Ergolad

That's a mighty perty bike you got there. Congrats on the decision. Mind my asking how much it set you back after all was said and done? Where did you find it locally, and were you able to test ride it first?

burbankbiker

After all was said and done, it was near 1500. But that's with pedals, shoes, car rack, and some other stuff that I needed too. I ordered from Bicycle John's in Burbank. They were really helpful with the measurements and getting the right fit. But I ordered on faith. I had ridden some other steel frames and heard so much good about the CrossCheck - plus I loved its versatility and ability to convert to a fixed gear down the road or a tourer for longer journeys.

Ergolad

Nice. It's a good looking bike. Stealthy. Would love to have had an opportunity to feel out a steel frame when I was test riding models.

schmoab

Ergolad, sent you a PM about this thread. I'm also making the same decision. The Surly is nice too, but I might lean towards a Lemond Poprad if I was going to spend that much. I found somebody selling the Kona for $1000, and I haven't seen another bike that is all 105 in that price range.

sfcrossrider

I would buy a Surly CrossCheck. I also wouldn't sweat a tripple on a cross bike. I just replaced a broken Richey CrossPro crank set with new XT tripple and I couldn't be happier. And yes... I race. I also live in San Francisco where a tripple is a must if you commute every day throughout the city. The 30 ounces the small ring adds is worth the versatility.

Ergolad

Hey schmoab. I'm so far from an authority on these bikes. I defer to the more experienced riders. With that said, I am very happy with my choice of bikes. Aesthetically, I have to say I'm pretty darn jealous of the look of that CrossCheck that burbankbiker ended up getting. I still hate the color of my bike and am so tempted to paint it. (Cus' ya know, it's not how cool your bike is, it's how cool you look on your bike.) At some point I may try and get in touch with bb and see if I can take a spin on his and see how it feels. I still stand by my choice of the JTS over the Axis. I never was able to get on a Volpe to test ride it. As for off-road, I haven't done much. Mostly I've been riding street, hopping curbs, riding over grass medians, and hitting the fire roads here and there. For that, it couldn't be better. I don't have any experience riding a triple. Forgive my ignorance here, but assuming the top and the bottom are the same and the triple just gives more variations between, I don't see much advantage. I like to ride hills here and in my area and if anything I wish I could just have a few more lower gears. I'd be curious to give a triple a go though. As for the CrossCheck, I think bb got that for about $1500 with a *****load of accessories, including a car rack. I'm not sure if he upgraded the components, but from what I can tell that bike is a great value. I'd say he made out like a bandit. Let us know how it goes. Good luck!

Jarery

Color, its an awesome color
The bright orange I originaly hated, now I love.

Go on a ride with a pile of people, or heck even just pass someone going the other way on a bike. Rarely do you rember what someone you passed bike looks like 5 seconds after passing them. It may look great when your staring at it, but its usually quickly forgotten.

A 2006 jts is noticed !

I have had people yell from the other side of a 4 lane highway "nice paint job, love it"

Meet up with someone on my commute, they never fail to talk about the color
As I said, a lot of bikes look good when starign at them, but their hardly memorable.

As to a carbon fork. You can buy a nashabr carbon cross fork for $149.00, then labour to install. It also has disc mounts on it if you want to swap your front canti brake to an avid disc down the road.