Slow cooked organic projects (gravé, touring, functional bikes, bla bla)

I've been a long time lurker who has spent a lot of time looking at the projects here, but hasn't contributed much myself yet. As I enjoy reading about, and building bikes, as much as I like to ride them, my Surly Cross-Check have gone through a lot of rebuilds the five years I've owned it.

Lately, I've been playing around with the idea of converting it from a drop bar gravel-grinder-ish bike to a flat bar light tourer inspired by t0-ster's fabulous Titanium Adventure Bike. Though, as I also want a drop bar gravel bike, I have been a bit hesitant to actually do the conversion with my only capable bike. At least until I stumbled upon a quite cheap Genesis CdA framset (cheap for my country, at least) in a nice baby blue colour. Since DBAD and steel is real I decided to bring it home:

As I just have graduated from university and haven't got a job yet, I'm close to being broke. The progress will probably be a bit slow until I start to earn some real cash, but the plans are by now: Build up the CdA as a "road plus" bike with 650b wheels and 47 mm WTB Horizons. Probably with drivetrain from the Cross-Check, but if I manage to find something really cheap or get a job quite soon, a new drivetrain with brifters (haven't decided if I want SRAM 1x10 or Shimano 2x10 sub-compact then). If the drivetrain moves over to the CdA, the Cross-Check might get a cost-effective 1x9 drivetrain (but I really like the 11-42 10-speed cassette it have now). It will also get some DIY handlebars emulating Jones, Alpkit, Velo Orange Crazy Bars and so on. Fenders and a dynamo front wheel could also be cool, making it even more functional.

Excited to see what you do with the cross check. I'm looking to breathe some new life into mine so looking for some inspiration!

(Also just graduated and on tiiiight budget haha)

Glad to hear that you will follow! Good to know that I'm not the only cheapskate these days. May I ask what you've graduated in?

Regarding the Cross-Check, I just ordered some stuff from Bikester including a Humpert Moon handlebar which I think might be a good base for pseudo-Jones.

Humpert Climber is the go to for dad bars hacks.

It was actually your hack that made me check out Humpert. Unfortunately, the Climber doesn’t seem to be available at the Norwegian Bikester, so I took a chance at the Moon. The result will probably be closer to the VO Crazy Bars rather than Jones tho’.

Please. It's all about humpert lady-town exclusive these days.

Medicine - currently enjoying a few months of holiday tinkering with bikes and riding them before I head to Glasgow and pretend to know what I'm doing as a doctor. How about you?

Incidentally, just installed some Humpert Bugels on my 26" commuter / tourer - feel good for ultra cheap!

Medicine, kudos to you for that! You really deserve your vacation months then!

I've got an MA in Product Design. Now I'm just looking for a related full-time job and tinkering with bikes until I start in a short time job for my uni in July.

Regarding the Breezer referred to with a question mark in the title: It's an old school Breezer Storm frame that has been abused by being my Foodora bike for a year and a half. Except for occasional cleaning of the drivetrain, it was almost never washed and it's covered in grime and dirt. One day the rear wheel broke and a few weeks later the headset was completely wrecked, leading it to be left to rot in the basement. The chainset, bar ends, stem and brake levers are still usable and will probably be moved over to the Cross-Check. I also think the frame is structurally fine, so I want to build it up as a pub rat.

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Cool frame, would like to see it built up!

Indeed, it's a cool frame. A bit ashamed for letting it deteriorate to this extent.

Started gathering some parts: The Humpert bars from Bikester didn't fit my plan, so will return it. Grabbed some 760 mm/9 deg. backsweep bars from BBB at LBS. The measurements are similar to Alpkit's Confucius and will use them fugly barends to emulate those bars. Also got that Selle Italia X1 for a steal, which will be put on the Genesis. The sexy pink grips was free and will end up on my Confucius copy. Only need to gather some brake levers and a shifter and the Cross-Check will be ready for a rebuild. If anyone have a right hand Paul or VO thumbie mount to sell, I'm interested!

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Nice bunch of bikes! Cheapskate functionals are my favourite, they're all unique :)

Acquired the final parts for the Cross-Check earlier this week and built it up yesterday. Not a beauty, but will be functional. Leaving for a week-long tour this evening.

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Looks great IMO! Enjoy your tour.

Thanks @russmeyer, the tour was really nice.

Short report:

The tour went from Sognsvann, where the city of Oslo meets the Nordmarka forest, up to and through the Gudbrand Valley, over the mountains and down to the Geiranger Fjord. Rode together with my girlfriend, and two friends the first two and a half days. Really nice scenery and good weather all the way (until the last 20 km, when the rain started to pour down). Did about 65-80 km pr. day (except for the first two days with friends, then we only did 35-40 km/day), a total of 535 km and 5500 m elevation gain.

The Cross-Check performed well, but I think I'll get some beefier tires, mudguards, shorter and higher stem plus some other grips for the next longer tour.

Some pictures (sorry for potato quality):

Only major bike problem encountered: Some rock sliced my rear tire 10 km into the woods the first evening. Managed to patch it with some gaffa tape and reach our planned campsite 5 kms further into the forest, then I had to ride back to the city to get a new tire the next day before we could carry on.

Nordmarka gravel.

The setup. Slightly overpacked, but when you're about the stay outdoors for a week in Norway, you gotta be prepared for everything (and I don't own any nice lightweight gear).

The Gudbrandsdallågen river flowing through the Gudbrand Valley.

Valley gravel.

Mountain gravel.

Mountain camp.

Last stretch to the Dalsnibba peak (1500 m.a.s.l), a nice viewpoint over the fjord. 450 meters elevation gain over 5 km.

Bike over the fjord. We were allowed to leave our luggage at a kind hotel prior to the climb.

Goal reached: The Geiranger Fjord.

That's some epic shit. I've sailed to geiranger once, remember thinking it's a long way up from the water and wondering what the view's like. Thanks for saving me the trip ;)

Haven’t been much progress lately, but last week I finally bought a wheelset for the CdA that ticked all the boxes (650b, tubeless ready, QR, low price). It’s a pair of Alexrims DP23 laced to some generic Shimano hubs, so nothing fancy tho’. The wheels were sold with a pair of Rocket Ron’s, that despite looking really gnarly with the frame, doesn’t fit. Will get some WTB Horizon or Byway’s instead. Think I’ll manage to get the build ready in a week or two.

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Cool bikes! Esp interested in this genesis. Your tour looks spectacular too

Thanks, the tour was indeed really spectacular! Would recommend, even if you live outside Norway. And the Genesis is finally moving forward. Actually, I couldn't resist the urge and bought a set of WTB Byway's (fitted with tubes atm) at my LBS. Now I just need to source the finishing parts and find some time to finalize the build, which opens the following, important question: What colour should the bar tape have?

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A pastel yellow or pink?

What colour should the bar tape have?

Same as the saddle. ;)

That last picture in post #16 is crazy by the way. Looks like a beautiful trip.

@alialias: Both pink and yellow are some of the options I've considered. Yellow even matches the small stripes in the decals but gets dirty quickly (tho', you can always call it patina).

@Tijs: Thanks! The picture is a bit of a cliché (pictures from this viewpoint is used like every time the fjords are promoted), but indeed, it's a beautiful view. Regarding the bar tape, the saddle will be black (with white accents), and I think black bar tape is boring. :(

I decided to try something like this next time I buy tape:

Serfas woven tape, think it'd look great with the blue and brown here. Depends if you can bear to ride on cloth tape though, some folks reckon it's more comfortable - sort of like saddles I guess, too much padding can be worse than not enoigh - was going to give it a go on commuter so I don't accidentally end up with horrible hand pain on a long ride

That bar tape was really cool (esp. the first), tho' I think it's best suited for bikes with straight, slim steel tubes and one or two tone paint jobs. Thanks for your input anyway, it might be something to consider for my Cross-Check.