pbass

Just came to my attention that the venerable Cross Check has been discontinued (something about supply chains and rim brake bikes......).
The CC was arguably the first "gravel bike", sorta, kinda. Sad to think it's not available any longer.
I'll always keep mine--it's a special bike and a great ride, not to mention a great project bike--mine has been in 4 different configurations over the years (currently drop bar singlespeed). I have a more "modern" gravel bike too, but the 'Check is one of a kind, and I always have a big smile on when I come back from riding it (and it takes a beating off road and handles in a way that belies how it looks).
I wonder if the used prices on these frames will start going up, as they are such a classic. I think you'll have to go much more expensive/boutique now if you want something similar.

plumberroy

I have the flat bar version. I love it ❤️ it and my LHT get 75% of my miles

pbass

The LHT is gone now too it appears. No more rim brake bikes on Surly's site. Now you got me wanting to seek out a LHT frame.....

plumberroy

The Long Haul Trucker was my grail bike when I started getting to the point where I could afford a good bike. I wanted to build on up on an olive green frame. Well when I was about to buy the frame my job went away. (Plant closed) so I didn't buy it. 2008 was the last year for that color . Fast forward a couple years later I'm back on my feet. I had picked up a used like new Steamroller. I went into a local bike shop and found a new old stock olive green frame that they had started building the drivetrain on. After some haggling we came to a price. I had a few parts I had already bought and I had my olive green LHT

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.

seat_boy

I had two Cross Checks, and I wouldn't mind another.

Yes, the stack is too low and the bottom bracket is too high. But so much of the bike works so well, I consider it something of a classic (Surly classics: 1x1, LHT, original Karate Monkey, Pugsley, CC)

wolfchild

I don't own a cross-check but it's still sad to see it go. Surly could of put disc brake mounts on it and keep it going....The bike industry has gone mad and insane with their so-called innovation...I am holding to my Surly 1x1 like it's gold.

plumberroy

They are still showing Steamroller frame sets which is rim brakes. I have a 2008 Steamroller. It was my first good bike.

Germany_chris

I've got a couple I won't get rid of anytime soon

grolby

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.

pbass

Well, different strokes of course. I will certainly admit the geo can be "hard to fit". But once you get it dialed I think it has quite a nice ride quality, at least my size 50 does--springy, lively, responsive. I have another steel "gravel" bike with more modern geo that rides differently from the CC, but I like 'em both for different reasons.

pbass

I think the Straggler is kind of the "disc Cross Check". Maybe because I hang out on sites like The Radavist and whatnot, but there is still a market for rim brakes out there on these kind of bikes, but as I say, now you'll have to go more $$$ like a Crust, Rivendell, Velo Orange or whatever--more boutique.

RH Clark

There are lots of similar options. My guess is that it simply wasn't selling well enough.

seat_boy

New Albion Privateer, Black Mountain Cycle Monstercross, and....? What else has geared or single speed or fixed gear capability, and pretty good tire clearance, and useful braze ons? I love this type of bike, what else should I be looking for?

pbass

That's what I'm saying, if you want rim brakes, you now have to start looking at more boutiquey options, AFAIK (however New Albion Privateer is new to me - that one looks a little more affordable).

RH Clark

I'm not saying that there are plenty of similar rim brake bikes available. There are plenty of similar disc brake bikes available. I'm saying that there simply aren't that many people buying the rim brake bikes. It's just hard to believe that a manufacturer can't source parts anymore as the reason to drop it from the line up.

SkinGriz

There is no such thing as a shortage.

There is only a shortage at X price.

Irregardless of rim brake parts, soybeans, truckers, construction workers.

seat_boy

Disc brakes don't have the single speed or geared flexibility of rim brakes. For instance, on the CC you can slide the rear wheel back and forth to have multiple fixed gear ratios.

mstateglfr 

If only there were a way to combine single speed and disc brakes...



for the record, disc and single speed exists for multiple disc brake styles too.

seat_boy

Of course this combo exists. But try to stop and do a manual gear change of your fixed gear hub (if you manage to find a fixed gear disc hub), and it's a five minute job with tools, not a 30 second task with a QR.

mstateglfr 

yep, this is a definite concern for 1 out of every 600 cyclists.

SkinGriz

If I had a fixed gear, I’d only be concerned about a disc on the front. I’m probably not alone in this so change above ratio to 1 out of 1200.

seat_boy

With a flip flop fixed/free rear hub, it's nice to have a rear brake.

Most people will never build a bike this way. But I'm sad that a frame that caters to bike nerds like me is going away to be replaced by mainstream stuff like the Preamble.

grolby

People who want a flip-flop hub on a cx bike with cantilever brakes are a niche of a niche. Fork-end bikes that can take a rear rim brake are still readily available, including from Surly. I know the horizontal dropouts are part of the tinkerer’s appeal of the Cross-Check, but as a former owner I have to say they just made the bike worse for the 99% or more of customers who were never going to use it as a single speed. In general my opinion as a bike nerd is that most of these efforts to make a bike more “versatile” by trying to throw in something for everyone mostly just end up making it kind of mediocre at all those things and the Cross-Check is a perfect example of that.

FoafInTX

This is very likely the reason for the demise of both. Both had a fanatical following. Both are older designs. That does make a difference. Costs of production and components.