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@sifriday
...This is my project to convert my Steamroller to a Cross-Check...
Once upon a time I had one bike that seemed to do everything - a Cannondale F800, which did MTB, got me around town, went touring and even managed the odd TT (I should >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Cannondale Aficionados / Owners)
That got nicked and I replaced it with a full-suss Specialized. Obviously no good on road, so this left a gap for ... something ... after wanting a Surly MTB for a while I actually ended up with a Steamroller off ebay to fulfill the do-it-all hole left by the F800. This has been awesome, I have very much enjoyed cycling it, and it has got me properly back into road riding and wanting to do more touring. So... I began dithering about putting hub gears onto the 'roller, and everything seemed to get complex (mudguards? rack?)... in the end I found a Cross-Check frame on ebay and decided to swap over to that... I'll end up with the ratbike for pubs and short town trips, the Speccy for MTB and the Cross-Check for everything else.
The Steamroller looks like this:
I've had a love/hate relationship with that blue saddle. In the end I've decided to embrace it, so the Cross-Check will be pretty similar: mostly black, with the saddle and more blue bling, to fully embrace that hue. I'm quite inspired by magnuswinwick's recent Cross-Check project thread to have some brightly coloured cables and maybe bar tape!
http://www.lfgss.com/thread91252.html
Hopefully, though, I won't end up with too much anodised blue widgets scattered everywhere... though I did grow up as a 90s MTB-er and secretly have a desire to scatter my bike with anodised CNC components. I am aiming for 1x9 with maybe a 39 on the front and 11-34 on the back. Sensible mudguards. And hopefully moving as much of the existing bits across as possible to save money.
One of the really enjoyable things about the thread above was not only the thought that went into it (I doubt I will match that) but the build log, so I am trying to keep a log of the costs of both the donor 'roller and the new Cross-Check, including the sale of bits as I've swapped them around. That's here for anyone interested.
Quite a few of the 'roller bits will end up for sale (Frame, forks, Sugino cranks, rear wheel, probably front wheel). Drop me a PM if any of that sounds interesting otherwise I'll post some classifieds eventually.
Hopefully I can find lots of the replacement bits from Forumengers...
It felt like it began today, after a good while thinking about it, when I spent a couple of hours hammering at the donor Surly to remove the crown race, the headset and various other frame bits ready for it to go for a respray:
This photo makes the frame look OK but up close it has has a few scratches, which have been neatly patched with clear laquer. It's a 2005 frame and is in metallic dark green, and I'm after gloss-black to stick with the look developing in the 'roller, so all in I decided to go with a respray and dropped it off at Amourtex this afternoon.
Ironically, in an et-tu Brute moment, it was the 'roller that I cycled upon to deliver its nascent nemesis to Amourtex...
I hope I don't end up missing the Steamroller too much!