I added the ridiculously indestructible Surly racks. These things are overbuilt like a Texas prison. I swear they weigh as much as the frame, but they have incredibly versatile mounting hardware and they are super adjustable. If you’re a weight weenie, you’re probably not riding a LHT anyway and these racks would not make it onto your radar.
I was able to assemble the bike with a lot of stuff I had in stock around the shop. I’m trying to decide on the color of handlebar tape. I have a few options in stock. A couple of shades of green, red (not with red cable housing, right?), black, white, yellow, blue, brown and orange. If you have an opinion on bar tape color, leave a comment or let me know through email/Twitter/Facebook.
Speaking of cloth bar tape, let me take a moment to plug for Newbaum’s tape. This stuff is great and made in the USA! Lots of colors and the rolls are long enough that I never get anxious that I’m going to run short.
Meanwhile, we have started production of the trunk bags. It seems like this has taken too long to get together. But there’s really just a small group of people that make Ironweed happen. And as I mentioned back in November, the spouse of the woman who oversees our production was hit by a texting teen while out for a ride back in October. He was paralyzed after the accident and passed away back in January quite unexpectedly. He was a young man, a husband, a veteran, a teacher and died too soon.
Needless to say, our production process has been slowed. But we hope to have the bags in our webstore by early April. Thanks for your patience.