# Tricross Sport or Surly Cross-Check



## BigDave1 (May 4, 2004)

Me - 6'6" 275 lb+ rider. Local, choppy city streets w/ potholes, RR crossings and gravel shoulders. Typical ride is 10-20 miles.

I have about $1000 to spend, would I be better off with the Tricross or the Cross-Check. The Cross-Check complete goes up to 60cm and the Tc up to 62cm. Steel vs. Alum.

Which would you choose? Other choices at that price point?


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## krashcountry (Feb 16, 2007)

*surly all the way*

Going strictly off your size, I don't care how rigorous Specialized is on their development, you WILL fatigue an aluminum frame if you ride it consistantly. Go steel. Being 6'6" i would also go with the surly based on fit. The crosscheck comes in a 62 with a 61 eTT whereas the Tricross only offers a 59.5 eTT on the 61. I have a feeling you will be able to stretch out a bit better on the cross check. (i'm 6' and ride a 56.6/57 eTT). if possible, go size on a road bike, an XL/XXL should be easier to find and correlate. 

To top it off, the steel is more comfy for riding around town, or anywhere for that matter, just not as fast.

I am biased, I've had my crosscheck for almost 7 years and I'll never get rid of it, despite being heavy.


http://www.surlybikes.com/crosscheck.html

tricross javascript:geometryPopup('22307')
or
http://www.specialized.com/bc/SBCBkModel.jsp?spid=22307&bikeTab=story and click the geometry link @ the bottom


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## Kalrog (Aug 17, 2006)

I am 6'3" and I have it narrowed down to a Surly CrossCheck or a Soma DoubleCross. Based on what you said above, I take it that you are looking for more of a commuter bike that will be durable and ride well instead of being worried about every ounce on a racing bike. With that in mind, I would lean towards the Surly. Maybe the LHT, but the CrossCheck wouldn't be a bad option either.


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## single1x1 (Mar 26, 2005)

*Surly's the choice*



BigDave1 said:


> Me - 6'6" 275 lb+ rider. Local, choppy city streets w/ potholes, RR crossings and gravel shoulders. Typical ride is 10-20 miles.
> 
> I have about $1000 to spend, would I be better off with the Tricross or the Cross-Check. The Cross-Check complete goes up to 60cm and the Tc up to 62cm. Steel vs. Alum.
> 
> Which would you choose? Other choices at that price point?


 I also say surly, I think a 60cm would be big enough but you should try to find one to tryout, the 60cm surly has a longer TT lengh then the specialized and non-compact GEO also. I have also seen a bike shop or two online- can't remember the name, but they offer a cross check with a better mostly 105 parts pick for about $1200, which would be worth it cause of the upgraded parts compared to the regular stock bike- and since they are just putting a better parts pick on a frameset you could ask for a 62 if you really need it. I'm only 6ft and ride a 56cm cross check as a SS/fixgear, since about 01 and I have thought it's a great frame, and the paint is really tough, mines beangrean. A regular speced cross check is less expensive also. You could also talk to a local shop you are comfortable with and ask about possible deals with a slightly better parts spec- 105 for example and see what type of deal they could get you through quality-surly&Salsa's distributer-I know that Salsa say's you can spec their frames through the quality bikes builder kits, through your local dealer-maybe you could also try quality's web site or try to call them to see if this would work with a Surly frame. The Soma is the other obvious choice, check the soma site for info and Geometry, the soma frame is a little lighter then the crosscheck and has regular vertical dropouts, so it needs gears.


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## BigDave1 (May 4, 2004)

Cool, thanks for the advice. I sent a email to surly to see if they offer the complete bike in 62. Some sites like bikeman.com show one, but oddly enough surly.com does not.

How are the bar end shifters to use? If I decide later that I'd rather have STI shifters, is it a hassle convert? I'm just thinking that brakes & shifting in the same control REALLY makes sense, but if the bar ends work well, cool, too.


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## krashcountry (Feb 16, 2007)

BigDave1 said:


> Cool, thanks for the advice. I sent a email to surly to see if they offer the complete bike in 62. Some sites like bikeman.com show one, but oddly enough surly.com does not.
> 
> How are the bar end shifters to use? If I decide later that I'd rather have STI shifters, is it a hassle convert? I'm just thinking that brakes & shifting in the same control REALLY makes sense, but if the bar ends work well, cool, too.


no hastle, especially if you have the shop put them on when it is assembled...it is just a bit expensive..... definitly consider upgrading when you order. It will be a bit more pricey but Single1x1 was dead on when he said you can get them w/ different parts. QBP has a bunch of different parts kits that your LBS can quote you on (some can be customized a bit, but not the stock build offered on the Surly website), esp if you want the STI's or the 62 isn't available as a built bike. also, your LBS can call QBP and ask if they have any 62's in stock...you will find out immediately if they exist.

Bar end shifters work fine but are retro and require you to take your hands off the bars to shift...it isn't my favorite....


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## willapaj (Nov 13, 2006)

I can't say enough good things about my cross-check. I'm a big guy too, 6'5", 250. So far so good.


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## goldsbar (Apr 24, 2002)

Warning - in all the years I've been reading this board I've noticed that there's a sub cult of Surly riders that never miss an opportunity to prop up their ride. Based solely on the specs, they seem like very versatile, decent value old school steel bikes. No more, no less. Not that you really want the latest bling in a CX bike anyway. 

That said, as an owner of the Specialized, I'd recommend the Surly! I love the Spec. but have to agree that AL at your weight is an eventual recipe for failure. I hear Spec. is good with the warranty but why go throught the hassle.


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## eman2 (Apr 3, 2006)

*What about Raleigh?*

Raleigh has an entry level cx bike that goes for $1200. Components are basically the same if not a little better than the entry level tricross that goes for $1100-1200. The raliegh comes with a sweet easton carbon cx fork. The bike also is fairly light weight. When I test road on I thought it rode pretty nice for an al frame. Also, check out the Lemond Poprad -- a little more $$ but I heard they are getting rid of the disk brake version and going back to or adding the canti version back -- that was a nice riding bike with the carbon switchblade fork. I think you can get better bang for your buck by not building up a bike from scratch -- $1000 will probably not go very far on a surly.


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## ZenZhu (Jan 29, 2007)

I've been looking into a CX bike as well, and the feedback I've been getting at my shops is to go with steel. I prefer dirt and gravel roads over mountain biking, but the roads here are pretty gnarly. That said, I've been told steel will hold up whereas I'd probably kill an aluminum frame. So I'm looking in Surly's direction as well.

The next step will be figuring out components. Oi vey......


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## BigDave1 (May 4, 2004)

Well, I just ordered the Cross-Check yesterday. 62cm, black, complete from Surly. It should be here by the end of the week. I asked about the bar-ends and they said to stick with them. I'll post an update after I get a few miles on it.


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## Kalrog (Aug 17, 2006)

About the cost of building up vs. buying complete. You can almost certainly get a better total price by buying complete, if what you want is available as a complete bike. But if you have to swap out parts here and there to get what you want it won't be the same. I went with a Soma Doublecross frame & fork (same price as a Surly CC) and the complete build is in the $1400 range, but that is for a full SRAM Rival build and a new hand build wheelset from the LBS. I could have saved money easily on those 2 areas so a $1100 build is easily possible.


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## ZenZhu (Jan 29, 2007)

I'd prefer to buy complete. I know zilch about components and while I could get input at my LBS, the choices would probably make my head swim. Since this would be my first CX bike, I'd prefer to get a complete one and then swap out as I learn more about what I like and don't like about the components. Given the discussions I see about it, I can understand how it wouldn't be a race bike, but since the would be simply for fitness and fun, steel seems to be the better option.

I wasn't aware the Cross Check came complete until I did some more poking with Google What did you pay for it, BigDave1? Most sites I see are elusive with the price, but ones that do have it seem to put it in the $850-$900 range. My only wish was that they'd come up with some better colors than black and dark barf green or somesuch.

The upshot, too, is that that kind of price range makes it look like in the next few years I won't have to choose between saving for a CX bike or a roof rack and kayak.


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## BigDave1 (May 4, 2004)

I paid $929 at the LBS. I had the thought, for half a second, that I might buy online someplace like bicycleblowout.com and save a few dollars, but for less than $50 I get to build a relationship with my LBS, which will probably pay off at some point. Besides, my LBS is one of those "friends of Surly" type places, so I know they know the equipment. Piece of mind is important.


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## ZenZhu (Jan 29, 2007)

Yeah, my preferred LBS and outdoor store can order Surly. And they give free adjustments for life and such. Not to mention sometimes the savings of ordering are killed by the shipping costs.


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## BigDave1 (May 4, 2004)

Picked it up yesterday and took it out on my "normal" 10 mile route around Indy. Very happy so far. The 62 cm version is really big - I am not wishing there was a bigger frame. I still have some un-learning to do regarding hand placement and controls versus my MTB. It definitely is a more stretched out riding position (which I am NOT used to), but I'm going to reserve final judgement at least until I have a 100 miles or so on it. I'm thinking that possibly a shorter stem with more rise might be better, but it is too soon to tell.

Overall, I'm impressed with the quality of the final product. A few creeks in the pedals (I think), but those aren't related to the Surly product. The bar end shifters will take some getting used to coming from integrated Shimano controls on the MTB, but so far so good.


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## ZenZhu (Jan 29, 2007)

Creaks can be hard to place. I had some recently that turned out to be the bottom bracket. Now I have some because my seatpost shifts some. I need to go to my local shop and see what can be done to keep it in position. It usually drops about an inch after I've reset it for my preferred height. I think it pivots slightly, too, leading to the creak.


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