Cupcakes' Surly Cross Check

5" wide x 6.5" long

4" tall

here's the mod

Thanks. Reckon I could squeeze my drybag on there. Just out of interest you're running a bigxtop custom bag on the rack, right ?

Yep he is. I've coppied him by getting the same rack and had Jordan at big top make me the same bag as apollo. Works superbly, lots of pockets and internal space is excellent, I recommend them to anybody after a front bag.

For folks without mid blade eyes the Blackburn Outpost looks the boss.

I've got one on order from Ribble so I can bung it on the 1x1 and go for overnight trips with it.

Yep he is. I've coppied him by getting the same rack and had Jordan at big top make me the same bag as apollo. Works superbly, lots of pockets and internal space is excellent, I recommend them to anybody after a front bag.

good to hear. love mine, more than adequate for a long ride that doesn't require a change of clothes.

Luckily I already bought one, because I've wanted one for about a million years. They're a good bit of kit.

Same here. Waited 3 months for them to return to stock and then completely forgot until now!

Here's the route:

That looks excellent - enjoy.

I rode North West from Lairg along side Loch Shin, then took that track over Ben Hee to Loch Hope. Great experience: https://www.flickr.com/photos/47853324@N08/4945536158/

Touring in Scotland is the best!

I'm on the train now down to Gatwick. Plan is to ride through to tunbridge wells on the rail trail. About 30 miles. I'm pretending it's a warm up for Scotland but really its a last minute dash outside to enjoy this spectacularly sunny day.

Lovely stuff, im planning on shifting the carbon frame, crankset and brakes from my ridley and building a cross-check tourer/road/cx bike with what's left.

Wanna run lowrider rack with panniers, rando bag and seatbag i think.

Can you buy the crosscheck frame only? or isit just frameset.

Also apollo - what mudguards are they? look trick.

It's a frameset. Frame, fork and seat post clamp.

Rich, what size did you go for? ETT height would dictate a size 50 for me!?

Lovely stuff, im planning on shifting the carbon frame, crankset and brakes from my ridley and building a cross-check tourer/road/cx bike with what's left.

Wanna run lowrider rack with panniers, rando bag and seatbag i think.

Can you buy the crosscheck frame only? or isit just frameset.

Also apollo - what mudguards are they? look trick.

SKS Bluemels, the wide version

I have to admit, I absolutely <3 this bike. I wanna go full nerdy with some Paul Gino light mounts and other gadgets etc

Is there a proper advantage to running bar end shifters? I do enjoy them, but are they not a pain on rough ground? Fouling them with your knees when out the saddle and stuff?

As has been said, cheap, reliable, easy maintenance.

Ive found that I think about gears less...more enjoyable. Theyre there when you need them, but not intrusive into your riding

Never had a problem out of the saddle either. The only thing is you have to be careful when leaning the bike against a wall.

#dontlean

Shifting is 100% too, even with cables routed under bartape

Dura ace ain't that cheap JB ;)

Stick to 9 speed and Dura Ace won't be needed! :-)

Well, my options are 7900 bar ends or 6600 stis. I've used bar ends before in friction and enjoyed them. Used them on a tourer for commuting and occasionally knocked them, but I suppose this bike won't be used for London filtering.

Any ideas whether 7900 bar ends (index only, I think) play nicely with 10 speed ultegra/105 mechs? Got 6600/5700 to choose between.

Apparently they are, according to the wiggle q&a section. Hopefully that's more accurate than the evans one, where I've seen some proper face palm responses for the staff.

Stick to 9 speed and Dura Ace won't be needed! :-)

mine are 9 speed dura ace?

Ha I had no idea that the 9 speed Shimano ones were DA until a few minutes after I posted that. Still, Dura Ace spec shifting for 50 odd quid is a pretty good deal if you ask me!

For folks without mid blade eyes the Blackburn Outpost looks the boss.

I've got one on order from Ribble so I can bung it on the 1x1 and go for overnight trips with it.

That looks awesome man. Please post some pics in cp when you have it.

Handling might get a bit odd on a cross-check with that much weight on the front; it's no low-trail randonneur.

I'm getting my cross check ready for some touring this summer and I'm going to go with rear panniers, a small frame bag and a bar bag. I've got disc trucker forks on mine which are a little shorter than the standard forks which improves loaded handling a bit too.

A long term upgrade path might be hope monos to a23s or archetypes. But I'd be keen to hear suggestions.

Mavic A319 is pretty strong reasonable weight and a decent width to allow much bigger tyres to fill up the clearance nicely.

Handling might get a bit odd on a cross-check with that much weight on the front; it's no low-trail randonneur.

I'm getting my cross check ready for some touring this summer and I'm going to go with rear panniers, a small frame bag and a bar bag. I've got disc trucker forks on mine which are a little shorter than the standard forks which improves loaded handling a bit too.

How much weight are you basing this idea on ?

It's a frameset. Frame, fork and seat post clamp.

Rich, what size did you go for? ETT height would dictate a size 50 for me!?

I went for a 52,by matching the reach to my caad10 which is scherrit-approved.