Kokopelli Trail & Surly Long Haul Trucker

My Surly Long Haul Trucker reminds me a lot like my old BMX bikes. Swap parts, shave dropouts, smaller chainring sizes & cogs, completely mod the bike. However, still retaining its timeless old school touring/MTB style. So far on the resume this bike hauled me across the U.S. back in (2014), and Virginia Blue Ridge PKWY tour in (2015) where I swapped out the drop bars for a MTB crossbar and XT shifters.

I wanted to push this bike to the limit and see how I can modify it for 5 days riding the popular Kokopelli Trail from Fruita, CO to Moab, UT. The 158mi route consist of of mainly 90% unpaved road, single/ double track, sand, dirt, and tech climbing. One thing I knew I would need right out the gate was bigger tires. My 35c Schwalbe’s soon upgraded to 2.1’s, along with my 44,34,24 triple that went down to a 32,24 double.

After making a short list of items that I needed to convert my bike to a bikepacking machine, I still had to make some serious modifications to fit the tires. Purist Surly owners may cringe after sharing that I shaved my chainstays and fork just to fit the tires. But I was confident enough that this frame would withhold the stress factor I put it through. In and out the shop leading up to our departure, the bike was finally where I wanted it to be.