Who Has A Surly Cross Check?

[Velocivixen]

Oh very nice. Thanks for sharing.

I do have somewhat of an issue on how "utilitarian" they look-sort of like an old jeep. I guess they're made that way for the sake of function. I've heard they have almost a cult-like following.

[KnottedYet]

Well, they certainly don't have fancy paint jobs. Probably that's one way they keep the price down. I am a fan of mono-chromatic paint, it's serene. Sleek.

The geometry is classic. No oversized tubes. Pretty horizontal TT. That can make the bike look a bit dated, I suppose.

If you think it looks too much like an old Jeep, get the lighter blue one rather than the black one. I've got the black one, and it does look pretty utilitarian. Well, especially with the heavy rack and stuff, mine looks VERY utilitarian!

Everything is so standard on the Cross Check that you could really change out whatever you want to your heart's content and make it as un-Jeep like as you wish.

[malkin]

I love mine too.
The only thing I'd change is to have more time to spend riding it.

[OakLeaf]

I'm thinking about one of those for my hill country commuter. I'd want to swap a bunch of stuff out, but the LBS says it's still probably more economical to swap it, than to build it up from a bare frameset.

I rode one around the block in jeans and sneakers, a size too big which is what they had in stock, just to get a feel for the geometry and the bar-end shifters. I was surprised how easy the shifters were.

Hmmmmm.

[Owlie]

I'd love one as a winter bike/commuter/unpaved path bike--if I bought one, I'd probably swap out a few things because I'm pretty sure I'd kill myself with the bar-end shifters. And perhaps dress the black up a bit.

[Velocivixen]

I was worried about the bar end shifters too, but surprisingly, they weren't bad. The 52 bike has longer handled brakes vs the smaller sizes, so I wonder if brake levers are easy to change?

[malkin]

The bar ends are a piece of cake, but I'm old and grew up with down tube friction shifters. Brewer also set me up with short reach brake levers and super-grannyfied the gearing.