Go for it!

I am riding one of these at the moment (winter/rain bike) https://www.brodiebikes.com/2010/bikes/romax.php

Same basic tubing as the cross check and probably made in the same factory (Hodaka or Maxway) a little more "modern" with the slight sloping TT and the straight blade fork.

I love jstewse's brown one above, so great!!

Yes I think it's under $400.

I'll check later on.

Nice bike! How much does it weigh?

Go for the Space Horse!

space horse or a double cross disc. Personally, I would not buy a new do it all bike that did not have disc brakes.

All City actually has a couple of models that look tempting.

The Macho Man disc looks like a decent combo of features.

Kind of reminds me of the older La Cruz model from Salsa.

I just purchased a La Cruz from Fender1 as a b-day gift for my oldest son.

Macho Man Disc



Salsa La Cruz

I had a Cross Check, and I'd be lying if is said I didn't miss it. It was a fun bike and it had tons of utility too. I've had 4 Surly bikes (currently own 2) and I have nothing bad to say about them. My Troll is my favorite one of all though. 26"/650B/700C/Drop bar/Flat bar/disc/canti/racks/fenders? Options galore.

However the Space Horse....it's just plain awesome.

I recently picked up a Cross Check to build as my allarounder SS bike and have put 500+ miles on it in the last month. I am very pleased with my selection, although there are a number of frames in this category that, as mentioned, would serve the same purpose.

BTW, I have a Carradice Barley and a Bagman II on order for this bike. It's going to do some serious canal miles this spring.


I have two sets of wheels to switch out. Here is Darth Surly with 27" touring wheels and 27x1 1/4 Gators. The other set has 30mm Ritchey Speedmax.

here's my Traveler's Check, which is a Cross Check with S&S couplers. I have it set up as a rando / touring bike. It's great for touring and commuting.



more info here: https://djcatnap.com/surly-travelers-...touring-build/

No direct experience with either bike, but the Pake C'Mute also is pretty reasonably priced (maybe cheaper than the Cross Check). I was considering picking up one. I found a used Gunnar Crosshairs on eBay that I'm building into a similar do-it-all kind of bike, but those run substantially higher at retail.

Here's a build report on the Pake c'mute:

https://www.foxandhammer.com/diy/pake...ild-road-test/

nice bike, 23lbs

I believe forum member Khatfull is finishing a very nice build on one of these.

Saw it the other day and it looked great.

Perhaps he'll post this up eventually.

No Idea what it weighs, but it's ain't light. I built a sturdy wheel set (XT hubs/Salsa Delgado Cross rims) over a lightweight set for the sake of price and durability, with some level of abuse in mind. I often find myself riding single-track and some pretty gnarly secondary roads.

I agree with most of the comments about the price relative to a c&v frame with lighter tubes, but the real catch for me here is the tire clearance. A 50mm tire is a different beast than a 32mm tire. A drop-bar 26" conversion is a good option too, but they're usually no lightweights either. I like the bigger wheel diameter as well, and theres new, great looking tires becoming available all the time.

I don't like the stright forks on the All City and Salsa, the Surly has a bit of a bend which looks better IMO.


Catnap, nice T's Check, the fork really makes it for me, is that from Surly or did you source it elsewhere?

Not all All City frames have straight blade forks. The Space Horse does not. I like the internal wiring.

They've grown on me.

Maybe all my years riding Colnago Master Extra Lights with Precisas.

My favorites are on Aaron's Vanilla though.

They look wicked.

Really, I just need a fork that I can cram in alot of tire at this point.

I just don't look at these bikes the same way I look at my Kvales.

They are tools, just like a hammer.

Where are the shifters on that Traveler's Check? Kelly Take-Offs?

I have 2 CrossChecks.......a '99 and an '09. Both are set up single speed. The '09 is probably my favorite bike to ride.

The '99 is arguably a classic with a Reynolds 631 frameset and a 1" headtube.

I've had to hold my tongue until now.

I've had two Cross Checks. I don't love the model. It's versatile and well built. Handling is pleasantly neutral. You can build it in many different ways.

But the ride is uninspiring, and the extra weight is hard to justify. It's pretty darned heavy, especially the fork. I think you can do better at the same price.

What do you recommend?

The is looking pretty tempting at only $80 more than the C-C.


I'm trying to stop building so many bikes and use my free time to ride and travel more.
If I can get the riders down to 3 solid, function-specific bikes, I'll be very happy.

- the Merckx for fast dog-free rides.
- the Casati as a FG (for now) for quick jaunts.
- the ________ for fast or slow cargo- and dog-loaded rides/camping/trips.

I just forwarded this photo to my son as an illustration of how his Soma Doublecross could look with fenders, a nice saddle and a little shellac. That's a very nice bike ...

Seems that the Soma is a little expensiver than the Cross Check, so maybe you can't do better at the Cross Check's pricepoint. But for all that money you spend, you could get something older and lighter. But it wouldn't have all the nifty braze-ons and clearances. Hmm, I don't know.

Let me know what you find out. I just see $575.

The bike frames we are talking about here are all very similar. They are entry level (not bad) cyclocross and allarounders, i.e., Cross Check, Space Horse, Black Mountain Monster Cross, etc. Frankly, I like this class of modern bikes. BTW, regarding "uninspiring," one has to recognize that these are "allarounders" and not road racing bikes, old or new. They are in their own class of CX/sport tour. Since I already have the Cross Check, the frame that presently intrigues me is the Black Mountain Road bike that will take 33mm tires. Just wish it had more brazeons.