pangpang77

I also posted this on the Hybrid forum as I'm not sure how to best categorize the bike.

I just built it from scratch. I found a used Surly Travelers Check in great shape, and took it from there. The whole process was a lot of fun. This will be a do everything bike. I built it hoping it could cope with various types of riding, including pulling my kids on the trailer, some offroading, and just general around-town riding. Feel free to chime in on your thoughts Enjoy (I certainly have)!

New Build (on used frame)
Frame: 2009 Surly Travelers Check 58cm
Fork: Alpha Q Carbon for Cyclocross
Handlebar: Ritchey Classic Silver
Hoods: Hudz Vintage Champagne
Bar Tape: Adarga Leather Honey
Bar Ends: Brooks Cork
Stem: Dimension Threadless 80mm 107 degrees
Headset: Cane Creek
Bell: Crane Copper Headset Mount Vintage Bell
Brakes: Tektro CR720 Cantilever Silver
Cross Brake Levers: Soma Silver all metal
Brake Pads: Kool-Stop Eagle Claw 2 Salmon
Shifters: 2012 Campagnolo Veloce Silver
RD/FD: 2012 Campagnolo Veloce
Cableset: Campagnolo 600s
Cassette/Chain: 2012 Campagnolo Veloce
Crankset: 2012 Campagnolo CX 175mm
BB: 2012 Campagnolo CX with sealed bearings
Seat Post: Generic to be swapped out with Velo Orange 302 setback silver
Saddle: Brooks Imperial Standard Honey
Saddlebag: Zimbale Leather Honey
Wheelset: Vuelta Corsa Lite (stickers removed) 1578g
Skewers: Campagnolo Vintage Super Record
Tires: Challenge Grifo XS 33mm Cross tires
Bottle Cages: Origin 8 leather/silver
Bottles: Kleen Kanteen polished stainless steel with Bamboo/metal top
Light: Soma Silver Bullet Retro Light










Bar, Bar Tape, Vintage Hoods from Hudz, Crane Copper Headset Mount


Cross Levers, etc.


Campy Veloce FD/RD, Campy CX Cranks, Tektro Canti Brakes


Vuelta Wheels and Vintage Campy Super Record Skewers


Brooks Saddle and Zimbale Leather Saddle Bag

ClemY

I like it! I also like the in-line brake levers you have. I discovered those a few years ago. Da. As a matter of personal preference, I have used barcons so many years I would feel strange without them. I ride on the tops most of the time and they are easy for me to reach. I like the cyclecross frame as a do-everything bike. My do-everything bike is a 40 yr. old Jack Taylor Marathon, a cycle cross frame, that I got new and have rebuilt a few times over the years to update it.

Barrettscv 

Very nice looking! It should be a very nice ride.

LeeG

Fancy wheels! I've got a 44/30 crankset on a triple with a chain guard on the outer ring of my CC. 95% of my around town riding is on the 44 with a 12-28 8 spd casette.

skilsaw

A bike you can be proud to own. Nice Job.

pangpang77

Thanks for the complements. I've added some pics that include the new Crane Copper Headset Mount Bell and Soma Silver Bullet light that I just installed.

Bekologist

Nice!

I've got one built up with extra handlebars set up with identically sized brake cables and housing, and rear cable hanger all the way to the straddle hangers so handlebar swapouts take less than 3 minutes.

I can go from sweptback bars with barends for offroading
to british bars to flat bars (thinking of a dirt descent of Haleakala on Maui)to road bars in a matter of minutes.

The bike morphs between all these in just a matter of minutes. I think i disassembled the flat bar but still have the bike easily convertible between drops, sweeps and british bars.



and i can fit in in the standard luggage case with both a front and rear folding rack.

Ubik

Nice job! Your bike looks unusually well designed, very classy.

Jaye

Absolutly love it. It drips class to me, wish I owned it.

BigAura

Nice work, it looks great.

Question: Do you actually ride in the drops, at that angle?

pangpang77

I have ridden on the drops, but to be honest I usually ride the hoods and with the cross brakes up top quite a bit as well. In general, even on my race bike, I don't ride the drops too much (probably because I don't race ;-))

DiscTruckerMF

your front wheel is backwards!!!!!!!!!! That is a glaring mistake to me. if your gonna take pics and shoe it off, get the label on the hub facing the right way.

Never heard of the "travelers check" only been cycling for a couple of years, very familiar with surly as I have a disc trucker but not aware of this bike, what separates it from the cross check?

EDIT: disregard, I see the couplers on it, so i assume it's like a trucker deluxe, take it apart for travel. pretty cool

pangpang77

The Travelers Check is a Cross Check with the S&S couplers. It is no longer available from Surly. The frame is from 2009. So no, it's not a trucker deluxe with S&S couplers...

Bekologist

Actually, it's very similar to the trucker deluxe. I read at the Surly blog they moved their coupled platform to 26" wheels for ease of packing in the cases (700c is tough to get in a hardshell, airline 26x26x10 case, believe me!) and the utility value in 26" platform for overseas touring where Surly thought their coupled bike would get ridden a lot.

the trucker deluxe is very, very similar to the travelers' check. Angles are identical if not a half a degree here or there.

TC- horiz dropouts, no mid fork braze on, slightly shorter WB and less BB drop, 700c wheels.
TD- semi vert dropouts, midfork brazeon, longer wheelbase, lower BB, 26" wheels.

Here's a Travelers'Check gettin' dirty yesterday.

DropBarFan

?? Q/R is correctly on left (rider POV) & AFAIK hub labels go on so writing is readable from rider POV::



Anyway it's a nice-looking bike, I like the copper bell & the fancy bottles & esp the Campy gear (though I wish they'd make a gruppo for loaded touring).

aggiegrads

Agreed. Hub lettering is properly read from rider's point of view.

DropBarFan

& BTW, we always mount our bikes from the left because if you mount from the right it might spook the bike.

soma2x

Funny, I always put the front QR on the opposite side of the bike as the rear (i.e. on the same side as the drivetrain), but I agree that the front hub should be readable from the saddle.

robow

It's of course quite standard for the front wheel quick release to be on the left hand side of the bike, non-drive side, the name of the front hub facing the rider correctly as it rolls over and if we want to get really pissy, it displays good workmanship on the wheel build if you look down thru the valve stem hole and are able to read the hub name as well.

alan s 

A vegan's nightmare. Nice.

DropBarFan

Now that's class! IIRC q/r levers supposed to be mounted parallel to ground for safety but on my Disc Trucker the dropout area bits get in the way so that's not quite possible. Living dangerously, heh.

kylakemike

Beautiful bike. Thank you for sharing.

Happy Feet

You can say no if you want but ballpark, what did that build cost?