There s a reason that nearly every person who has ever worked for surly has owned one.
Surly cross check bikepacking.
I often say this is a surly that wishes it was a rivendell.
The build is inspired by our lord and bicycle savior grant peterson.
Over the past two months i built surly cross check to be my light touring and commuting bike of the future.
The bike proved to be reliable versatile and straight forward.
Surly cross check 52 cm robins egg blue.
It safely guided me from coast to coast with only minor issues.
Sram apex 10 speed 11 32 cassette 50 34 truvativ crank velocty dyad shimano lx hub hand built by peter white cycles schwalbe marathon pro tires with 500 miles on them carbon seat post with specialized toupe saddle avid canti brakes with kool stop pads chris king headset.
Drop bars or flats gears or not chunky tires or slicks it s all been done.
The surly troll as i had it is a perfect bike for hauling big loads of gear through second and third world conditions.
Since then people have modified them hundreds of different ways to suit their riding styles and preferences.
This cross check started its life as a stock build and i ve slowly swapped out pretty much every part on the bike.
Cross check was the first complete bike we ever offered.
The only original bits are the wheels shifters and front derailleur.
Overall if i had to rate the surly cross check on a scale from 1 to 5 i would give it a 3 5.
I wanted a lighter.
It certainly isn t a bad bike and as a member of the steel is real movement i appreciate what surly is doing here however i feel like no matter what you are using this bike for you are making some trade offs.
One year and over 5 000 miles after my purchase from the bike rack i am very happy that i bought the surly cross check.
The surly cross check doesn t need a lengthy introduction of course.
Surly cross check bikepacking gear gravel all road mike has contributed a time or two on the blog and here is the surly cross check he built in the spring of 2013 for a summer road tour across western europe.
We provide inspiration and information through original bikepacking routes.
Mike has contributed a time or two on the blog and here is the surly cross check he built in the spring of 2013 for a summer road tour across western europe.
