Cupcakes' Surly Cross Check

What the sizing like on a cc? my traditional road sizing is spot on 54. I'm 5'10 with short legs + long body.. if that helps.

Definitely get working on that bike!

Sounds like a 54 might be ok then, the CC's top tube is long, so a shorter than normal stem might be needed. Try Brixton Cycles they usually have complete test bikes in the shop, if not CC a Steamroller or Pacer will do to work out comparatively.

I'm 5'11 - 32" inside leg, average reach and I ride the 56, with a set back seat post, and an 8cm stem. Which is perfect for me.

I fitted the bb, cranks and headset cups last night.

Things stalled out a bit when I found the crown race was reluctant to go onto the fork. A searxh through my parts bin has revealed a split crown race of the right size, though, so I may get started with that.

What the sizing like on a cc? my traditional road sizing is spot on 54. I'm 5'10 with short legs + long body.. if that helps.

Definitely get working on that bike!

The top tubes on surlys seem to come up long. I guess short legs and long torso sounds like a good combo. There's full geo chart on their website which is useful. The approach I used was to look at the reach measurement in each frame and compare to my road bike that I'd had a bike fit in.

(And I think the steamrollers have different sizes to the cross checks so bear that in mind). You can give mine a go at some point if you think its worth trying a 52.

^The 'Steamroller' has a shorter top tube, but sizing is effectively the same through the frames, just geometry of the frame is varied between the pacer, roller and CC.

I fitted the bb, cranks and headset cups last night.

Things stalled out a bit when I found the crown race was reluctant to go onto the fork. A searxh through my parts bin has revealed a split crown race of the right size, though, so I may get started with that.

Same here. Headset cups were a right faff to get in but got there in the, with a lot of swearing. First time I did it I breathed a sigh or relief and then realised I'd put them in the wrong way round (top in bottom...)

Ended up cutting a slit in the crown race as there was no way it was going on. Works perfectly like that though!

Managed to get it fully built other than gear cabling between 8 and 10 last night. Tonight I can try and dial in the riding position. Thankfully I have a plastic bag full of stems of all description to get something decent hopefully.

One thing I have noticed, it weighs a fucking tonne... Lifting it onto the work stand is certainly more of an ask than with my road bike.

^Yeah 'weight' my current bug bear with the CC.

The only tyres I had were some horrible Conti Hybrid type ones which weigh around 700 grammes EACH according to their site. Paselas on order which should bring it down a bit.
B17 isn't helping either, but it's the only bike I have that suits how the B17 works with saddle/bar drop (I find, anyway).

Ended up cutting a slit in the crown race as there was no way it was going on. Works perfectly like that though!

Argh. My crown race will not go on. I have looked closely and it is definitely undersized.

Presumably FSA ship them like this so that the soft aluminium can deform a bit, allowing the race can be hammered on to forks with slightly undersized steerers?

How sure are you that it works perfectly after bring cut? I would prefer to just buy a new split crown race but am having trouble finding one.

I fitted the bb, cranks and headset cups last night.

Things stalled out a bit when I found the crown race was reluctant to go onto the fork. A searxh through my parts bin has revealed a split crown race of the right size, though, so I may get started with that.

Turns out this was optimistic, the split race isn't the right size either.

How sure are you that it works perfectly after bring cut? I would prefer to just buy a new split crown race but am having trouble finding one.

FSA used to supply split crown races with all their headsets, but haven't done so for the last few years. If you have a really thin bladed hacksaw or dremel, there's no issue with cutting it. Make sure there's no burrs left on it though.

Do you have any calipers to check that it's the correct size? Or is it possible the fork crown has some excess material that needs removing?

Cheers. I've read similar things on several other forums too.

I do have calipers but frustratingly they're the digital kind and the battery has run out.

It's possible the crown needs cutting though I suppose, but I would be surprised. I am really tempted to pop into a shop tomorrow with fork and race in-hand. If they say cut, then I shall...

had an undersized crown race with a friends bike over the weekend, just took a bit of dremelling on the inside of it.. the shaved off bits combined with the heat expanding it got it on easy in the end, very tight!

did try CO2'ing attacking the fork which was more amusing than anything to get it really cold!

That sounds like an ordeal! I'm a bit too cautious, glad it worked for you though.

By 'works perfectly', I mean it runs smoothly. However, whether it's going to suddenly, unexpectedly fail on me I'm not sure. Once it was on the bottom headset cup/bearings went straight on, and it spins nicely so I'm not overly concerned.

Got this far this evening. 1x10 at the moment because I didn't find my 28.8 compatible braze on adapter until just now.
Brooks isn't working so has been swapped out. I've had it for years but just never got comfortable enough on it to get it properly broken in.

Didn't have enough headset spacers so had to buy them individually at an eye watering £1.50 per 10mm from the LBS.

Also really struggling to get the froglegs to have enough stopping power. Definitely no skids/endos :(
Perhaps mini-vs are the way forward.

Or just cantis that aren't shit! :-)

Are froglegs known to be shit then? They look cool but seem to actually flex rather than squish the pads against the rim. Running them with Koop stops as well...

Fwiw, I was just using them because I had them knocking about, I think they came on a frame I bought. What are Dia Compe 987 like? I have some GOLD ones of those...

Nice work. I'll be taking my fork and crown race into a shop tomorrow, will report back with their verdict.

I had froglegs on my pompino, I got them because i had heard good things and they look nice. However the braking performance was monumentally bad. They did work, just not 'well'.

Ok, glad it's not just me then. Will give the 987s a go, reviews seem positive!

Good luck.

You've done this way faster than me! I just need to be done by the weekend after next as I've a short trip planned then...

What levers are you using with the Frogglegs?

Using ergos with cantis in general is a bit of a hit and miss thing depending on the lever action-I've used Frogglegs and they worked fine but I had to have the straddle wire much higher than I thought necessary.

Cross check purchased :-) from the forum no less. Not yet sure whether I'll run it as SS or 1 x something.