After much research and personal debate I'm settling in on going with a surly cross check frame to be built up as a commuter and occasional light touring bike. I have an old saddle and stock wheels/cassette/chain off a road bike that will suffice for now as I need to keep costs down. As for the rest, here is what I'm thinking:

Sram apex F/RD
Sram Force crank/BB (I like it and have heard the apex is heavy and spongy and not really the place to cut corners)
Sram apex brifters
gore cables (again apex cables seem to be lacking)
whatever V brakes I can find
Easton EA 50 stem/drop bar
SPD pedals off old bike

Thoughts? Am I missing anything? Will the frame come with headset or do I need to buy one? I know I need miscellaneous items like bar tape, rack, fenders, bottle cages etc. but as for the build itself am I on the right track? Never done this before so it's a new adventure.

Thanks.

I think you will need a head set. Components look good though frankly, with some exception, I like my stock build. I do plan to change my rims to Mavic Open and double butted spokes. Then down the road I plan a new crank set possibly with a triple for the mountains.

I love my PB fenders and my rack and the new fork will allow a front rack as well. Currently I have found the stock MTB saddle suitable but plan a Brooks of some sort. I use inexpensive platform/spd peddles, sorry, sometimes I want to ride without bike shoes.



Fenders keep water of me and dust and dirt off the bike since mine really does travel dirt and gravel roads, I find the fenders mandatory.

It sounds like a good build.

You'll need to buy a headset. The Cane Creek S-3 is a nice, inexpensive option. Mine has given me 2700+ worry-free miles on my Cross Check.

For the brakes, you'll either need mini-V's or V's with Travel Agents with the Apex brifters. I'm using a Travel Agent on the front with an Avid SD7 brake, and that works great. In the rear I used an Avid Shorty 4 canti that I had in the garage.

You'll need a 27.2 mm seat post.

I'm not sure I'd fork out the dough for a Force crank. The Cross Check frame isn't especially stiff. I've got an FSA Gossamer on mine. I like it except for the short lifespan of the bottom bracket cups, but those are Shimano compatible so you can just upgrade to Dura Ace for around $45 when the FSA cups start failing. I can't comment on the Apex crank. On the other hand, for commuting and light touring, you might be better off with something that uses a square-taper cartridge bottom bracket.

I thought the stock looked good too but the crank and wheels were nothing special. Since I have a few parts, I thought I might be able to build up a somewhat better bike for about the same price. I don't know for sure, but I'm guessing about $600 for my parts list above and hopefully I can find a few good deals. The frame new from my lbs is $400 so about $1000 which is about the cost of the complete bike here.

I've read a few comments about getting the frame for less than $200. Is there some closeout deal out there I'm not aware of? Don't think they were talking used but not sure.

Thanks for the ideas - especially the crank as that was the one thing I was most unsure of. I've seen force for less than $200 and closer to $100 for used. Seemed reasonable but didn't consider the frame flex. How flexie is it? Might have to check out the FSA.

I do not find it particularly flexible though it is not a stiff as granite race bike and that is exactly why the bike is so well liked by so many for so much. The man has a point though, no point in overkill on purchasing the stiffest pieces you can find if they exceed the stiffness of the bike, so to speak.

LC

Hi, please can you tell me something more about your fenders? The frame has mounts for fenders?
Thanks a lot.

Bye, Mirco

That makes sense. Looking at the gossamer I see that it has solid crank arms (not hollow). Sounds like it would be kind of heavy. FSA has the Energy Compact with hollow arms but it's getting close to the price of a force crank. Is it a hollow crank that is overkill on this bike or is there a sweet spot?

Been building up a cross check myself, I wanted the apex shifters but they seemed pretty expensive at the moment, may want to check out Rivals as may not be much more. I ended up going with the new 105 shifters myself and dropping the SRAM drivetrain. The shimano shifter set did not come with downtube housing stops and I had to order those extra this week, not sure if SRAM does or not.

My road bike has rival so if I can't find a good price on apex I might just put some red on the road bike and move the rival over. Good reason to upgrade the road bike

I think a hollow crank would be entirely fine on the Cross Check. In fact, when mine gets an upgrade, it may get exactly that. The bike is not a piece of spagehetti, and all noodly. It is a very strong and durable machine. I think if you want to stiffen it up you could go to a carbon fork. The BB, yeah, you can flex it, if you must but seriously, the "just right" nature of the Cross Check is why people love it and that includes the bit of flex.

I think that I can easily knock several pounds off the bike when I upgrade to better folding bead tires possibly in a 28/30 size instead of the wire bead 32s, Mavic Open rims and double butted spokes, better quality crank and of course removing all of the racks, fenders, lights, horns, bells, storage pouch for the 40S&W, Mace canisters, ball bearing deployment device and anti urban insurgent smoke generator and gangsta grenades, but, well, what fun would that be?

LC