Originally Posted by
mstateglfr
The Surly Cross Check wasnt the first gravel frame and while it was a long lasting model in Surly's lineup, it was hardly some aspirational or highly coveted bike. It was a simple workhorse, no different from many similar steel blended function frames.
It was a bike that was clearly based on CX geometry from years ago.
- the bb drop was only like 65mm. what?
- the stack height was antiquated and required a lot of owners to run a goofy number of spacers, just like so many have to do with LHT/DT bikes.
- the reach was really quite long for the frame sizes and forced a lot of riders to either ride frames that was too small, which then forced a ton of spacers onto the steerer, or forced riders to use 35deg short length stems to offset the frame reach.
Its hardly surprising to see another rim brake frame killed off. At this point the highest level road group to still offer rim brake shifters is Tiagra.
If this means I see fewer CrossChecks with 80mm of spacers because people were suckered into buying an image rather than geometry that makes sense for them, I wont complain.
I’m willing to go even further than this and say the Cross-Check was a bad bike for most of its existence that didn’t remotely deserve its reputation, but it first appeared at a time when consumer-level frame sets that could be built to the buyer’s content and weren’t for racing were relatively rare. So it built a following that became self-sustaining long past the point where it was clear that it was just a poor bike - weird geometry, bad ride quality, and not even good value for money. I had a Cross-Check, it actually was the most cost-effective way for me to get started in cyclocross circa 2012, which was great. But I have no affection for the memory of that bike. Once I could afford a better cyclocross bike, there was no way of hiding how crummy the Cross-Check was by comparison. I’m glad the people I still see riding them around like them, I wouldn’t want anyone to be stuck with a bike they don’t like. And I’m sorry, cause I know people have fond feelings for it. But it was a pretty bad bike that was purchased by a ton of people who could’ve done better but didn’t know any better, and more people should know that imo. Anyway, times change, regardless and its time is past whether you liked it or not. Rest in pieces, Cross-Check.