The Surly Disc Trucker.
Quite easy.

I decided to shop around for a Surly Long Haul Disc Trucker. I looked on eBay and so, but I couldn't find any that was fitting for me, at least in Germany. So, I decided to get one build. To explain the level of my competence here, the most important factor was the color. I would have loved to get a racing green one, but only black and pea green were available. Easily black it was.

The next step was to find a bike shop that could build it for me. During COVID times I heard many horror stories on how people were waiting for the bikes for ages. I decided to be on the safe side and looked around one year before the start of my trip to get one. After some hiccups in some shops, I found Radspannerei in Berlin Kreuzberg, who had the frame I wanted and made me a good offer. Two months later I got the bike.

What I got

• Frame: Surly Disc Trucker 56cm in black (I'm quite tall)
• Gears: Shimano Tiagra GS 4700
• Breaks/gears handles: Shimano Tiagra 3x10
• Breaks: TRP Spyre Disc mechanical 160mm
• Dynamo: SON 28 Disc Centerlock Nabendynamo 12 mm 32 Loch
• Lights: SON Edelux
• Handle bar: Pro Discover 12° 42mm
• Saddle: Brooks B17s (I still had this one)

That's the rough setup. And believe me, I don't have a clue what all the differences to other specs would be. But I biked with the bike and I love it so far!

All in all. I spent quite some money. I would have loved to slowly assemble the bike by myself and possibly get it cheaper, but I simply lack expertise here.

And. It could have gotten a lot more. I considered to get a Fern bike. Totally custom made, very very very nice. If I would have gotten the guarantee that nobody would steal it, I might have gotten it. But there's no guarantee. And I think my bike looks pretty unassuming for a lot of people, at least that's what I hope.