Surlyrider

Well, I bit the bullet this year (age 50) and finally bought a "nice" bike. I've never ridden much, but am pretty regular with my exercise routine, and thought I'd try riding. Wow. Just love it. Bought the Surly Cross Check this spring, and really like the bike. I'm primarily a road rider, but expect some light touring in my future, so, based on riding friends advice, picked up the Surly. I decided to add the granny ring for touring, and because I thought it would be cheaper than changing out the back cassette, plus give me closer shifting changes (ended up partly true). So, having no bike repair experience, I haunted this site, watched YouTube, etc. to learn how.

Bottom line, I replaced the BB with a Shimano BB-UN54, 68x118, to give me more room for the third chain ring and then attempted adjustments. I also added a 24 tooth 74mm 5 bolt "Salsa" brand inner chain ring (aluminum), using a set of Pyramid Steel Chain ring Bolts . What I found, at least (despite reading it worked for others) was that I did not have enough lateral movement between the stops of my Shimano Tiagra front derailleur to engage all three rings - I could do any two, but Juuussst shy of doing three.

The second problem I noted was that when the chain was on the smallest front chain ring and smallest cog in back, the chain was slack - the Tiagra mid cage derailleur that came stock just did not have enough take up to keep the chain off the chainstay. I also looked at it and decided that shortening the chain was not the best solution, as it would have been improper when on the largest ring and cog.

So, I figured if I was gonna do it, I'd do it right. That meant I swapped out the front derailleur with a Shimano Tiagra triple (Shimano FD-4503), and the rear derailleur with a Shimano SLX M662 SGS Long Cage. (basically, I stole my parts inspiration from the Surly Long Haul Trucker)

The changes worked out perfectly. All the components are 9 speed, and work great with my stock bar end shifters. My chain rings are 48-36-24, so it is a REAL road triple with range! My one cheat is that I have about 400 miles on the bike and I was due for my free 90 day checkup with the bike shop where I bought it, so I had them do a final tweak to the adjustments of the derailleurs.

Overall, I couldn't be more pleased, and learned a LOT both from this forum (thanks!) and from doing the work.

JiveTurkey

How did you just add the inner chainring? Did the crank already have the spot for the inner chainring, but it wasn't installed?

Good call putting a triple FD on. You didn't have to replace the RD if the only combo that caused slack was small/small. On a triple, there's never a reason to use this combo since as you get that far down the cassette, it's time to switch to the middle chainring. However, if you decide to put on a MTB cassette for even wider range, you're ready for it.

Good thing you had bar-end shifters (with friction front); usually going from double to triple is much more costly.

HillRider

I also have a relatively new Cross Check with an 8-speed era 105 road triple (52/42/26 as modified) crank and use Shimano 8-speed indexed downtube shifters mounted on Kelly Take-Offs for the shifting. It's a mix of parts-box components with an 8-speed 13x26 Shimano cassette, Sora long cage rd, SRAM 8-speed chain and, of all things, a 10-speed 105 triple fd. Since the front shifting is friction, it works great.

I use it as a rain/beater bike so it has fenders and a rack and heavy 700x32 treaded tires. It's not light but it is durable and a fun bike to ride as long as i'm not in a rush.

Note to JiveTurkey. The current Cross Check comes with a 110 mm bcd crank with 48/36 chainrings but it is drilled and tapped for a 74 mm bcd granny ring. Apparently the OEM bottom bracket is long enough to clear it.

Surlyrider

The Surly Cross Check is sold "Granny Ring Ready" Meaning the crankset itself already had the 74mm 5 bolt spot to just pop a ring on. I realized I could have just skipped the small/small combo, but just hated to not have full use of what I installed and also thought ahead to where I could put on a cassette with a wider range later, and never worry again about the rear derailleur.

Surlyrider

I read in various places that the original bracket would have enough clearance, but looked at the Long Haul Trucker, and saw they used the longer bracket with the granny. I also read where someone had contacted Surly on this issue directly, and Surly recommended a longer bracket, so I went with it. A cheap piece of insurance.