chrsnyder

Greetings. From one Clyde to another, is anybody riding a Surly Cross Check? I am thinking about picking up Road and possibly CX to give my MTB a rest. Just trying to decide what to go with and the Cross Check seems to have caught my eye. Look forward to your feedback!

Tom Stormcrowe

We've got some Cross Check riders, and some Long haul Trucker riders here in Clyde's and both groups are very happy with them

MikeLD

One of my bikes is a cross check. I use it for riding gravel and limestone trails ... and for 2 and 3 day touring. It's a nice bike ... a little heavy, but what the heck, so am I. The thing is a tank. I have 48 spoke wheels on the back 40 on the front with phil wood hubs and it can take whatever I dish out.

I like it alot, but I don't take it on the group road rides with our club ... I need something a little lighter and faster for that kind of riding.

For what it's worth, I just built up a Surly Pacer today (with mostly components I already had) ... the frame is almost as heavy but I'm using lighter wheels and components on it ... smaller tires, no rack, etc. I think it's going to be a great "winter" road bike.

CliftonGK1

I've got a CC Complete that I've done some mods to:

34t inner chainring
11-32 cassette
SON28/DT RR1.1 front wheel
Gatorskin tires
Brooks B-17 Imperial saddle

I weigh 245 pounds, and I haven't done any 'beefing up' of the rear wheel. After 3300 miles so far, I've done nothing more than an intial de/re-tensioning and a 200 mile trueing. The front I only replaced because I switched to dyno powered lighting. The stock 32h wheels are fine, even though there are plenty of people who don't like Alex rims. The DA-16 is a great rim (although a bit heavy.) The Cross Check frame and fork are indeed kind of weighty. It's 4130 cro-mo, not a lightweight Reynolds steel like 853. Then again, that's one of the reasons I love it: I punish my bike, and there are no problems with it. I'm not afraid to lean it against things when I lock up. I don't worry about it when I leave it on a rack next to other bikes which might fall against it. It is a tank.
I've also ridden 4 centuries, two double metrics, and a double imperial on it this year and I'm riding a 400k on it next summer, so it's a very capable long distance bike.

c_m_shooter

I have lost track of the number of miles I have put on my Cross Check. Centuries, club rides, commuting, loaded tours, mountain biking, and a couple Cross races. I like taking it to the skills clinics that the local mountain bike club puts on, mountain bikers on full suspension don't know what to think of it. Last weekend I took it with me to a wheelie drop clinic and the photographer there got a great shot of me going off the platform on it. Although it didn't translate well on the post.

c_m_shooter

I might add, I did bend the front fork and wheel about a year ago. (nothing against Surly, I hit a tree on a fast downhill trail) The mechanic at my LBS had just added disk brakes to his Cross Check and gave me a hell of a deal on his OEM fork. I trued the wheel back up as best I could and it has been going strong since. I have dropped off bigger stuff than that platform on the trails, and enjoy bunnyhopping cattleguards on beat up country roads, even if I'm loaded down with camping gear. My touring partners insisted that I was going to break it but not yet. I am only a borderline Clyde, but if this bike can take my abuse, it is a winner.

moammar

I am deeply in love with mine. I'm about 215 and have had no problems with mine, which I bought complete, aside from the usual derailleur adjustments and tweaks.

I commute about 20 miles daily and take longer rec rides. It's built for abuse, but it can also hold a pace.

CliftonGK1

Crazy insane levels of awesome! I bunnyhopped a big pothole on mine, and you should have seen the jaw-drop from the guy I was riding with. He was unprepared to see someone my size A) actually pull off a hop and, B) not crumple my wheels like a pop can.