Got my wheel and shifter set up last night and wrapped my bars this afternoon, so the Cross Check is in complete touring attire. It’s pretty heavy, but most of the components are mountain stuff, so it should be bombproof. I’m going to swap the 38 tooth chainring for a 32 tooth, as the high gear is way too tall. That’ll gear everything down a bit and make those long climbs easier to handle.
These are FSA’s equivalent to the 3T bars I was looking at. Love the shallow drop and short reach. Double wrapped. Almost wish I had gone for the Salsa 40 degree stem over the 30 degree Ritchey for some extra sit-up old man points, but live and learn.
Really digging the v-brake in the back, made possible by linear-pull adjusted levers. I’ve heard stories about v-brakes bending forks, so that’s a Paul Neo-Retro cantilever in the front. Plenty powerful and lots of clearance for my 32’s.
Still looking for a good handlebar bag solution. Let me know if you’ve had sucess with anything in particular.
jfortytwo 
arkel has really nice handlebar bags, I’ve used one for a long time. dont know who stocks them in the city besides Sids on 34th st.
Comment by j l — June 15, 2009 @ 3:59 am