What IS IT About The Surly Cross-Check?
10-28-14, 02:42 PM
#102
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10-28-14, 03:28 PM
#103
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Craft beers are a joke perpetrated on the American consumer. I don't want coffee in my beer thank you very much. Espresso is espresso and beer is beer ... don't mix them 
Not that that's out of the way ... people here need reading comprehension lessons.
The bikes I pointed out are hand-made in the EU at the same price point as the Surly CC.
Are any of the bikes you listed as being handmade at the same price point as the CC?
People get angry but seem to fail to read what I've written. Reading comprehension in this thread is abysmal.
Not that that's out of the way ... people here need reading comprehension lessons.
The bikes I pointed out are hand-made in the EU at the same price point as the Surly CC.
Are any of the bikes you listed as being handmade at the same price point as the CC?
People get angry but seem to fail to read what I've written. Reading comprehension in this thread is abysmal.
Anyways, I can't wait to try a new tasty English beer!
10-28-14, 03:33 PM
#104
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I'm suspicious of the word beer in general.
10-28-14, 04:42 PM
#105
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The Cross-Check does not have French randonneur geometry. Not even close. It has totally conventional mid-trail sport-touring geometry. It's pretty much right in the middle of its competitors. Some CX bikes sold by other manufacturers have steeper head angles (though not many), lots of them have shallower head angles. By the way - 73 degrees is not "twitchy," certainly not to any extent that 72 degrees will necessarily feel markedly different....
10-28-14, 05:34 PM
#106
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That's just ignorant. England has a very large number of well-crafted ales; I know this from (a) being somewhat of a beer snob, (b) having access to great craft beer in San Diego (including two friends who founded microbreweries) (c) having lived in England for two years, and (d) continuing to occasionally buy imported english beers. A few I can think of off the top of my head: Theakston's Old Peculier (my favorite); Wychwood Hobgoblin; Young's Double Chocolate Stout
10-28-14, 05:42 PM
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I enjoy this joke tremendously and I'm pretty unimpressed by anything other than locally-brewed craft beer when I visit europe. It's sad that Germany and England allowed their formerly robust local brewing industries to be largely swalloed up by large corporate producers of carbonated urine.
10-28-14, 05:48 PM
#109
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10-28-14, 05:50 PM
#110
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That's just ignorant. England has a very large number of well-crafted ales; I know this from (a) being somewhat of a beer snob, (b) having access to great craft beer in San Diego (including two friends who founded microbreweries) (c) having lived in England for two years, and (d) continuing to occasionally buy imported english beers. A few I can think of off the top of my head: Theakston's Old Peculier (my favorite); Wychwood Hobgoblin; Young's Double Chocolate Stout
10-28-14, 05:56 PM
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as a youngster you clearly don't know and don't care about what has been lost. germany once had thousands of small breweries...
10-28-14, 06:00 PM
#112
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10-28-14, 06:10 PM
#114
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10-28-14, 06:10 PM
#115
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10-28-14, 06:20 PM
#116
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10-28-14, 07:39 PM
#117
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A 73 degree headtube will make a bike have faster handling than a 72, all being equal. But that's the thing - all is NOT equal, and the handling feel of a bike is determined by much more than just the HTA. I have a 72 deg HTA bike now that feels more nimble than the 73 HTA bike it replaced. Claiming that you can predict how a bike will handle just by seeing that it has a 73 degree HTA is absurd.
10-28-14, 07:51 PM
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Five pages so far, with thoughts from fans of the bike, critics of the bike, beer, and random arguments . Not sure what IT IS about the Surly Cross Check, but there's definitely something.
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11-02-14, 09:05 PM
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I've been riding a cross check for about ten months, but so far pretty much just as a commuter (4-odd miles each way, 3-4 times a week).
My opinion pretty much echoes that of most of the more-serious posters here; it's sensible but not flashy, versatile as heck, fairly heavy, probably a little overpriced, and the whole Surly "like punk! except it's a bike!" cult gets annoying. It's great for my needs because I like riding bikes with drop bars, but the streets around my office are basically Fallujah-level and I was tired of getting a flat a week. I also dig the bar-end shifters since their friction functionality is great for my OCD; any kind of chain rub tends to drive me mental.
As an aside, my previous bike (got stolen from my house) was a 2011 Raleigh Clubman, and if anything I think I liked it a little more than the cross check; sort of the same concept, but leaning more toward road-iness. Looks like the 2015 model comes with disc brakes, might be worth checking out. Raleigh Bicycles - Clubman Disc
My opinion pretty much echoes that of most of the more-serious posters here; it's sensible but not flashy, versatile as heck, fairly heavy, probably a little overpriced, and the whole Surly "like punk! except it's a bike!" cult gets annoying. It's great for my needs because I like riding bikes with drop bars, but the streets around my office are basically Fallujah-level and I was tired of getting a flat a week. I also dig the bar-end shifters since their friction functionality is great for my OCD; any kind of chain rub tends to drive me mental.
As an aside, my previous bike (got stolen from my house) was a 2011 Raleigh Clubman, and if anything I think I liked it a little more than the cross check; sort of the same concept, but leaning more toward road-iness. Looks like the 2015 model comes with disc brakes, might be worth checking out. Raleigh Bicycles - Clubman Disc
11-03-14, 10:41 AM
#123
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I'm not going to bother reading the whole thread but I think its popularity is mostly due to the fact that it found a niche in the US market that the most of the major manufactures had abandoned, - a steel drop bar road bike with lots of tire clearance. The fact that it uses bar ends rather than STIs helps its utilitarian image.
I understand their appeal but there are now quite a few choices in that space. I'd like a similar bike with an aluminum frame and a belt drive but I'm too cheap to spend much on it. I have a bike that's close enough.
I understand their appeal but there are now quite a few choices in that space. I'd like a similar bike with an aluminum frame and a belt drive but I'm too cheap to spend much on it. I have a bike that's close enough.
Last edited by tjspiel; 11-03-14 at 11:39 AM.
11-03-14, 11:19 AM
#124
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not a Surly owner just tempted by some of their bikes. I find this comment a bit odd. I think very few get into surlys as a cult of personality bike. It's not a rivendell 
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Last edited by ricebowl; 11-03-14 at 11:27 AM.
11-03-14, 12:03 PM
#125
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Craft beers are a joke perpetrated on the American consumer. I don't want coffee in my beer thank you very much. Espresso is espresso and beer is beer ... don't mix them
Not that that's out of the way ... people here need reading comprehension lessons.
The bikes I pointed out are hand-made in the EU at the same price point as the Surly CC.
Are any of the bikes you listed as being handmade at the same price point as the CC?
People get angry but seem to fail to read what I've written. Reading comprehension in this thread is abysmal.
Not that that's out of the way ... people here need reading comprehension lessons.
The bikes I pointed out are hand-made in the EU at the same price point as the Surly CC.
Are any of the bikes you listed as being handmade at the same price point as the CC?
People get angry but seem to fail to read what I've written. Reading comprehension in this thread is abysmal.
Having met a few of the Surly bike people, I highly suspect that free beer was part of the deal. That would get them to agree to pretty much anything.