The Bike

I love my bike. I love everything about it, and this page is all about it. I mainly made this page for people interested in touring and the minute details behind everything. If you’re not up for geeking out about bikes, then this should be a good read when you’re getting ready for bed. But if you’re a bike enthusiast who understands how the bike you ride ens up being an extension of the person on top of  it, then carry on. Maybe you'll learn something about me.*

This is what I'm trusting to get me over 4,000 miles down the West Coast and across the country. I built it from the frame up, so since Day 1, it's been a huge learning experience about building and maintaining a bike. It's also been an exercise in learning to trust myself and my skill as I have to believe that it's not going to fail catastrophically during a race due to the fact that I installed something wrong.

Cyclocross Mode

My thought for this bike was that I wanted something I could use for both Cyclocross and touring, I wanted it as sturdy as possible, and I didn't want to spend much more than $1000. Which means whenever I had to make the choice between "light" or "can take a beating and keep on trucking," I went with the latter. This bike is a tank. And weighs about as much as one. (For comparison, my road bike clocks in at just over 15 lbs, while this one is 21 lbs when stripped down for 'Cross.)

The frame is a 2014 Surly Cross-Check. It originally had the stock fork on it, but I lost that the first time I got t-boned by a car. Apparently, you can bend steel to the point where it is unusable. On the plus side, the rest of the bike took the hit like a champ. My replacement fork is a Jamis. Why Jamis? Because my used parts LBS gave it to me for $20.

10 speed Shimano 105 groupset with a 50-34 crankset and 12-27 cassette. It's not as low a gearing as most people put on a touring bike, but I'm good at suffering. I went with black because I liked the way it looked on the navy blue, and when it starts to wear away, that's cool, because it just means you ride your bike a hell of a lot.

Shimano CX-70 brakes with Kool Stop wet weather brake pads. Pretty easy to set up and unlike most cantilever brakes, once you get them adjusted, you never have to do so again. They use the same pads as caliper brakes, so you can just slide new pads in. Might eventually switch them out for mini Vs, because ideally I'd like a bit more stopping power, but overall I can't complain.

The only part of the bike I didn't put together myself are the wheels--I paid someone to build them for me. 105 hubs laced to Mavic Open Pro rims makes for a fairly bombproof wheelset. Threw a pair of Schwalbe Marathon Supreme 32s on there as they're pretty much the default touring tire.

I have no idea what pedals these are besides the fact that they're Shimano (sensing a theme in my parts here?) Picked them up for like $5 at the same store that sold me my fork. Spd clips on one side and flats on the other.

The saddle is a 143mm Specialized Alias. Say what you will about Specialized; by all accounts their bikes are overpriced, their reps jerk shops around, and their owners are just kinda assholes. But oh my god do I love their saddles. No chafing, no pressure on unfortunate areas, no hurting when I go to the bathroom after riding 200 miles in 11 hours straight. It's really the only brand I'll put between my legs.

Want to know what will be hanging from bike during this ridiculously ill thought out endeavor? Proceed over to my gear list.

*While my Cross-Check is very much an extension of me, it's not the bike that tells you the most about who I am. For that, you'll have to check out my track bike.