Surly Cross Check

VO kit is so, so, nice.

MOAR PICTURES, please.

Yes, it is! I was only going to get the crankset and brakes, then thought well I need mudguards, handlebars, rack, stem and they all needed to look nice and go with the build so before you know it most of the finishings were VO.

One more, of the alternative, neater, mudguard mount

Just had notification that wheels have been despatched and due for delivery tomorrow. Woo and hoo!

Update of costs....

thanks for that, very helpful.

Am I being blind or are your bars not on that list?

the rack and headset are on with some** placeholder bars.**

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Sound

The bike is coming together nicely! It must feel nice to be able to use only new parts and to install them on brand new frame!

Bars have arrived

I've always been useless at wrapping bars, it took five attempts just to get it this good.

See, it does sort of tone down the chrome overload!

Looks great against the blue, esp the cables!

The bike is coming together nicely! It must feel nice to be able to use only new parts and to install them on brand new frame!

Yes, but then plenty of people would just buy an off the peg bike and usually that would be cheaper. This is coming in at sort of Dawes Super Galaxy money, we've yet to find out if it performs as well, though I think I have chosen parts quite well, but for looks I think it's a walk over.

Just the wheels to go I think, there's been a problem with them which will delay things a bit, incredibly frustrating when it's this close to being finished, especially right before a long weekend, the whole bike hanging there wheel-less for a few days more.

Argh - your thread is making me have new Surly fantasies. But it wont put it on ignore, just yet :)

You'd need one to ride with me to Morocco next week Alex.

Bars have arrived

I've always been useless at wrapping bars, it took five attempts just to get it this good.

See, it does sort of tone down the chrome overload!

might be helpful to read this
http://www.raydobbins.com/molteni_replica/molteni_tip

Thanks, that turned out a lot neater even with my poor taping skills.

Also, what bag have you ordered?

A Gilles Berthoud 2286 all the way from the US because nobody in Europe seems to have it in 'grey' which looks like a shade of blue, to me at least. The matching saddle bag was available from Planet X.

No expense spared! I'd be scared to ride it for fear of getting it dirty.

Nice job on the bars btw. The cloth does indeed take some of the bling out. Did you pad underneath? Let me know if it's comfy as is

If its not level i'd ditch the front rack. What are you really going to use it for anyway? Just looks clumsy in my opinion. I would only use one if I had my heart set on a very large handlebar bag/box that required support.

If its not level i'd ditch the front rack. What are you really going to use it for anyway? Just looks clumsy in my opinion. I would only use one if I had my heart set on a very large handlebar bag/box that required support.

The bag going on it does require support and you won't really be able to see it then. In any case it just needs a couple of spacers and pieces of threaded bar to move the lower mounting points forward an inch and then it will be level...

What about decaleur? Any thought about using them?

Yes, the decaleur is on its way too, which turns an already very expensive bag into a horrifically expensive one, it really had better last a lifetime. As I was building the bike though I was thinking about luggage and it was obvious it couldn't be a nylon bag so the options seemed to be Berthoud, Carradice or one of the smaller manufacturers. Berthoud was always the one I liked the look of most, Carradice only seem to do their front bag in black and all the other manufacturers take too long to deliver, so I talked myself into the Berthoud. I've saved long enough and thought long enough about the bike, there's no point taking any half measures now.

Hopefully we're back on now, I've had notice the wheels are due for delivery tomorrow.

Ta da!

Before you say it, yes, middle chain ring fail on some of them.

It's not like anything else I've ridden, an uprightish road bike, a rather odd sensation, pretty comfy, although the saddle is of course as hard as a brick at the moment.

The front bag still hasn't arrived but you can see the spacer has sorted out the angle of the front rack.

This whole project has been textbook in its style and nippy execution. The cost table is a great idea too.

Bike looks great, but what's with the stargazing brake levers/bars? More comfortable?

Really really nice. Now it all needs is some road dirt ;D