Surly Cross Check

I was going to wait until I had everything and build it in one go but it's Saturday and I haven't much to do.....

I was about to put the front derailleur on and started worrying about the paint on a brand new frame so thought to line the clasp with some magic tape. No idea if it will work.

^ It cant hurt.

In my experience, the powder coat on Surly frames is pretty tough. My LHT has taken some d-lock abuse, yet it still looks fine.

Of course, it's always tough with a brand new frame. Not much worse than a ham-fisted mechanical moment. :-)

With no handlebars, headset or wheels I'm a bit stuck for things to do now. Should go and do something useful I suppose.

Where did you order the brakes from?

Freshtripe £90

I'm beginning to feel guilty. Bollocks to it, some people pay more than that for a set of wheels.

Thats going to be one nice bike. Make sure you budget for a damn good lock or two.

£90 for canti's ? oof!

pretty though.

Thats going to be one nice bike. Make sure you budget for a damn good lock or two.

I'm already paranoid about security, I have two Fahgs, cable lock and even lock my bikes up inside my flat!

subscribed, amazing project, good looking and shiny, what camera are you using to take pictures?

Thanks. The camera is a Canon S95.

Cheers it is looking good, I will need some cantis in a couple of weeks I will check back with freshtripe then as currently they are showing out of stock, and they do look nice.

It's getting busy at the front end. the rack and headset are on with some placeholder bars.

I am very much liking the look of this, one thing though, get some non white tyres. Maybe some Palsas

Cut the steerer down today, fitted star fangled nut. Fitted the front mudguard more neatly to the inside of the fork crown. Trimmed cables roughly to length and fitted with levers.

This is a nice yeahnice. Keeping a keen eye on this!

if it's worth doing....it's worth doing well!

She's a lot for the eye to take in! Again, lovely build and build log though

Looks lovely, looking forward to hearing more!

Thanks for the encouragement guys, I know it's said these things should be done for your own satisfaction, but it's always nice to be complimented. Handlebars should arrive tomorrow, wheels could be anytime. Front bag is on its way from the US. A couple of little bits to do tonight. I think it's almost looking too shiny at the moment but hopefully the bar tape and rack bag will tone it down a bit. Hope you all like it as much when it's finished!

hopefully the bar tape ... will tone it down a bit.

The banana yellow bar tape? Yeah that's a nice subtle effect ;)

I'm jesting of course. One doesn't know how the final thing will turn out. Just tell me you've not gone for purple anodized wheels or something.

This looks ace so far. More pics please.

What rack is that on the front? Is it the VO Passhunter? If so, how did you find fitting it, any bending required? I'd really like to get one, but have read some less than encouraging reports about fitting them to a cross check. If poss I'd love to see a side on shot, of the front end and then a closer one of how it fits around the cantis.

Also, what bag have you ordered?

VO kit is so, so, nice.

MOAR PICTURES, please.

Mine is going to be totally different. It'll be interesting to see them both finished. At the moment it's just a red 60cm frame and forks, Thomson X4 stem, SKS Longboard mudguards, Salsa Lip Lock, Ringle seatpost, and tatty SDG Bel Air saddle. SRAM Rival levers/shifters on the way, and looking for Force crankset, X9 or X0 rear mech, Ergonova bars, Chris King headset, ATAC pedals, Open Pro or CXP33 wheels, Old Man Mountain rear rack, etc. Ringle H2O cage too.

The banana yellow bar tape? Yeah that's a nice subtle effect ;)

I'm jesting of course. One doesn't know how the final thing will turn out. Just tell me you've not gone for purple anodized wheels or something.

Well, the tape's a bit less bling than chrome handlebars :D

Ha, no, sensible wheels.

This looks ace so far. More pics please.

What rack is that on the front? Is it the VO Passhunter? If so, how did you find fitting it, any bending required? I'd really like to get one, but have read some less than encouraging reports about fitting them to a cross check. If poss I'd love to see a side on shot, of the front end and then a closer one of how it fits around the cantis.

Also, what bag have you ordered?

Yes, it's the Pass Hunter. Fitting it was strange. I took off the brake calipers and put the bar of the rack through the fork crown and then thought "there's no effing way the supports will reach the bosses. They didn't, worse still, the holes in the support wouldn't fit over the bosses, I was very confused, not helped by the fact VO never supply instructions with anything. After about ten minutes I picked up the bag with the fasteners in and realised I was being a total dick. The calipers stay in place, there's a bolt that passes through the hole in the support arm and then a dome nut that screws on to the other end of the bolt. The supports required a fractional amount of pre-bending and then a little persuasion to fit over the bolt but certainly nothing particularly bothersome.

It's not completely level but I can live with it for now. It would require bolts a couple of inches longer to make it sit level