Surly Bike Owners

Aye those tyres are shite. Fully recommend the jack Browns greens by panaracer if your looking for new ones. Paint looks great

I am giving some Continental sport contacts a go next, all black and looks pretty good. http://www.continental-tires.com/bicycle/tyres/city-trekking-tyres/sport-contact2
Marketed as a town tyre but we will see how they hold up....if I had some cash to spend I would defo go for some Compass Bon Jon, again in all black and maybe the extra lightweight ones.

No love for Vittoria Voyager Hypers here? Over on ctc they are de rigueur. I have them on my cross check but not put enough miles on them yet to say anything other then they are v comfy.

I was about to mention Voyager Hypers, i've got them on my CC to, roll quick, no flats, i rather like them.

Has anyone successfully fitted a 29x2.0/2.1 tyre on the rear of their Straggler/Crosscheck?

Obvs this is just what they say but 700c x 42 on a CC. 700 x 42 on a Straggler with mudguards, so probably more like 45c or some shit.

Stock tyres on the cross check SS are
42mm. Loads of space for mudguards.

I've seen cross checks with 2.0 schwalbe big apple tyres and 45c knobbies

I'm always bothered by Cross Checks sporting a Panaracer FireCross in the rear, but this picture absolutely baffles me; my 2015 cross check can't clear that tire in the rear even with the wheel slammed all the way back in the dropouts, yet this one here seems to have the axle in the forward most position in the dropouts.

They may be using a narrow rim and maybe that makes the difference?

I have seen plenty with 40c though, personally I would rather have some mud clearance anyway

My cc will take a 45 in the rear no bother. I've had 29x2.0 in too but that was too tight.

Thanks for all the replies, to add another dimension to this chat, whats the largest 650B tyre and wheel combo you can fit? looking to go on some backpacking trips a little more off the beaten track this year but I'm trying to convince myself I made the right choice going Straggler over Krampus.

2 inch was fine, loads of clearance at the fork, acceptable clearance at the back with the wheel run at the front of the dropouts. Moving it back doesn't help due to dimpled chainstays.

Going 650b wouldn't give you a larger tyre, just a smaller wheel :/

You can get Randonneurs in 40c from crc, just fit some guards, sorted.

I didn't say it would, just reporting what I tried. I think 27.5x2.0 fits better than a 29x2.0 (assuming that fits) as it allows you to keep the rear wheel forward in the dropouts rather than increase the wheelbase to fit...

At the time the 700c wheels were in the shop for some TLC, figured I'd give this a go and it rode fine even with the lower BB. These wheels are a little lighter and the rims a lot wider too.

Thanks for the replies.

In other news, this Straggler is shredding my knees :( even on a light spin its causing some serious pain, Saddle dropped and pushed back a touch, has shifted the pain from the back to the front of the knee(its not too low now) I feel very comfortable but the front of my knees ache on every pedal stroke. I normally ride 170mm cranks and think it could possibly be the 175s that are doing it. that and the slack angle of the seat tube

Slack seat tube wouldn't suggest pushing the saddle back was the answer surely?

I had already fitted an inline post with the saddle pushed a little far on the forward side

If you have another bike that you're comfy on, take as many measurements as possible and replicate on the Straggler.

My Krampus

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Nice. What bars are those?

Jones H Bend

I realise they aren't the sort of thing for this bike......but they are super comfortable.

Got panniers on the back now and soon to get the Surly front rack

Best bike I've ever owned. The only downside is that these tyres love a nail....it's amazing how many 3" nails I've pulled out. A normal bike would roll over them but the tread on the Knard is a grippy twat

Lots of love

Hi Mark,

I think your problem with the 175 cranks can be solved by pushing the saddle forward not back and also by dropping the saddle height. Your body is used to spinning 170s so you need to compensate for the movement. I pushed my saddle quite far forward and subsequently moved it back just a touch.I have found that a jump of 2.5mm is preferable rather than the 5mm you have undertaken.

anybody on here have a long haul trucker in a size 50 or 46 trying to work out which size I need. I'm 5foot 8inches .it says size 50 for my height (I do have shortish legs 750mm inner leg) so that doesn't seem to give me much seat post length or step over gap

Girlfriend's 5ft8 and rides at 50cm LHT. Don't suppose that's much use though, is there not somewhere local you can try one out?