Tangerine dream - surly for 2 seasons

New build. Got the f&f and assorted finishing kit from @Aches and now trying to pick a groupset - so seems like a good time to start a thread. This will not be a money-no-object build, but hopefully I'm trying to do a couple of things that others might find interesting.

3 aims with this bike (in no particular order):

1. Single speed/fixed winter hack
   
2. Laden tourer in the summer (for credit card touring I'll use my Ribble Audax)
   
3. Future proof for a proper long adventure tour at some point in the future
   
   

So I went for a cross check for the horizontal drop-outs, allowing me to switch between single-speed/geared for winter/summer. Originally I was planning a 1x set up, with one carefully selected chainring for gearing for use in both modes. Then could just whip the rear derailleur off and switch back wheel out for two bikes in one.

I'm still going to do that to a bike at some point but I'm worried that 1x would leave me under-geared when heavy touring in the hills, so thinking again of a double group. Will probably leave the double crankset on though and just use one ring for winter SS.

Looking at Sram Apex 2x10 because people seem to suggest you can fit a massive 36T cassette on the back (anyone have experience with this?), and also for it's cross-compatibility with Sram MTB parts - so if I need much lower gears for a mega-tour in the future I can mix and match without having to start from scratch. I don't think I need 11 speed really, and I can't imagine how hard it is to get 11 speed cassettes when in far flung places.

Does this make sense to anyone else? There is a small part of me that thinks I could get Shimano 105 for the same price 11 speed, so might be missing out. But I think the future proofing is probably worth it and I'm not going to be racing on this build...

Full spec (as I work it out):

• Surly CC frame and fork - orange
  
• Chris King headset - black
  
• Drivetrain 1: Fixed 50:20 (using big ring of sram rival crankset)
  
• Drivetrain 2: sram rival crankset, apex shifters, rival/apex front/rear derailleurs
  
• Wheels: Mavic Open Sport on tiagra hubs front and rear for geared, switching rear for an old mavic on maillard track hub for fixed.
  
• Tektro 926AL mini-v brakes
  
• Thomson elite X4 stem - black
  
• Deda RMH02 compact bars - black
  
• SKS longboard guards - black
  
• Brooks swift saddle
  
• 35c Vittoria Voyager tyres or 28c Panaracer Paselas
  

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http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/BLTRPCX9/trp-cx9-cantilever-brakes

Or Paul's Touring canti's

28c Panaracer Paselas

No. IMO / Experience.

Vitoria Rando's are another good call. 12 English pounds from decathlon last time I checked...

Can't wait to see how this turns out, been wanting something like this myself. Hope you manage the crank and chaining that works across 1x and fixed if you go that way!

I really like my 35mm paselas for light touring. Wouldn't go for 28mm though

Yeah those are just the tyres I already have - I've light toured on the paselas before and got on fine. But that was on a bike with tight clearances so might as well make the most of this frame and stick something comfier on.

@Thrasher why you not into paselas? Gumwalls make any bike better surely?

I've had 32mm pasela's and loved them. Not too much love for 28's. Puncture centeral.

Try jack brown's if you like 32+mm touring gumwalls

Does anyone know if they're phasing 2x10 sram apex out and just doing the 1x version from 2017? Can hardly find any places selling it

I've a cc and run it 1x10 currently. It's got a 42t ring up front and an 11'36 with a Hope T-rex 40t on the rear. Rides great and easily swapped to my ss mode by putting in the other wheel with a WI Eno 18t

Nice project, very similar to what I'm planning myself at the moment.

When changing from geared to SS, what are you going to do with the gear cables?

Was going to just remove them, along with the rear and (maybe) front derailleur. But continue using the brifters just as brake levers. Can't see that causing any massive problems. Not sure if the shifter levers will flap about without the cable tension or not - but will cross that bridge when I come to it.

That's a sweet setup. Have you used that hauling camping gear?

I've tried a bunch of cassette/chainring options and 1x seems to get me nearly all the way there in terms of gear range but just can't quite do it for heavy loads in the hills. Leaning back towards a double unfortunately, as I am really tempted by 1x for all other uses.

I don't think they will flap about. The problem I am seeing is that since the gear cables are running underneath the bar tape I'd have to remove and then re-wrap the bar each time I'm going to Single speed and back. Granted, in your situation doing this 2x a year is probably tolerable, but I am planning on changing wheels more regularly. Was thinking of going retro and using downtube shifters instead for that reason, I think I saw someone on here doing this with their SS some time ago.

Yeah good point - I'll just re-wrap the bars every 6 months.

I'm not a massive fan of downtube shifters, but that would work. My preference would probably be mounting flatbar levers on the tops of the drop handlebars though, or just going for a flat bar. Either way you could then just remove the whole shifters, cables and derailleurs in one go.

I have downtube shifters on my cross-check. They are excellent in my opinion and suit the bike perfectly.

RE gearing: I did a heavy tour on a cross-check with a 36x34 bottom gear and was fine, so a 42x40 or 40x40 would definitely be okay

After loads of back and forth and many hours spent staring at gear calculators, I finally pushed the button on drivetrain bits.

I've gone for a SRAM mix - apex and rival 10 speed. Apex shifters and rear mech, and Rival crankset and front mech. It's awesome how cross-compatible SRAM stuff is. Starting with 50/34 and 11-34 cassette, but will be able to easily switch a 10sp mtb rear derailleur in at a later date if I want even more spinny.

Also ordered a front wheel, cables and bar tape. So I'm basically ready to go when everything arrives.

Really busy over next little while but hopefully will find bits of time here and there. Will update with any progress and hopefully some pictures when I have more than just a frame.

Can I ask why you don't just run gears all year round?

I've used Paselas my self in the past, they are okay, but the Voyagers are definitely tougher, roll nicer and a bit lighter than the standard Rando's, but Rando's handle much better off road as the voyagers are basically slick

Looking forward to seeing the progress!

Because fixed is fun and washing my bike in the winter makes me sad.

So - got a bit too excited and ordered lots of bits for this last week. Now most of them have arrived and I'm almost ready to crack on with it when I can find some spare hours.

Full cost for build now looking like it will come in at 700, which looking at the spec of off-the-peg cross checks which RRP for almost double that I think is a pretty good job. Mine is going to be way sicker (and have two drivetrains).

Will update first post with full spec in case anyone is interested.

So excited to start putting this together.

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Very jealous right now ;)

I had the same thoughts regarding the RRP of the OTP builds. I was going to buy one on cycle to work but even with the tax savings you end up with a nice frame but relatively cheap parts that you probably end up changing anyways (at least in my case).

Fiiiiiiinally an update.

So I've spent the past 4 weeks tumbling through the Kafkaesque world of Halfords click and collect. Most annoyingly it was for the smallest part on the whole bike while all the other parts just sat looking at me.

Well finally yesterday I got the call and this morning I went to pick up my prize.

I had a free Saturday so spent the rest of the day building and finally got it rolling early evening. I've built it up fixed for now as I'm only mashing around London and hate cleaning my bike in the winter, but in a few months will stick gears on it for touring.

The two drivetrains thing totally works - using the big ring I can get a decent chainline and gearing fixed, and the brifters feel just fine running only a brake for now.

What can I say? I'm in love. It is the comfiest thing I've ever ridden and just chews up the road and spits it out the back. I'll try to take some better pics soon as these rushed badly lit ones just don't do it justice, it looks wicked honest.

I've been lusting over a cross check for years now and it's amazing to finally have one I can ride.

The only thing I can think that I want to change about it is the seatpost for a black Thomson inline (anyone have one of these in their parts bin?), and maybe get a front rack at some point.

Nice, good that you are enjoying it so much! Have you looked at any front racks in particular? Thinking of giving the specialized pizza rack a go..