Between fresh snow and cold temperatures, I've been a bit lazy about biking for the past week. Should be back in the saddle tomorrow, but in the meantime, the bike's sure looking pretty.

Wetter and warmer here...

A few of my 2011 Surly Cross Check

Beautiful photos and a beautiful bike Terry66, time to get it dirty!

that is nice!

I seriously hate it that some of you have such nice bikes. Amazing Surly.

Thanks guys...It was a fun build. I bought the frame for under $400. Universal Cycles had it for $420, I had a 15% discount code and it was free shipping. The 105/Ultegra brifters, crank, derailleurs, bars, stem and seat post all came from a 2007 Trek road bike that I got for $300. I sold the Trek's wheelset and am selling the frame/fork, so I should end up with around $175-200 in the parts I kept. The wheels came from an old Specialized Sequoia. They were hanging in my garage for a couple of years. I already had the rack, pump, fenders, bag and lights, so the only thing I really bought new was the saddle, canti brakes, cables, tires, etc.

Very nice, Terry. Me being a roady, I just have to ask: What does it weigh?

As it sits in those pics, it weighs in at a whopping 32.6lbs. That is with the standard wheels and 70X32c tires. I have some A719 24mm wide wheels with 150 rear hub and a set of 700X40 cross tires. Then again when I have it set up for off-road, I'll remove the fenders and rear rack.

To put that in perspective, my HiFi full suspension 29er complete with Fox fork, rear suspension linkage and huge wheels/tires is only 29.2lbs.

Steel isn't light!

It may not be really light, it's steel. Next to that it's not a racing bike, so weight is not of the utmost importance. I bet it makes an awesome commuter

Here is my current commuter incarnation, a 650b Pacer conversion:

Some pics of my Deception. Just got the panniers in the last two weeks (the yellows came this weekend).

I like to swap stuff around from time to time. The above bike is now the below bike.

Nice Pacer!

so im a bit unconventional
i like my track bikes (rode around tokyo forever when i was there) so decided to keep it goin
i just got back from grocery shopping, i live in saudi arabia lol.

IMG_9285 by Flsimages, on Flickr

Awesome.

That is a gorgeous bike. For me, weight is not the "be all, end all". Although weight is critical if you compete and need to keep your bike as light as possible, for a commuter or for long ride applications, weight is not my top priority. Your bike practically screams " I'm comfortable and a pleasure to ride on". You are right... steel ins't light... but man is it comfortable!

Happy trails ;-)

So I got my bike finally. I had a 2009 or 2010 Specialized Allez previously but it was totaled in an accident back in December. This here is my 2011 Allez. Some different specs but the cable sheathing is white (not black like my old bike), brakes and brake levers are white and silver, respectively (instead of both black on the earlier model.) My main annoyance aesthetically is the white cables. They look bad but I'll change it sometime soon.

As for the rest of the bike, I also took the opportunity to upgrade some items I was looking to upgrade anyway. In addition to getting the new bike, I added an Axiom Streamliner DLX rear rack, Axiom Kootenay panniers, SKS P35 fenders in silver, Planet Bike SuperFlash in the rear and Blaze 1 Watt up front. I also added the Mirrycle MTB Bar End mirror, which is pretty nice IMO.













To round out the day, I also bought a frame and several other parts from a local gent who was selling them for $50. It's a late 80's Schwinn Voyager, and it's a rear derailleur, seat, cables and a wheelset away from being a whole new bike. It's even in my size too.

Its not THAT heavy either. It all the junk you put on it If you did that build on a carbon fiber frame, it would probably be, what, 27-28lbs? It looks fantastic though - very similar to what I'm building for my wife in Robin's egg blue minus racks and fenders. I'm hoping we can get it around 20lbs. Weight isn't the ultimate goal, but she's wanting something sportier and better for long rides than her current 35lb commuter.

Thanks for all the kind words about the Surly.

Pallen...yeah, the "junk" certainly contributes to the weight. I almost went with the Robin Egg blue color. I was thinking blue/chrome, but in the end, opted for the all black look like the other thousand all blacked out Surlys!

I'm having fun with the new Raleigh Detour Deluxe.

I knew I'd seen that Detour somewhere. I've been following EcoVelo for a while. Very nice bike.

Good to see you back in the saddle I think i like that one better with the white