ruralmind

Building the Troll

Step 1: Order the Troll.

I have been riding Surly made bikes for over a decade. Surly is a smaller frame and bike builder, specializing in steel bikes of both the utilitarian and otherworldly variety. My existing mountain bike was purchased almost 20 years ago and had gone through a number of changes, including a touring stint in India. Needless to say it was not optimal for trail riding, especially after the addition of a suspension fork which altered the geometry largely for the worse.

Enter the Troll, a frame designed to consume just about whatever parts you might have lying around. Stare into the madness of this rear drop-out for a moment.

Still with me? Now to source the parts needed to bring it to life.

Step 2: Find a donor bike.

The Troll was designed to work with 26 inch wheels, though I have read that people have been adapting it to 700c, 650b, etc. Why not buy the Ogre frame and build up a 29er you say? Given that the current industry trend is to focus larger on 29 inch wheel set for mountain bikes means that there are a fair number of used high quality 26" bikes showing up on Ebay and Craigslist. I found a lower-end Giant (no love lost ditching the frame) that had been upgraded with Hayes disc brakes, XT components, as well as a decent suspension fork. Perfect.

Donor bike in the background, Troll frame patiently waiting for the transplants.

Step 3: Build it.

I have the tools and experience for most routine maintenance and parts upgrade tasks. Building up a frame from scratch as well as tearing down a donor bike requires tools that are usually only found in a bike shop. This project would not have happened without the time and tools supplied by Dave Gordon at his shop The Urbane Cyclist. I exchanged some filthy lucre for Dave's assistance in updating my 10+ year old mechanical knowledge, since seating headsets and setting up hydraulic brakes are things I had never done before.

A couple of things I learned building up the Troll from a donor bike:

Patience for the unknown. When dealing with a second hand bike, you can't visually inspect what you can't see. There is a good chance that some of the parts may not come off the donor as easily as you would like. Don't rush. Secondly, you might find that some of the parts from the donor simply will not work on the new frame. I was lucky in that the existing hydraulic cables lengths worked with the new frame.
Chainline is hard. Getting the chainline right can be a challenge. When you buy a preassembled bike of reasonable quality the drivetrain parts in most cases have been seletected to give you the optimal chanline resulting in quiet and smooth shifting. As we were taking the drive train from an oversized aluminum frame and grafting it onto a steel frame, there were bound to be issues. After a week of riding and tweaking it, I had the shop pull the old bottom bracket and order a narrower one. End result: smooth shifting.

Side rant

I really appreciate having Dave's shop in my town. I have a theory that whenever you mix a bunch of dudes, tools and gear you get a whole load of "who's the bull elk" posturing that goes with it in order to prove who is the expert. It's like that with cycling, skiing, software and on and on. It's exhausting. When I walk into a bike shop I half know what I need or want, I am not challenging your expertise so don't treat me like the middle aged square guy in the record store. This never happens to me at Dave's shop, thus he gets all my business.

Step 4 (not optional): Ride it.

I have since replaced the Brooks Flyer with a B17 Narrow. It turns out the sprung saddle is more suitable for higher pressure tires such as a touring bike The only difference between the B17 and Flyer is that the former is both lighter and quieter, ride comfort is essentially the same.

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ruralmind

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