Surly long haul trucker - touring bike

After weeks of research, I've finally invested in a new bicycle. My main requirements were:

• commuting to and from work
• long rides after work
• weekend hauls (50+ kms)
• occasional huge rides of several days of riding
• the ability to carry up to 10kgs to and from work, and more when doing longer rides

I started out a few months ago with a progear RS-10, which is a flat bar road bike. It is just under 10kgs, and is quite fast. The problem is that it is extremely rough (aluminium frame), and the 23mm wheels don't help. In addition, it's durability is questionable, especially with a few kilos in some rear panniers. With such a short wheelbase, it didn't handle well with a load, and I'm hardly a lightweight.

I've ridden a mountain bike several times, and am deadset against them unless you are actually riding off-road. i don't ride off-road much at all. if i do end up off-road, it is because I have no choice.

I looked into some commuter type bikes, and I was quite interested in hub style gearing systems, particularly because they have low maintenance requirements. The downside is the lack of enough gears. Nexus systems provide 7 or 8 gears. There is one alternative - the Rohloff which provides 14 gears. The downside is that it is $2000 for just the hub gearing system.

Finally I began reading about touring bikes. I was quite interested in the Trek 520, until I visited cheeky transport in newtown. I was introduced to the Surly long haul trucker, custom built with my choice of parts. After taking it for a test ride, I was sold. Unfortunately i have to wait up to 2 weeks for them to put it all together. Here are the specs i settled on:

• 56cm Surly long haul trucker frame in the discontinued green colour
• euro style touring handlebars
• deore 9 spd shifters
• brooks black seat (very comfy leather)
• lx front and rear hubs
• 32mm road tyres with car style valves
  
• topeak rear rack
• sks p65 wide mudguards
  

I'm also going to use my existing small Vaude panniers for commuting. At some stage I'm going to need to invest in some larger panniers, a front rack, and a good front light. I'll wait until I'm about to leave on a tour first ;)

The main reasons I chose a touring bike is:

• long wheel base means more stable ride, with less "twitchiness" in handling
• greater durability. This is very important because I rely on my bike to get around everyday
• steel frame gives me a much smoother ride than aluminium
  
• can take large loads if required and still handle well
• frame is very versatile, and can handle 3 water bottle racks, has spoke holders, larger tyres, mudguards, front and rear racks, etc.
  
• large range of gears for speed, and power up hills when i have a load

At the end of the day, to commute, and do the occasional tour, you can't go past a touring bike.

Daniel