It seems bike and equipment reviews are all the rage here at Taiwan in Cycles. So, I guess I'll piggyback on top of OzSoapbox and link to his extensive review of his Surly Long Haul Trucker.
The Long Haul Trucker is a stablemate of the Surly Cross Check reviewed a couple weeks ago. Both are excellent bikes, but the LHT is really ideal if you have long, unsupported touring and camping on your mind.
Taiwan is pretty small and therefore, in most cases, I would recommend the Cross Check over the LHT.Still, the LHT has developed a bit of a cult following.
Here's Oz with his opinion:
Looking forward I have no plans to get rid of my Long Haul Trucker so I’ll do another review like this after the next 15,000 kms rolls around. I’m looking forward to seeing which parts are still original and which have been swapped out. And also if any of the swapped out parts have failed too.
Either way, unless you find tediously selecting each and every component for your bicycle I can highly recommend Surly’s choice of components in their Long Haul Trucker Complete build as a great starting point. And value for money wise, even building one up yourself you’re not going to do much better than the complete model anyway.
