Steel vs alu commuter?
Currently ride a Spesh sirrus elite. Have had it for 4 years and toying with the idea of a new bike (basically because I can).
The roads I ride on are pretty lumpy (Sydney) and I have a pretty harsh ride as on 700*23 - as also need to be fast. Do 26 miles a day and looking for more comfort.
So my questions are:
1) If I were to get a bike built up around say the surly cross check frame would it offer a smoother ride (still on 700*23) than alu with carbon fork?
2) If built up with reasonable spec components (say 105 groupset and mavic aksiums/shimano 6600) how would it compare in weight with sirrus?
3) I don’t use a huge range of gears, do you think I could get away with a single ring at the front? Would that and lowest gear on a 105 cassette support cadence of about 90rpm at say 30mph and still go low enough to get me up hills?
4) Assume the cross check is vee brake compatable?
5) Don’t get on with drops but find myself using bar ends nearly all the time for more comfortable wrist alignment, would some sort of TT bar give me a compromise here?
6) Would STI levers to use on that be compatable with vee brakes?
And finally...
7) Fancy the look of old school steel and brooks saddle with new fangled looking wheels and other bits, how would that look do you recon? A bit of a confused monster?
Picked the cross check as L(ish)BS stocks and builds on them and hear they make a great do anything bike? Open to other suggestions but bear in mind I am in Auz, having said that LBS are the sort of guys that would like importing something a bit different anyway...
The roads I ride on are pretty lumpy (Sydney) and I have a pretty harsh ride as on 700*23 - as also need to be fast. Do 26 miles a day and looking for more comfort.
So my questions are:
1) If I were to get a bike built up around say the surly cross check frame would it offer a smoother ride (still on 700*23) than alu with carbon fork?
2) If built up with reasonable spec components (say 105 groupset and mavic aksiums/shimano 6600) how would it compare in weight with sirrus?
3) I don’t use a huge range of gears, do you think I could get away with a single ring at the front? Would that and lowest gear on a 105 cassette support cadence of about 90rpm at say 30mph and still go low enough to get me up hills?
4) Assume the cross check is vee brake compatable?
5) Don’t get on with drops but find myself using bar ends nearly all the time for more comfortable wrist alignment, would some sort of TT bar give me a compromise here?
6) Would STI levers to use on that be compatable with vee brakes?
And finally...
7) Fancy the look of old school steel and brooks saddle with new fangled looking wheels and other bits, how would that look do you recon? A bit of a confused monster?
Picked the cross check as L(ish)BS stocks and builds on them and hear they make a great do anything bike? Open to other suggestions but bear in mind I am in Auz, having said that LBS are the sort of guys that would like importing something a bit different anyway...
0
Comments
-
I agree, though the wheels I had in mind are considerably less "fancy" and new fangled than the ones you have in the pic...0
-
I think the x-check will give a smoother ride but will be heavier than the Sirrus. It's a pretty weighty F&F.
I have a cross check with brooks saddle and modern components (chainset, etc) and I reckon it looks fine. Don't have 'modern' looking wheels though. Also, because of the huge clearances it doesn't look quite right with skinny tyres. I have 28c on mine.
I would just go with a compact chainset then you're catered for any eventuality. How much weight are you going to save by only have a single ring? I'd always be worried about the chain coming off with a single ring setup.0 -
Interesting what you say about weight, I wouldn't really want anything heavier than what I have now! As for the single ring was just a thought to keep the bike as minimalist as possible rather than achieving any great weight reduction.0
-
I've got a xcheck I use as a winter fixed. The F+F weighs a ton compared to an ally frame/carbon fork.
The standard steel fork with cantis is pretty juddery/squealy under braking too. It may be better with V's (I've never tried), but V's and road levers don't get on in my experience (even the levers that are supposed to be V-brake compatible are pony).
Neil--
"Because the cycling is pain. The cycling is soul crushing pain."0 -
Might not be too bad weight wise with a carbon fork. But it will still be more than an alu frame.
As you're using a flat bar it should be fine with V-brakes. Works OK with decent cantis as well, but I agree that with cheapo versions it can be juddery and squealy.
I also have a Salsa La Raza. Steel frame, carbon fork. More expensive than the xcheck but nicer, and much lighter. Your LBS might be able to source one of these? A lot of dealers seem to stock both Surly and Salsa.0
