I built my LHT at a time when I was riding a lot more and had more bikes. These days I only have one so I'd like to move all the parts onto a more versatile frame primarily for commuting. I'd always had the cross check in mind but now i'm wondering what other options might be out there. My requirements are: rack+fender braze-ons, steel, nothing super fancy (under < 500$), and broadly compatible with my existing components (700c/no french or italian threading etc). I looked into the Pake C'mute but it's not clear that this frame is still manufactured. Any thoughts? Most threads on this subject here are several years old.

Ever think of becoming a Privateer? Arrr!

So what's your build like? Because it's hard for me to imagine moving all the components over from a touring frame to a "cross commuter" frame and ending with a bike that's a lot different. It's just going to be a little taller and not as long.

Seems like you need to scour eBay. The Cross-Check isn't going to ride appreciably different or be "more versatile" than your LHT... honestly, I don't see how any frame that will fit most or all of the parts you currently are using in the given price range is going to be be more versatile, though I don't really know what you mean by that.

Yeah, this is like the opposite of the problem you're going to have unless you get into a really strange eBay rabbit hole.

There’s a lot you can do to your LHT that can really change how it rides. I recently took my rack off and got new wheels, plus added wider tires (went from 28 to 35mm), and wow, it feels like a new bike.

Attaching pic.

Owning a CC and having some experience with the LHT, while a nice ride, the LHT is sort of like a, well, truck, like a long bed, double cab F250! The CC, is more like a nimble Jeep Wrangler:

That's funny, I conceive of my CC as a pickup truck, but given that I bounce over trails of various rockiness sometimes, 'nimble Jeep Wrangler' seems apropos.

My Krampus with Jones H-Loop bars and a Brooks I visualize as a schoolbus.

OP you say you want a "more versatile frame primarily for commuting" -- what attributes of the LHT are bothering you during your commute, or other riding? I agree with KeatonR, change things up a little on your LHT and see if it feels more interesting. Take the racks off for a 'fast/light' ride.

Or, you just have some wanderlust after stripping down to N=1 bikes, which is OK. I respect your desire to stay N=1 rather than just 'solve' the problem by going back in the N+1 direction. But I think CC is going to be so similar to LHT that you won't get enough bang for your buck. Unfortunately I don't have any ideas what might be a spicier replacement frame.

Thanks all for the input. These are good points. I guess the main things i'm picturing are:
- it's black, i'm sick of black and i've been unsuccessful in getting the surly decals off. I like virtually every other surly frame color.
- it feels heavy and awkward
- anything else that feels wrong or even makes me a little nervous commuting in the city (eg bottoming out my chainrings on a curb) is easy to blame on a bike that is fully at one end of the spectrum.

There is also the fact that this bike was stolen from me 5 years ago and I actually found the guy riding it a month later, chased him down and got it back from him, so possibly bad luck to

I suppose if i'm being honest listing these things out makes clear that buying a whole new frame is not the solution- maybe adding more stickers and considering an old golden era alloy road bike as a beater, or even a trek multitrack from back in the day or something. Thanks for your thoughts.

I occasionally think about getting something that is less of a tug boat than my Hardrock but figure it would take a lot of effort to achieve that and it would make my commute a little easier (or maybe a lot) which would mean I'd need to ride more for the same health benefits. So I keep riding the Hradrock, much like when we got to the point of considering moving to a bigger house to fill up with more stuff or getting rid of some stuff we'd accumulated over the years and staying put in a house we liked.

Current production CX bikes are almost all disc these days. I'm assuming you want to stick with cantis/linear pull brakes? CC is the only thing I can think of in current production except for a Gunnar Crossroads, which would be friggin sweet, but a bit expensive. So, yeah, a CC.

I have both. The LHT is my geared bike and my CC is my fixed gear bike. The biggest difference, you guessed it, is one has no gears. There are other differences like the CC's BB height is great for not having to worry about pedal strike and it is more nimble. But in the big picture if I had only one bike it would be the LHT.

I agree with [MENTION=23594]grolby[/MENTION]. The Cross Check may not be sufficiently different. In particular, it's pretty darned heavy for a cyclocross frame. I had two Cross Checks. I built the first one with very lightweight wheels, so it rode pretty well, and the heavy frame plus the light wheels made it feel moderately light. The second build was too damned heavy, so I got rid of that one, too. But weight may not matter as much to you as it does to me. You may want to look at vintage frames, because you get a good value, and they tend to be lighter. My current main bike is a 1974 Raleigh International with all Reynolds 531 tubing. I weighed it and the Cross Check. The Raleigh fork weighs (barely more than) HALF as much as the Surly fork! The Raleigh was originally spaced at 120 mm in the rear, so I spread it to 130 mm. Of course, it doesn't take cantilever brakes, and I put dual-pivot brakes on it. I couldn't be more satisfied with the braking unless I had disc brakes.