Cyclocross - road fork on a cross check?

I have a Surly Crosscheck and would love to put my WoundUp Carbon fork on it. Problem is that it's set up for a regular road brake, as opposed to cantilever. This switch shouldn't be a problem if I just swap out my brakes, right?

why do you want to put a road fork on your cross frame? Just wondering . . .

i use the cross check mostly on the road, don't get out onto the dirt very often.

so...anyone?

Certainly you can do this. But I don't think it would look good. (That's just me. I think that if a bike's a cross bike it should have cross brakes rear and front, and if a road bike's a road bike, etc etc.)

Wound Up make a 'cross fork, but alas it is very expensive.

i wouldn't worry too much about the looks, and running a caliper brake isnt a problem.

but if the fork has a different length (which it likely does, cross check forks are long) it will change the geometry of the bike. the angles will probably steepen and steering will be affected. its hard to say how big the effect will be until you try it.

also don't forget that caliper road brakes give much less tire clearance than cantis, V-brakes, or discs.
your choices of cross tires will be very limited as a result.

I have a Surly Crosscheck and would love to put my WoundUp Carbon fork on it. Problem is that it's set up for a regular road brake, as opposed to cantilever. This switch shouldn't be a problem if I just swap out my brakes, right?It will work fine, but use the cantilever brake in back and the caliper brake in front.

The road fork will be shorter and will change the geometry of the bike.

Road forks are 2cm shorter, which will change the ride significantly, and not necessarily in a good way.

Don't do it.

Road forks are 2cm shorter, which will change the ride significantly, and not necessarily in a good way.2cm equates to about a 1 degree change in seattube and headtube angles.

2cm equates to about a 1 degree change in seattube and headtube angles.

right, which is a nontrivial amount.

for a given fork rake 1 degree on the headtube can reduce the bike's trail by half or more (edit: this is wrong).

also the seat tube angle gets steeper, putting more weight on the hands. some of this can be compensated for with saddle adjustment and with a lucky fork rake but there will definitely be a noticeable difference for better or worse.

i say give it a shot though, switching the fork crown race is a quick and easy job for a shop.

right, which is a nontrivial amount.
for a given fork rake 1 degree on the headtube can reduce the bike's trail by half or more.http://www.kreuzotter.de/english/elenk.htm
Outside diameter of wheel = 70 cm
Fork rake = 4.4 cm
Changing HT angle from 72 to 73 degrees changes trail from 6.7 cm to 6.1 cm. Even going to 74 deg, 5.5 cm. Am I missing something?

nope, careless calculation on my part. sorry about that.

anyway, i still feel that the difference would be noticeable. but only one way to find out.