I have swapped my super light carbon fibre road frame for a frame thats been cobbled together from a few steel offcuts, and then had holes drilled everywhere.

Dunno why.

Bought it off Charlie the Bike Monger this week, built it last night. Havent ridden it yet as I need some front mech shims so I can get it in the big ring (the only one I use anyway! hah!).

Size seems about right. I have left the steerer tube purposefully long as I expect to be moving my stem right to the top of it due to my shit back. And the fact I like to be able to see where I’m cycling, especially in heavy traffic – You seem to get alot of it at trail centres these days, but aslong as they move out of the way swiftly when I shout, then I’m ok with it.

Welcome to the Cross Check club my friend, you won’t regret becoming a member. They’re ace.

I’ve left my steerer tube long as well, mainly down to not sorting out a proper workbench with a vice in the garage yet. One day…

looks nice in duck egg blue david.ive always fancied one of them.

I’ve left my steerer tube long as well, mainly down to not sorting out a proper workbench with a vice in the garage yet. One day…

I didnt have enough stem spacers so I was forced into cutting mine down a bit with a junior hacksaw with a reasonably blunt blade. Took forever.

I did briefly experiment with a cheap tube cutting tool. It broke. Surly makes ’em tough.

TBH the extended tube is handy for strapping lights to so it may well stay; it has for the last two years so far 😀

Looks nice.
What saddle is that?

oh can I join?

Or do I have to wait till its built?

Still need some stuff before its ready to ride.

love the blue, was very tempted myself when I saw it but chickened out and went for black.

I changed my fork, can I still join?

What saddle is that?

The saddle is a Selle Italia SLR 135 with some of the logo’s removed. Dead good saddles, but pretty firm though. Which could cause trouble for some, but I’m used to it since we dont have comfy chairs or settees at my house, only logs.

I think I’m going to get some new wheels for it, a handbuilt set maybe. I’ve sold my PS3, I just need to wait my birthday and christmas money so I should be able to get them in a month.

Oh go on then lol

Fixed cx mode

Geared monstercross mode

I would contribute, but mine doesn’t have a skyward stem and ten yards of headset spacers 🙂

I would contribute, but mine doesn’t have a skyward stem and ten yards of headset spacers

Go on – post a picture. I want to see one that looks “normal”

the problem is that the head tube is so short they need 10 yards of headsest spacers to get the bars to a sensible height.

Loving my gravy brown cross check here…

The saddle is a Selle Italia SLR 135

Cheers, looks like that’s just what I’ve been looking for.

That looks ace.

I have a brown one, which I love.

I too have a stupid amount of spacers but even then I still have more steerer tube sticking out of the top. Partly that’s due to laziness and partly due to watching the bike shop mechanic sweating and swearing even to cut it down to its current length. Those steerers are apparently pigs to cut.

You never know, it might come in handy for extra bar height during a long tour, or as a handy chest-impaler if I have a crash.

“the problem is that the head tube is so short they need 10 yards of headsest spacers to get the bars to a MTBer’s idea of a sensible height. “

FTFY – I think what you meant was “they’re cross bike shaped” 🙂

Actually, I confess I have a couple of spacers on mine, but that’s cos I was told I was buying a 62 – which is the right size for me – and it turned out to be a 60.

I can get it in the big ring (the only one I use anyway! hah!)

Odd, I don’t see a big ring on your pic 😉
(unless it’s a 25 inch frame or something)

BigDave,

Why have you parked your bike outside the house we own in Sheffield?

Or at least it’s an exact copy of our garage entrance, in style, colour, and detail, right down to the drain.Tarmac and walls in a better condition than ours.

Caused me to stop and look closer for 30 seconds or so!

With a bad back and, judging by your seatpost, legs stolen from a giraffe I’m not sure a cross check with its tiny head tube for the size of bike was that sensible a purchase.

Looking good…. It’s nice to see our babies after they leave their box, out there in the big world.

With a bad back and, judging by your seatpost, legs stolen from a giraffe I’m not sure a cross check with its tiny head tube for the size of bike was that sensible a purchase.

I often find myself having similar thoughts when I’m stuck in traffic at my local trail centre.

I often think to myself “These idiots have bought a 160mm travel bike to enable them to ride over relatively smooth terrain at incredibly slow speeds. I dont think moutain biking was a sensible hobby for them to persue”

I havent mentioned it to anyone yet though.

Better without mudguards but not worth a wet botty better.

Wintered Cross Check by Birdage, on Flickr

i am on my second LHT, just wondering what the difference is between a LHT and a crosscheck?

Think the ‘check has different rear spacing (LHT is 135mm only), LHT is lower and slacker to be stable under load, and the LHT is a wee bit heavier. You’ll be able to get a LHT that takes discs soon too.

Here’s mine.

Skyward stem, check! Although it’s set up with dirt drops and the bars aren’t actually any higher than my girlfriend’s Jake The Snake.

Ten yards of headset spacers, check. Well it has about 10 mm, I did manage to cut the steerer down after a false start.

LHT and CC angles are the same (in big sizes anyway). LHT front end is higher, stays are longer, BB is lower, TT slopes a little. LHT has vertical dropouts, three bottle bosses, rear brake hanger, spoke holder, pump peg, and lowrider bosses on the fork.

What’s that front hub, Mr A?

It’s an older Schmidt dynohub, paired up with a Solidlights head unit. A bit of a revelation, although the next generation of dynohubs will probably blow it out of the water, certainly as far as low speed performance goes.

Ah, right. Thought it was a dyno but didn’t recognise it and didn’t see anything connected to it 🙂 I’ve just ordered an XT dynohub and B&M Cyo for mine.

Which light unit are you using? (Are Solidlights defunct now?)

The head unit is a Solidlights XB2 with upgrade, bought third hand off a mate.

They aren’t selling new lights any more but still do spares and rewiring.

It used to belong to my girlfriend but she’s just got herself a 2nd generation SON with disc mount, and a Supernova E3 Triple. She’s not taken delivery of the hub yet, but I’ll be interested to see how it works, especially at low speed, as I understand that round about 8 mph (i.e. techy singletrack speed) is where most dynohubs start to become a bit flakey.

Mr Agreeable, lovely build. What front mech are you using? I’ve got those flashy japanese mudguards on my Crosscheck but they stop the front mech moving.

Austin, it’s just a standard band-on Sora front mech. Guards are Honjo, can’t remember the width, I assume they’re the 45mm ones as I’ve had 35mm tyres in them. I have a slightly too long BB spindle – 110mm as I thought it would need loads of clearance for the chainstays – so perhaps that’s why it doesn’t foul.

I took it for its maiden road voyage today. Its lovely. Not as snappy up the hills as the carbon bike, but it descends like a beast. Bumpy roads are no longer unnerving. The riding position feels nice and comfy and the compact drop bars are a revelation. I’m going to ride it again tomorrow, then buy some new wheels for it.

Looks right nice. Good to hear it goes nicely too.

I’ve been thinking about cobbling together one for my my g/f. I expect I’ll like it more than the similar bike I got for myself, which is exactly what happened with the mountain bikes.

Looks good without the stickers, too. Does it come bare with the stickers separate to put on as you like?

OK, I took a photo of mine. It’s function over form, this one.

cross check by stewartpratt, on Flickr

Looks good without the stickers, too. Does it come bare with the stickers separate to put on as you like?

The stickers are made out of cobwebs and rice paper, if your ride fast enough, they’ll just blow off in the wind.

ooh, you know what. That’s a bloody nice bike. Bit of a lump but I imagine it’s a perfectly comfortable all-day-every-day-er. (add to list)

Yes, enjoying it at the moment. I’ve been out a few times on it after work this week. Its great for night riding, you dont need to worry about hitting potholes too fast.

Going to get some cx tyres for it after xmas so I can do some off roading.