Surly Troll Frameset 2011
The Troll’s geometry is that of a 26" wheeled mountain bike, but it’s unlike most mountain bikes. It’s got ample clearance for 28/38/50t mountain triple chainrings and room for big tires, up to 26 x 2.7". The gusseted front triangle, with its sloping toptube, provides ample standover clearance even when running high-volume rubber. Run a 100mm travel suspension fork if you like, or you might choose to leave the Troll’s fork in place. Like the frame, it’s made of 4130 CroMoly steel, providing a stout yet resilient, point-and-shoot ride.
There are a lot of notable features, like full line guides for derailleur and brake housing, fender eyelets, and disc and rim brake mounts. Both the frame and fork are equipped with mounts for front and rear racks, and the design allows the use of racks, fenders and disc brakes all at the same time.
- Tubing: Surly 4130 CroMoly steel. TIG-welded. Main triangle double-butted
- Seatpost diameter: 27.2mm
- Seatpost clamp: 30.0mm Surly stainless, included
- Braze-ons/extras: Full-length housing line guides for derailleurs and brakes; 2 sets of water bottle cage mounts, removable post cantilever pivots; upper seatstay threaded barrels,mid-and low-blade fully threaded through-blade fork eyelets; threaded holes for racks, fenders and trailer mounting nuts; Rohloff OEM2 axle plate mounting slot
- Brake compatibility: Disc and rim brake compatible. Note: rear disc brake is limited to 165mm maximum rotor diameter and requires the use of Surly caliper adapter
- Tire clearance: 26 x 2.5" with rear wheel fully forward. Clearance for 2.7" tire with wheel farther back
- Chainring clearance: 28/38/50t
- Hub compatibility: 100mm O.L.D. front, 135mm O.L.D. rear
- Fork: TIG-welded 4130 CroMoly, 100mm suspension corrected, tapered straight blade. Low- and mid-blade fully threaded through-blade rack eyelets; fender mount eyelets at dropout; 1-18" x 260mm threadless steer tube, 51mm disc mount, removable cantilever pivots, line/housing guides
- Color: Agent Orange
Surly’s Troll frameset is new for 2011 but is based on Surly’s popular 1×1 frameset. The Troll takes utility to a whole new my-mind-is-blown level with a redesigned rear triangle that allows the simultaneous attachment of disc brakes, fenders and a rack, all while towing a BOB trailer by dedicated BOB mounting points (that’s a lot of stuff)!
It can be built up as a geared bike, either with derailleurs or an internally geared hub, a single speed or a fixed-gear, and will accommodate 26 inch wheels with giant 2.7-inch flower-crushing tires, 700c wheels with road or touring tires and even 29er wheels (really just 700c wheels made to sound a little more butch) with 2 inch tires (based on our stare-at-it-and-scratch-our-chins estimate). Yes, this frame is the poster-boy of versatility.
Like the Trek 520, pictured above, the Troll is built with steel tubing for the strength to carry all that stuff you might need for the apocalypse. Unlike the 520, it is available only as a frame. There are far too many potential forms that this bike could transmogrify into for the gang at Surly to satisfy with one build kit.
This particular one was built around a Shimano Alfine (pronounced “Al-feen-eh”, sounds Canadian in my books) eight-speed internally geared hub and Velocity’s 700c Chukker rims.
Windsor Tourist Road Bike
pugsley
