Trek 520 vs Cross Check
 

There’s a later, rig welded Trek 520 on our local CL. After all the hype, it sounds interesting. Get looking up and comparing it to my current Cross Check, not sure that there’s any improvement.Both Tig welded chromo lots of bounce racks.. The early lugged ones are really nice bikes, but I don’t to see if this is anything particularly special.
Help me out if I’m wrong. Tia.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...e6139a909.jpeg

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...67e0519b6.jpeg

The Trek is more of a touring bike, so normally the chainstays are longer to prevent your heels from hitting the rear panniers.

...And it might be a bit lighter, too. but probably not by whole lot. The Surly has slightly more modern running gear.

2 cents, here......frames are of comparable quality and likely ride quality. i've had a CC. nothing spectacular. average responsiveness and i can only speculate the trek is the same being a mass produced item. iow's, both good stuff. however!! that surly will fit some fat ars tires!

btw, where'd you get the conti speedrides? unless i've just missed it, i don't see them available anywhere anymore

Think they were from Jensen. Not positive, tho.
Think I’ll just stay the course on the CC. It was a good thought, but pretty much the same. Our local co-op just took ina very nice Fuso. Good think it’s too big for me!

It looks like they'll be in stock on Tuesday, 10/13/2020, at Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/Continental-S.../dp/B07CRN6VR7

I think that's a sideways move at best. If you're looking for a different feeling ride and still want all the braze-ons for racks, try a vintage (late 70's into the 80's) Japanese sports tourer. Specialized Sequoia or Expedition, Miyata 1000 or 610, Centurion, Lotus, Bridgestone, etc...
The vintage frames were hand made and in some cases might use lighter, butted tube sets.
I regularly ride a Cross Check and I also ride a 79 Miyata Gran Touring (early 1000 model) and it is a completely different feel. I think you will appreciate the difference too!

I think you’re gonna like them. They roll well, and ride very nicely. And this is from a guy who raced a Colnago on sew ups!

The Speed Rides are terrific tires. Fast, light, foldable, inexpensive, comfortable, etc. Their only real negative is lack of robust puncture protection, if that's important. Of course, if they had that, then they wouldn't also be at once light, comfortable, inexpensive, etc.

I think you're correct about the lateral move. This vintage of 520 is a touring bike- it's got thicker, oversized tubes to handle weight- and it's designed around carrying a load, not for being spritely. I think this version of Cross Check is designed to be a little more of 'touring lite' compared to the Long Haul Trucker... so more responsive than that, but along those lines.

I think you're kind of stretching the 'sports tourer' term, but you're correct about the lighter, butted tubing.

Generally, the 'sports tourer' is that place between a tourer and a racing bike after the advent of the tourer. Generally, compared to a tourer, they're going to have a shorter wheelbase, longer reach side pull brakes, eyelets on the dropouts and fork ends, rack mounts on the rear, and a double crankset (generally). So to use your examples- a 1984 Specialized Sequoia is a Sports Tourer and a 1984 Specialized Expedition is a tourer, and a 1984 Specialized Allez is a racer. A Miyata 1000 or 610 are tourers through and through. Of course, it can be a bit confusing where before tourers- a Trek 710 WAS a touring bike- but there were no real touring bikes at that point, but then a 710 became a sports tourer after the 720 came out...

Point taken. I agree I might have been a bit broad in the examples I gave. I should probably have just pointed out the difference between a modern tig-welded Taiwanese frame and a vintage hand-brazed Japanese frame and the resulting differences in the ride. Surly definitely overbuilds their frames a bit. I would ride my Cross Check harder and more abandon than my Miyata Gran Touring. Although I've read reports about people using a vintage Miyata frameset for gravel bike builds!
The only point I would argue is that my Miyata is indeed a sports tourer as it has a low gear of 34/28 and slightly more aggressive geometry than comparable bikes of its time. Here is an interesting article doing a comparison of the Miyata:
<------ Bicycling Magazine 03-1980 ------> Miyata Gran Touring

My nod would be towards the 520, if the fit is OK for you. They were offered in pretty limited sizes.

As noted before, the CC is an OK, jack of all trades but master of none kind of bike. That 520 was handbuilt in Wisconsin and likely has the True Temper OX tubing. Very nice stuff.

My wife and I had a first gen 853 CC up until last year when we sold it for a Cannondale Topstone. It was just too dang boring of a bike. The CC is a ubiquitous, robot built in Taiwan generic 4130 tubing blah-mobile. And this is coming from a huge Surly fan!

Agree with @bargo68. Why go sideways when you can still find a nice, lugged 520? Lots of them still out there and available. Don

That article stub is neat, it's right at that point where tourers were becoming more specialized- 43-45 cm chain stays became more of the norm, with more relaxed angles for most.

That's really interesting- I would have totally not believed that the 520 was "handbuilt in Wisconsin," but just googling around show similar vintage 520s with that decal on the chain stay.

The Golden Boy Yes, the 520 (up until 2007?) was nothing to snuff at. Handbuilt in WI, True Temper OX tubing, solid components and priced accordingly!

Can we have a pic of the Fuso plz, size?

It was about a 52. I’ll try to go by there on the way home from work tomorrow.

Sounds good, way too small for me too but we need to look at all the Fuso's we can. ;)