Help with a CrossCheck
 

Looking to sell off my Scattante R550 and mountain bike and replace them with a crosscheck. I was hoping you bikeforum folks would a) know where to get one for the best price b) know if 54 cm of scattante equals 54 cm of crosscheck c) know how quick the turn around would be if I were to order up a crosscheck.

I'd appreciate any of this information. I wish I was as much of a commuter when I bought the scattante because I would have had my eye open for a crosscheck like bike. Ya know? But now I have to do all this hustlin and bustin to make the switch. Zamn.

Here in Denver, the best bet would be Cycle Analyst over on Pearl Street. Turin on Lincoln is also listed as a dealer as is Singletrack Factory on Gaylord. Excel Sports in Boulder is another one but they can be pricey.

Before you decide on a cross bike for commuting, take a look at touring bikes to. A little longer, a little more stable, capable of carrying tons of stuff. The LHT complete would make a great commuter and it has more knee friendly gearing for those times you feel like riding off into the mountains.

I've avoided looking at touring bikes because I've heard their gearing is too easy for regular riding around. I ride fixed most of the time and have a fairly strong, smooth stroke as a result and I find myself spinning out when riding bikes of this gearing (and hardly utilizing the bottom two cogs). Would you suggest touring bikes still? I can't figure out why I've fallen in love with the idea of a surly but it probably has something to do with this forum. How different are the CC and the LHT anyway? What other steel, mucho clearance for fenders and different wheels/ and rack brazons up the wazoo bikes are worth consideration?

The LHT comes with a 48/11 high which is a 117" gear as does the Cross Check. It'd be easy enough to swap out the Sugino for a normal road bike crank (Talk to me later, I might even have 1...or 2...or 3:o ). My commuter bike had a 52/40/30 triple paired with an 11-34 which give a range of from 127 to 31 but I hardly ever used the 127" gear. A 117" is still pretty tall.

The LHT is a touring bike so it's got a longer chainstay to move the load back and still keep it within the wheels. This slows its handling down a little but makes it a more stable ride. It's frame is a beefed up a bit to handle the task of hauling heavy loads over long distances. With a longer wheelbase it's a more forgiving ride too. It has 3 water bottle braze-ons rather than 2 and a mid fork braze-on for mounting a rack on the front (not too important for commuting but it is for touring). The wheels are tougher - and heavier - and the tires are a bit wider which makes for a more comfortable ride on rough roads. It could probably take something even wider than a 35 (like a 41) if you want to really float over stuff.

Other bikes to consider are the Bianchi Volpe (Turin) which is a cross bike. The Fuji Touring (Cycle Analyst and Turin) which is a touring bike with a bit shorter wheel base than the LHT. The Randonee at REI which is similar to the Fuji. The Jamis Nova (cross) or Aurora (short touring) at Salvagetti's on Speer. A little further up the price range would be a Trek 520.

All of these bikes - except the Randonee - come with a 52/11 high gear. If I were to personally rank them as commuter bikes without wanting to do unsupported touring on them, I'd go

1. Aurora
2. Trek 520
3. LHT
4. Fuji
5. Nova
6. Randonee
7. Volpe
8. Cross Check

The LHT, 520, Aurora and Fuji are kind of a toss up. If you ever thought of loading the bike up with gear and hitting the open road, the LHT wins hands down.

The other's on the list aren't bad bikes and they would all be worth throwing a leg over and taking a ride. They are all in the $900 to $1000 price range, except the Trek which goes for closer to $1200.

If you want a good deal on just the frame contact aebike (www.aebike.com)

So if I ever want to tour I should go long haul trucker? You don't feel slower on those bikes? I love the responsiveness of my fixie and thought I might be able to get a similar vibe in teh crosscheck. This would mainly be an around town bike (errands, out to eat, to work, etc...) Though I have aspirations of doing a bike tour in Europe in the next few years.

I may head over to cycle analyst and see if they have a LHT, though doubtful. The crosscheck has brazeons for gear thought right? It might just be a less stable ride? I figure if I tour once or twice and spend the rest of my life shooting around town then the crosscheck may be more for the task? Or is riding on those wide wheelbases like riding on a cloud and the bike is still fairly responsive?

I just got a 52cm Crosscheck and it's top tube is as long as most 54cm bikes. The shop warned me to get a size smaller than I would usually ride and they were right. It has braze ons for a rear rack and fenders, and a already tried putting some old motorcycle saddlebags on the rear rack and there aren't any heel strike issues. The bike isn't as responsive as my old trek 1000, but is 100 times more comfortable. I also took it out on the mountain bike trails a couple times since it came with knobbies and had a lot of fun. The drop bars add some "pucker factor" to steep downhills!

I've got serious pannier heel strike on my 54 cross check. The chain stay is a little short for my needs, but overall I'm happy with it.

It appears that the wait for the Long Haul Trucker might negate buying one. Blah. What should I do?

I kept my road sizing for my crosscheck so I have a 54cm frame. No heel strike with my panniers. The crosscheck fork lacks lowrider brazeons if that matters. I don't notice any stability issues compared to my road bike.

You should ride one before you decide if you can. You are welcome to try mine out though it is set up as one heavy winter commuter with racks/fenders. PM me if you are interested. I just got my road bike roadworthy so I can afford to lend it out.

Or you can test ride this one:

http://denver.craigslist.org/bik/314951389.html

cyccommute: How would you rate those bikes if you wanted to commute and tour? I'm thinking one of the things that impresses me about surly is the clearance they allow for various tires.

What are other options? My knees have been such a wreck recently that I am now thinking I should get rid of my fixed, my road, AND my MTB and get one bike that I can use to commute/get around and tour with. Am I repeating myself?

hairlessbill,

I may take you up on that. (which, btw, is a really generous offer!)Give me a few weeks to research things a little better and I may have to see what she rides like. :)

Cross Check last on that list as a commuter bike? Wow. I disagree.

The Cross Check has much more flexibility when it comes to tire sizes and its much quicker as a commuter than the LHT. I ride with two panniers and have never had a heel clearance issue. I chose it over the Volpe due to its flexibility -- there isn't a bike out there that has as many options as the Cross Check.

Cross-checks tend to have short chainstays, so if you wanna avoid heel strike, you might want invest in a longer rear rack, like the JANDD Expedition or Tubus Logo.

Surly tends to give their frames LOOOOOOOONNNNNGGGG top tubes relative to their seat tube sizes :D So, I'd advise trying a size down from what you normally ride first.

"Options for what?" would be my question. The Cross Check complete doesn't have 3 water bottle cages. It doesn't have midfork rack mount (granted that's more a touring thing but I do use my front rack for commuting.) It has a double instead of a triple. Try climbing to 12500 on Trail Ridge Road some time or the west side of Vail Pass or west side of Loveland Pass (We are in Colorado after all;) ). An 36/25 low gear could mean you get to walk parts of those passes rather then ride them.

The Volpe and Randonee would probably be better choices since they come with a triple...and cost less. The Nova moves up in my eyes just because it's prettier than all the rest.

I have a short chainstay cross bike that I use to commute and it's not the best bike for that. I don't use panniers that much but it's difficult to get them on...even though they're small...without some fit issues. Also a rack bag interferes with a very small seat bag (for tools) on the shorter bike. Not an issue on a bike with 2" longer stays.

In actuality, the last four bikes are about equal as commuter bikes. Not any of them really outshine the others.

Sorry. I had to treat my fin rot today. Go over to Salvagetti's and try the Aurora and see if someone in town has a Trek 520 to try. My main road bike for many, many years had a geometry similar to the 520 and was racy enough for me. I did some 5.5 hour centuries on it and it's been down plenty of high speed runs down the back of Lookout Mountain. It also did the Copper Triangle...and I didn't spin out on the switchbacks off Battle Mountain like the racer guy in front of me;)

The Aurora is a little shorter then even the Trek so it's a little sportier.

As for touring, if you are going to do stuff like Ride the Rockies or other sag touring, just about any bike will do. If you want to carry your stuff...which is a whole different kind of adventure;) ...longer wheelbase bikes are more stable and a nice ride than something shorter. Yes a loaded touring bike is a little slower but it's not that much of a difference. A cross bike has a higher bottom bracket which slows it's steering a little too...or at least makes it a little more entertaining:eek: I have both kinds of bikes and they each have their plusses and minuses. I used to have a late 80's Cannondale that was just like driving a sports car...lots of fun but you didn't want to do it for more than a couple of hours! It beat the crap out of me on every ride.

The Aurora and the Randonee look pretty nice. Would they accept much larger tires if I wanted to throw on something a little thicker for the winter time? The Aurora looks to be the most affordable. I could probably get it complete with gear for the craigslist price of my road, fix, and mountain bike. Do you think I could set it up to handle mild off-road riding? Also, on the aurora do you just move headset rings above or below the stem to make it lower/higher?

Options for running tires from 25 to 45 -- how many on that list can do that? The OP is talking about the bike as being used primarily for commuting, not touring. Why in the world would you need three water bottles and a midfork rack mount when commuting? Is the OP really going to be making those kinds of climbs on his commute? If not, a double would suffice fine. To me, it doesn't make sense to give up the extra zip and tire size options of a Cross Check for a more sluggish ride as a full-out touring bike would be as a commuter. Of course, best advice would be to ride each and find out firsthand.

It is true that this is primarily a point of transportation for me, BUT I have high aspirations of getting out there in the next few years and doing some touring of Canada, Central America, and Maybe Europa. I guess that is why I'm looking for a bike that can do both things because although I will mostly ride it around town, I'd like something with versatility. And seeing how I'm not going to have money for awhile (I start grad school in the fall) I thought I would get what I'd like now, while the money is still flowing. :)

Tires are only one option. A touring bike can handle the same tire width as a cross bike...and probably a bit more. My cross bike would have trouble handling a 45 for the front because the fork is too narrow. My touring bike would have plenty of room to spare.

He's wanting the bike as his only bike. That means that the bike will see more than the hills on his commute. He may want to take it off into the mountains for a weekend (not necessarily loaded) and, trust me, around here a triple is almost a requirement if you want to original equipment knees by the time you get to 50. Or he may want to go for a 3 or 4 hour ride in the summer. Three water bottles come in handy.

A touring bike is not...I'll repeat, not ...sluggish! It's an old myth that was never true in the first place. I ride mine as fast and can corner as hard as I used to on the Cannondale race bike I had. No, my touring bike doesn't weigh 20 lbs but then the Cross Check doesn't either. But if you want to ride a bike and carry stuff, why not buy one that is designed to do so rather than try and force fit a bike that is meant to race?

I don't think you can go wrong with any of the bikes being discussed. I can tell you that I was in a similar situation a few months ago -- I wanted a bike primarily for commuting year-round and on occasion as a tourer. I rode an LHT, Volpe and Cross Check and pulled the trigger on the Cross Check and haven't looked back. I preferred the bar end shifters to the Volpe brifters and felt the LHT lacked the zip of the Cross Check. Since I'm using the bike 90% of the time commuting and 10% on longer-distance recreational riding/touring, it made sense to go with the bike that was suited for the best purpose for what I would be using it most (hence the tire size versatility of the Cross Check). If you were going to spend the majority of your time touring, then maybe a true touring bike might be your ticket. However, the Cross Check or Volpe are plenty capable as touring bikes as well. Good luck in your search -- like I said, you really can't go wrong with any of those bikes.

It should be able to handle more than the 28's that come on it. As for light off-road riding, it should be able to handle enough to scare the crap out of me (riding off-road with drops can be...interesting:eek: ). I don't think I'd try Green Mountain or White Ranch and I'd probably stay far away from Dakota Ridge:eek: :eek: :eek: But it should be able to handle fire roads and maybe some of the old rail passes here in the state (Rollins Pass, Alpine Tunnel, Switzerland Trail, etc) just fine.

And yes, you can put the spacer rings above or below the stem to raise or lower the stem. In fact, one of the nice things about cantis on threadless, is that the brake cable hanger has a pinch bolt so you don't have to readjust the headset when you remove the stem.

I agree that none of the bikes I suggested are bad bikes. Each has it's own good points and not a single one is going to be a dog. The reason I suggest touring bikes over cross bikes for commuting is that commuting is more like touring then rec. riding. And if there is one thing that touring bike excel at it's carrying stuff...lots and lots of stuff:)

I've toured on short wheel base bikes long ago and it wasn't a pleasant experience. A short bike with a heavy load becomes very twitchy very quickly. Longer wheelbase bikes are far better at it.

About the only issue I have with the Cross Check (and the Nova) is the compact crank and high rear cluster. For Colorado - but not for Denver commuting - the gearing is a bit tall. Personally, I go as high and as low as current bicycle technology will allow me. I have no problem - physically, mentally or manly;) - carrying (and using) a 22/34 gear on all of my bikes. You really can ride a bike at 3 mph and it beats walking!

Our hearts are in the same place, but our minds differ slightly -- it's all good. :) The sluggish comment comes from my personal experience. Maybe it was a one-time thing but I felt the Cross Check was quicker.

Ragboy,

What kind of touring have you done with the CrossCheck? Have you ever had to haul over a mountain? I ask because I'm accustom to hauling ass on a fixie over big hills but half the reason for the changeover is to avoid these knee problems. I'm leaving work early today so I may stop by Salvagetti and test ride a couple of the bad boys they got over there. Can't you have them put a triple on the bike in place of the double compact cranks?