jonespen

Surly Cross Check

Commuter and touring bike for Malin, who wanted a faster and more sturdy bike than her tokyobike. This is my second build from scratch, so I wrote up things I learned during the process.

Lessons learned

I spent hours and hours reading forums in the darkest corners of the web, but the frame was way bigger then I thought. This lead to some quirky workarounds in the cockpit.

The Velo Orange Randonneur Handlebar looks really nice, but I didn't realise the reach was that long. Combined with a 100 mm stem, and a relatively large frame, the reach was even to long for me. Switched to Nitto M151F Compact Drops, and a BLB A-head 50 mm stem, which gave a much more balanced reach.

Getting a nice fender line was a lot harder than I thought. Initially I used the fork crown daruma for the fork, but this lead to a gap I could stick my hand trough.

bad fender line

So I ended up with something that felt like cheating, using the Problem Solvers Fender Flute. For the rear fender, it wasn't to bad, just needed some kind of spacer on the chainstay bridge. At first I just used a wine cork, which looked pretty cool, but led to problems when taking the wheel off. Not a big issue, but of course VO have a solution for that as well; the Spring Thing!

Oh, and if you really wonder, the mixed color housing is due to the Velo Orange housing fit into the Campagnolo shifter, so had to use the Campagnolo housing. Totally fine, the Velo Orange housing was quite stiff.

What's next

I initially bought a nice Velo Orange brass bell, but that didn't fit the new handlebars. Maybe I'll try one of those spacer mounted bells, certainly have room for that.

Also, I bragged about this being a touring bike, but it doesn't even have any racks! That's also in the making, we have a shiny Pelago Commuter front rack just waiting to be mounted, but need to get some mounts for the fork which is hard to get in Oslo.

Update: The rack is on and working, I'll try to get some new photos.

The quick release skewers will be replaced with some allen key skewers, right now it's way to easy to steal those wheels.

Build list

FramesetSurly Cross Check
GroupsetCampagnolo Centaur
CranksetGrand Cru 50.4 BCD Crankset, 165 mm
WheelsVelo Orange 700c Enterprise
BrakesPaul Component MiniMoto Mini V-Brake
HeadsetVelo Orange 1-1/8" Sealed Bearing Threadless Headset
HandlebarVelo Orange Randonneur Handlebar 46 cm
Nitto M151F Compact Drops 40cm
StemThreadless Stem 100mm
BLB A-head 50 mm
Bottom bracketVelo Orange English Threaded Bottom Bracket
SaddleBrooks B17S
PedalsMKS Sylvan Touring Pedal
BartapeBrooks Leather Bar Tape
Brooks Microfiber Bar Tape
SeatpostRitchey Classic 2-Bolt Seatpost
FendersVelo Orange 700c Smooth Fenders, 45mm
Brake cable kitVelo Orange Metallic Braid Brake Cable Kits
Derailleur cable kitVelo Orange Metallic Braid Derailleur Cable Kits
Campagnolo housing
Accidentally Blue lug style due to not enough shiny spacers 😓
The spring thing in action.
MTB stem 🗻
Problem Solvers Fender Flute
Campagnolo recommends a pretty loose chain, so much chain slap.