EagleEye

Look at what I just did...went out and bought me a Gunnar Crosshairs frameset!

Got a good deal on it, so I couldn't resist the sale, but now what? I've never built a cx bike before. I plan to use it mostly for commuting, but there are also some trail rides that I will be using the Gunnar to ride with my mtb'er friends as well.

I already have a most of the components, so will just need a few others to complete my build.

Here's what I have:

Shifters - DA
rear der. - DA
cranks - Ultegra
wheels - Mavic/Shimano 105
seatpost - no name alum
saddle - Specialized Ti
handlebars - Zepp XL
stem - Zepp XL

Things I need:

Headset - ???
Brakes - ???
front der. - ultegra

Headset: Can you guys recommend a headset? I'd to get King, but really don't want to spend a lot of $$$, so is there a good alternative? Will buy King if it's really the way I should go.

Brakes: Recommendations, please. I looked at Avid Shorty, but there are several versions. Can you recommend something more specific than Avid, like Avid 4, 6, 7, etc.? I have no idea what the difference between them are.

Thanks! I'm attached some pics of my new joy! Man, it's a beautiful frameset!

BlastRadius

That's a beautiful steel CX frame.

I have three bikes with Cane Creek S2 Headsets and they're solid. They should last a good long time for the $35-$40 I paid for them.

The Avids are decent. The 4's are black and have one piece pads. The 6's are silver and have cartridge pads. The 8's are like 6's but have titanium bolts.
I'd get an old set of XT/LX/STX "M-system" cantis, or maybe the new Shimano cantis.

EagleEye

Thanks! I have Cane on all my other bikes, but they came with the bikes when I bought them. I've never bought a frameset without a headset before, so played around with putting King on it. I'll look into some Shimano canti to the cost comparison.

namaste1978

Hey EagleEye,
In my humble opinion, you should just save yourself the trouble and go right to:
https://www.store.yahoo.com/cyclocros...rogcrosbr.html
These canti's are by far the best you can buy. Trust me on this one. I've been wrenching on Cross bikes in the Northwest for years and this is by far the favorite. The Avids do not have as much stopping power and when set up properly, you can't get the wheels out with out loosening the pinch bolt. PM me and I can ellaborate on this.....

BlastRadius

No doubt Frogglegs are the top choice but at $100 a set they hardly meet requirement of not spending a lot of $$$, especially for a primarily a commuting bike.

EagleEye

That's what I was thinking, but if the Frogglegs will give me less problems and longevity, I may consider the investment. I found a set of Avid 6 for $53. I couldn't find much information on the new Shimano cantis.

BlastRadius

Shimano BR-R550
https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...=shimano+canti

Here's Harris cyclery's canti page... bit expensive though.
https://sheldonbrown.com/harris/cantilevers/index.html

The Tektro 862A and Oryx's might be worth a try. Can't say I've ever tried them though. Here's a page with them dirt cheap. Also, the Shimano Altus cantis are cheap and look just like the older M-system brakes.
https://greatadventuresports.com/site...5&Category=419

EagleEye

Awesome! Thanks Blast!

namaste1978

Hmmmm.....Thats funny BlastRadius,

The posting says he didn't want to spend alot of money on his Headset. Which I agree! Buy the CC S-2 or C-2 and you'll be good to go for years.
As far as the brakes go, come on! This is not where you start to cut corners. The bike has DA shifters and rear derailleur for crying out loud!
The first rainy decent you have to take or first flat you have to change and loosen the brakes on will be a drag. Seriously, this is a safety issue, not a save a few bucks with some crappy brakes issue. This comes from first hand experience!
If your commuting, are you gonna have loaded panniers? This requires extra stopping power!
Good luck......

EagleEye

Good point, Namaste. I will have a loaded pannier for commutting, will also do some trail rides. This is what I was talking about. I don't mind investing on something if it makes sense. BTW, the DA and other components are stuff I have lying around, so that's why I'm using them. Thanks for your replies, guys.

BlastRadius

I'd agree with you on the Avids... the Shorty 6s on my Axis squealed like crazy without massive toe-in but I could attribute that to the brake pads and/or fork. Many Axis owners have complained of this. As for the opening wide enough... if you have a flat I don't see that as being a problem, however the 6's on my Axis do open wide enough to let the inflated 35mm Kenda Kwicks out.

I have two bikes with older LX brakes, one with Ritchey red pads and the other with Kool Stop Eagle 2 salmon pads. I've never had an issue with stopping power. On my commute, I have a very steep hill with a stoplight at the bottom of it. These brakes stop me with my 10+ lbs of commute gear from 30+ mph on a down slope without a hitch.

Stopping power has a much to do with the pads, the contact patch of the tire, and the angle of the straddle cable as they do with the arms themselves. You can have Frogglegs, have cheap hard pads, be riding on 700x20 tires and have crappy stopping power.

In the end, EagleEye will buy what he wants, I'm merely offering my experiences as are you.

Namaste (is that a Yoga reference?)

namaste1978

Hey
Sorry to be so serious about brakes, there my biggest pet peve! I work for a shop and everyone always wants to save a buck on their brakes, but have no problem with spending it on less important things.
As for my beef with the Avids, I've had many problems with actually not being able to loosen the brake straddle cable out of the right-side caliper arm. Man, that's a drag! If you prefer to run your brakes snug.
I couldn't agree more with you on proper brake set up, just recommended the Empella's since most people have never used them or even seen them. Sorry to sound so defensive!........

(yep, Namaste is a yoga term, but picked it up from some travelling in Nepal. It actually is used many different ways)