episodic

On Surly's site, it says the following about my cross check:


Crankset Andel , Forged arms, Silver aluminum, granny ring compatible. 110mm BCD rings, 36 & 48t, ramped & pinned, Black


The 'granny ring' compatible thing - does that mean that I can add a 24 or a 26 tooth granny in the front? If so can you point me to a how to or where I can purchase this particular ring? Thanks!

desertdork

Yes, you can install the small inner ring without issue. What you have is a 110/74 BCD "triple-compatible" crank w/o the inner chainring that makes it a triple. Sugino, Surly, etc, have 74 BCD inner rings. If you think you'll use it a lot, there are steel and stainless steel options. You'll probably need a new bottom bracket with a longer spindle to maintain chainline and to allow room for the small ring.

5b00

A 74 mm BCD granny should bolt right on. You'll need inner chainring bolts.

A few years ago I emailed Surly about switching to a triple. They said that I might need a longer BB (68x118) and a triple front derailleur, depending on the size of the chainring. The stock derailleur is a double.

I never tried it myself though. Turns out I didn't really need that much range.

episodic

So it isn't a simple ready to go thing then. I was hoping that 'all' I had to do was to get the ring - but if I've got to replace BB and change derailleurs, I think I'll live w/ what I have.

Thanks

fietsbob

Yup, adding a 3rd ring means making room for it. new BB, longer,
to make room for another chainring is a no brainer ..

might get away with just adjusting the FD to suit..

TugaDude

+1. In many instances you can get by with the existing FD. Only way to know for certain is to try, but I'll bet you can.

SurlyLaika

I had a 26 chain ring added by the LBS. They changed out the Tiagra Double for a Tiagra Triple FD and charged me $10 for the 26t chain ring. Maybe they didn't do it right, but they didn't even touch the bottom bracket and I used that 26t for many, many miles on tour. No problems.

fuzz2050

I've heard of plenty of other people doing the same thing. Don't know if Surly speced a triple bottom bracket, or it's just close enough.

Spld cyclist

I was thinking about buying a Cross Check and looked at that issue. The Sora 3403 FD specified for the 2012s appears to be a triple if you check the Shimano website.

Also, this is posted on the Surly website: "Can I make my Cross Check into a triple? Yes, but you'll need to buy some stuff. The crankset that comes stock on our complete bike will accommodate a 74mm bolt circle granny ring. You'’ll need a 74mm BCD chainring, some bolts and spacers for it, a triple front derailleur, and a longer bottom bracket . You can probably get this done for around $100-$150 at a bike shop. The stock shifters will work fine with it."

Jim

HillRider

I avoided all of these problems by buying my Cross Check as a bare frame and fork and building it up from there. You can have exactly what you want that way but it costs a bit more unless, as I did, you have a bunch of left-over parts and/or another bike you transfer them from.