Surly Cross Check Bikepacking

One year and over 5 000 miles after my purchase from the bike rack i am very happy that i bought the surly cross check.

Surly cross check bikepacking.

I thought about this build for many hours during my tour through central america. The surly troll as i had it is a perfect bike for hauling big loads of gear through second and third world conditions. Sram apex 10 speed 11 32 cassette 50 34 truvativ crank velocty dyad shimano lx hub hand built by peter white cycles schwalbe marathon pro tires with 500 miles on them carbon seat post with specialized toupe saddle avid canti brakes with kool stop pads chris king headset. The build is inspired by our lord and bicycle savior grant peterson.

Cross check was the first complete bike we ever offered. Surly cross check 52 cm robins egg blue. We provide inspiration and information through original bikepacking routes. I often say this is a surly that wishes it was a rivendell.

Since then people have modified them hundreds of different ways to suit their riding styles and preferences. They re everywhere and by now someone has built one up into literally every permutation you could possibly imagine. Mike has contributed a time or two on the blog and here is the surly cross check he built in the spring of 2013 for a summer road tour across western europe. The bike proved to be reliable versatile and straight forward.

It safely guided me from coast to coast with only minor issues. This cross check started its life as a stock build and i ve slowly swapped out pretty much every part on the bike. Drop bars or flats gears or not chunky tires or slicks it s all been done. Rad companies that support bikepacking.

I wanted a lighter. Overall if i had to rate the surly cross check on a scale from 1 to 5 i would give it a 3 5. Surly cross check bikepacking gear gravel all road mike has contributed a time or two on the blog and here is the surly cross check he built in the spring of 2013 for a summer road tour across western europe. It certainly isn t a bad bike and as a member of the steel is real movement i appreciate what surly is doing here however i feel like no matter what you are using this bike for you are making some trade offs.

There s a reason that nearly every person who has ever worked for surly has owned one.