Review: Surly Troll

Though the Surly Troll’s geometry is that of a 26˝-wheeled mountain bike, it’s unlike most mountain bikes you’ll find . It has ample clearance for 28/38/50t mountain-triple chainrings and room for 26 x 2.7˝ tires. The gusseted front triangle, with its sloping toptube, provides generous standover clearance even when running high-volume rubber.

Build it with a 100mm suspension-corrected fork, or roll the 4130 CroMoly Troll fork. The stock fork is spec’d with canti pivots, disc mounts, low- and mid-blade rack bosses and fender eyelets. Run a rack fender and disc at the same time, no jury-rigging required.

The Troll frame features horizontal rear-loading dropouts with a derailleur hanger, disc caliper mounting slots, and rack and fender bosses. There’s a dedicated area for anchoring a Rohloff hub OEM2 axle plate, and we’ve included threaded M10 x 1mm holes for installing Surly trailer-mounting nuts or B.O.B. Nutz. The dropout design allows the simultaneous use of a rack, fender and disc brake.

Use the Troll as a mountain bike, cruiser, commuter or touring rig. Make it your go-to utility tractor. Try out different tires and handlebars. Add some racks, build it with gears, or strip it down to a singlespeed drivetrain. Take it camping, ride it to the grocery store or session on your favorite single-track. Build it up, ride it for a while, then reinvent it.

Like many of the Surly models, the Troll is available as a frameset or as a complete bike. Stop by and give it a try.

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