JoshSlocum

Looking at getting a new (2013 or 2014) Surly Cross Check to use for commuting and touring. Currently riding a 2008 Trek 7.3 FX and ride 2000+ miles a year. If I bought a new X-Check frame and fork what all is transferable from my present bike? I am on a tight budget and not looking to have the very best of the best. The FX has been very functional tho a tad squirrely frame-wise certain conditions; thus looking at steel.

Ideally I would like to swap out as much as I can from the FX to the X-Check, including the bars. No desire for drop bars so don't try to convince me, please.

What are my options for shifters on flat/riser bars other than trigger shifters? I don't really mind the Shimano EF60s on the FX but is there something simpler at a reasonable price?

Would be buying the X-Check from LBS and having him do the work. Would like to talk to him intelligently about the build. Any help would be appreciated. Pardon my ignorance on bike mechanics.

My FX on a 500+ mile trip thru the N. WI and UP last summer

HillRider

Almost everything will move over from the Trek to the Cross Check. Cross Checks come with 132.5 mm rear spacing so either road (130 mm) or MTB (135 mm) hubs will work. Trek uses the same 700c wheels size as the Cross Check so the brakes will transfer too as will the brake levers, bars, shifters, rear derailleur and cassette. The crank and bottom bracket should be a direct lift if the Trek has a 68 mm bb shell. The front derailleur may or may not transfer depending on the clamp diameter. The Cross Check uses a 1-1/8" (28.6 mm) front derailleur clamp.

Even the seatposts are the same diameter (27.2 mm) so it and the saddle will transfer. Assuming the Trek has a 1-1/8" steerer diameter, the stem and spacers will also make the change. You will need a new headset as the Trek has an "integrated" headset and the Cross check uses a standard press in cup type.

One warning, the Cross Check has horizontal dropouts so be sure the quick release skewers on your rear hub is an enclosed cam type like a Shimano or Campy. External cams skewers can't be tightened enough to keep the wheel from slipping in the dropouts under load. Buy the right type if you don't already have it.

digger531

+1 with the just about everything being transferable however I would question why the crosscheck and not the LHT. You said you Trek gets a little squirrely sometimes so this is why you are considering steel (I promise there will be someone here soon to bash you for saying that) but not all steel is created equal (or alum...calm down). Just throwing it out there. I think the cross check is an awesome bike.

fietsbob

seat tube may be smaller on the Surly so FD may not flip over without coping with the difference.

dont like the trigger shifters ? other choices thumb shifters ..

Trekking Figure 8 bend bars are an option .. still reuse the controls , then .

(and grip shifters )..

probably need a new seatpost .. with the new frame..

Own neither, so I guess.. aluminum often, goes oversize these days..

Crescent Cycle

Well a Cross Check is designed for drop bars. Make sure you size on effective top tube, and that you don't find the standover and such too high for you. Sometimes flatbar frames are designed with longer top tubes. I'm going top be in the camp that says besides placebo effect, the Cross Check won't be less squirelly given the geometry of the FX. I don't think steel will fix that.

Amesja

Upright bars don't make a drop-bar bike and upright bike. The geometry is different as others have mentioned. A lot of folks have made this same mistakes building Mixtes into upright bikes and running into the fact that some of those old mixte frames were designed for drop-bar road bikes and not upright city cruisers. Squirrely is a pretty apt description. It can be done, but a drop-bar road bike isn't going to ride exactly like an upright bike just because it has upright bars on it. Steel or aluminum construction isn't going to change the way the bike's geometry was set up by the frame-builder -that's all about how the bike is going to be ridden and in what body position and for what purpose...

HillRider

That's one thing I'm sure he won't have to change. Trek's web site says his bike has a 27.2 mm seatpost and I'm certain the Cross Check (I had one) takes the same diameter.

JoshSlocum

Thanks to everyone for their input. It'll be an experiment. If it doesn't work I can always reverse the process.