matching black Schmidt SON28 in the front. Finally, we mounted the Schwalbe Marathon Mondial tires, which have a thick, flat-resistant liner embedded in the rubber so they won't be susceptible to unexpected punctures on the road.


For the varied type of riding this customer is planning to do, a SPEEDHUB was the best choice to serve his needs. Rohloff's hubs are widely recognized as the most suitable drivetrain choice for long distance touring, which this customer plans to embark on in the future. On an unsupported tour that can lead you into remote and unknown areas, you don't want to risk being stranded far from a bike shop with drivetrain problems. The hardened steel gear wheels within the SPEEDHUBs are well protected and far more durable than any derailleur system. The Rohloff hubs are also the ideal choice for our customer’s other intended application: reliable daily commuting. To make it across town quickly at a moment’s notice, the commuter cyclist needs a drivetrain that remains in tune and performs consistently every time they get on their bike.


The Schmidt SON28 dynamo hub powers a Busch and Mueller Luxos U headlight with built-in USB charger. The highly efficient Schmidt hub provides reliable battery-free power to illuminate the road or charge electronic devices with an undetectable amount of resistance. We routed the headlight power wire through the inside of the fork leg for a clean look, a trick which also protects the wires better than wrapping the cable around the fork blade. A second wire from the headlight running to the handlebar terminates at an on/off switch that doubles are a plug for charging a phone, gps, or other USB device.

To fulfill the requirement of comfort, we used our standard choices for ergonomic cockpit and seating components. Ergon’s GP1 grips are shaped to distribute pressure evenly across the palms and feature an extended rest to support the rider’s wrists. The Selle Anatomica’s Titanico X leather saddle features an opening down the middle which allows the saddle to flex with a rider’s pedal stroke and removes pressure on the perineum. The leather breaks in over time to conform to the rider’s unique body shape but feels comfortable right out of the box.


Final touches include Shimano’s XT dual-purpose touring pedals with a platform on one side and an SPD interface on the other to allow them to be used both with clipless shoes for longer rides and flat soled shoes for around town rides. Race Face’s Turbine cranks, made from forged 7050 aluminum, make an extremely strong and hard wearing pedaling platform. Cromoly steel Tubus racks are light and strong.


If you’re looking for a durable touring or all-arounder of your own, contact us to start a conversation about what we can build for you.

8 comments:

  1. Awesome build! Glad to see you guys posting again!

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  2. How much would a build like this cost, out of curiosity? 😀

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    1. Just shy of $6k. This one is actually for sale if you are interested. The customer built it for a 12-18 month trip through South America that she was not able to go on. Shoot us an email at info@cyclemonkey.com if you want to discuss.

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  3. How did you manage to get the cable into the fork? As far as I remember the holes on those surly frames are very tiny... Did you drill out the holes?

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  4. The vent hole above the dropout is just big enough to fish flat wires through. We have not had any luck getting the Schmidt coax cable through the hole though. We have not tried drilling the holes, but it seems like it would be possible/safe since so little material needs to be removed and that hole is in a fairly low stress area.

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  5. Very cool looking bike and many thanks for posting all the info, much appreciated.

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    Replies
    1. No problem. Glad you enjoyed reading the post.

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  6. Thanks for sharing, nice post! Post really provice useful information!

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