Originally Posted by scotch
This was confirmed by my LBS where they have a 56cm Crosscheck on the floor. It's built up w/ 105...thing is beautiful...but a bit more than I want to spend. They want me to bring my 55 Axis in and see how how I sit on it/seat height, etc before we decide on the 54 or 56 Surly.
As for the shifters, I may just have them put on a set of flight decks for me. Other than that, I'll leave it as it comes.
Thanks for the input.
I wouldn't worry about barcons. I've been using them since 1989 on all my road bikes. The big advantage over brifters is durability. Barcons just don't break. I've seen lots of busted brifters on ebay but no barcons. They get scratched but still keep working. Plain old brake levers are about $20, very cheap. Most of the time in a crash it's the levers that take a beating. Try replacing a brifter for under $100. Good luck
Tim