Surly Cross Check

afternoon all. absolutely love this build and thread. its really given me a surly itch that i'm trying desperately not to scratch. no will power you see, so will probably own one soon. well done sir.

My first proper ride out today, all in all it went well, made a couple of adjustments to the saddle position. When I re-tape the bars I will first try some standard road bars as the reach and drop on the randos might be a bit too much. The brakes are quite powerful.

The drivetrain is very smooth, slick and quiet. Without wishing to open up a debate, I've only used Shimano and Sram util now. I chose Campag because a.I've never used it before and fancied something different. b. I have small hands and the hoods are a bit comfier. So far it seems like a good choice, considering this is the rather lowly Veloce it feels like good kit. The VO chainset must be profiled well because it too is quiet, almost no rub in any gear, even small/small.

I really like this build, good work. The duck egg blue, yellow and chrome colour scheme was never going to be to everyone's tastes but I think it works well. It's built in a very specific style and is well executed. I'm never a fan of white tyres, so personally I would have avoided those, but all in all it's a nice bike and although not cheap, for under 1500 quid it's a lot of bike (and bag!).

I think you rode past me on the sea front at New Brighton on Sunday, I was trying to figure out what type of bike it was, now its all been revealed, my tuppence worth is to invest in some Brooks Honey bar tape and maybe find some Dawes Randoneur bars with the upward sweep so you can alter your bar position,yellow outers are fine by me.

ps is was the red/black Cotic Soul silver Fox forks and white Charge

My first proper ride out today, all in all it went well,// The brakes are quite powerful. // The drivetrain is very smooth, slick and quiet. // fancied something different. // hoods are a bit comfier. // seems like a good choice, // good kit. The VO chainset must be profiled well because it too is quiet, almost no rub in any gear,

And this is the best result you could want. Keep enjoying it, and well done!

Free brown Fizik tape here: http://www.lfgss.com/thread92669.html

Scott, yes that would have been me, it was a beautiful day after the rain in the morning.

So I've listened and considered things, I swapped the bars over to the Cinellis I was originally using as placeholders, there's not as much reach on them which makes it easier to not have them at a squint angle. Taped them up in brown which is almost exactly the same tone as the Hudz. And finally the bag has arrived today after customs held it up for best part of a week.

I'm kind of seeing the problem with the tyres now, they are just too white which clashes with the chrome, although I'm not ready to change them yet and can't decide whether I would try and find something more cream or go to gumwalls.

^ After having triple checked that I was indeed looking at your bike, I think it looks great! The tyres look fine to me. I'm pretty sure that it was just the bright sunlight in the other photos that washed them out a bit.

awww I liked the yellow tape. although it's nice that the brown matches the trim on the bag.
(gumwalls get my vote)

Yeah, looks a lot better now!

Still think gumwalls would complete the look, as the bottom part of the bike with the mudguards and tyres is still kind of bright. Overall, even if you keep it like this, it's looking very nice.

They'll be filthy cream soon, anyway, so will blend in.

Yup.
That's rad!

That's a beauty. How does the bag affect handling?

Ten times better! Gumwalls would look nice but TBH I think the creams are OK.

I, too, thought it was another bike at first.

Much nicer now, congrats.

Just a minor aesthetic point, I have no idea how it might affect the feel of the bike:

Maybe try and aim for a smooth transition from stem to bar tops to brakes. I think it's nice to have that line parallel with the top tube, not that I always achieve it myself. I'm sure there's a school of thought that contradicts this and another that confirms it so...to summarise...do what you like :)

I'm kind of seeing the problem with the tyres now, they are just too white

Ha I did say! Get some panaracer pasela

Just a minor aesthetic point, I have no idea how it might affect the feel of the bike:

Maybe try and aim for a smooth transition from stem to bar tops to brakes. I think it's nice to have that line parallel with the top tube, not that I always achieve it myself. I'm sure there's a school of thought that contradicts this and another that confirms it so...to summarise...do what you like :)

^ +1.

You could do this really easily by moving the levers a bit further down (so that the tips are level with the inferred line created by the bottom edge of the drops), and then tilting the bars up a couple of degrees. Essentially what that will give you is a smooth bar-to-hood transition at an angle that points slightly upwards (much less so than how you had it before), which will be kind to your wrists on longer journeys. The woman in the hat with the orange bar tape has got it pretty much spot on. I'm trying to achieve this on my tourer at the moment. After a couple of weeks with your wrists at a funny angle it really starts to make sense!

That said, you'll know what's best for you far better than anyone else after a couple of weeks of use.

It looks lovely now. It did before, but now it's better. Awesome.

Change the tyres and you'll have equaled this beauty.

I've just noticed how far down the dropouts the rear wheel is, that doesn't look very safe

quick question: where did the bell come from? need one for my Raleigh Clubman...

I'm normally the first to shout out "gumwalls" but I quite like the white tyres. Along with the frame colour you get that sort of minty freshness akin to a clean Bianchi build. (Would like to see it with gumwalls to compare, though.)

Thanks for all the nice comments guys, I'll think about changing the tyres.

Gaz, dopplekorn, yes, I'll look at that and see how comfy it is.

Spotter - the axle is within the parallel parts of the dropouts, it seems safe enough.

Willie - I think you are looking at a photo of someone else's blue Surly, though a similar bell is available here http://www.freshtripe.co.uk/Freshtripe/Accessories.html

I'd want the axle comfortably within the horizontal part of the dropouts, maybe 2 cm further back than where it is in the photo.