General: My commuter has been revived from the dead

Here's my old commuter. This is unfortunately the only remaining picture I have left of it. It has seen better days. It's a Ciocc (san cristobal I think), with the heart shaped lugs.

I crashed it and the frame (steel) was totaled. The steel crumpled at the head-tube / down-tube juncture. I'd like to say it was the driver's fault entirely, but it wasn't. I ran a right of way intersection, and so did she. I t-boned the side, rolled over the hood, and landed on the other side with a small bump on my head and some bruising to my thighs (from hitting the drop bars).

I managed to salvage the derailleurs, DT shifters, wheels, and set out to create a new commuter. I had a surly cross-check in mind with 28c tires and a brooks saddle with mustache bars. Picked up a free Tiagra crank from Mike's Bikes (my girlfriend bought a bike, and I got a $150 gift card for it during their Christmas promotion).

Here is the result :




I plan to go thomson on the seatpost, and also go black on some of the components up front. I wish I had gotten the brooks saddle with black rails and coils... maybe I'm being too nitpicky. It rides like a dream, and I'm just glad to have the Shamals back on a bike. These wheels have been with me from SF to LA so they have sentimental value.

Part of me wants to rub the decals off, and part me wants to keep them on because Surly has done a great job with the crosscheck.

Damn I did a quick skim I wasnt expecting the Surly lol I thought you had the Ciocc repaired! Here is my Ciocc before accident and now here it is after....Surly!
The Surly looks great

Veggie, love your surly. It's done well, seems like it rides really comfortably.

I'm considering bigger tires and putting the shamals on an even more classic build, but it doesn't look too bad on the surly.

Here's a shot of the bike + parking meter :

I have said this before to Veggie and I'll say it again to you... good taste, my friend.

I'm seriously considering getting a pair of Orileb panniers with my tax refund. I have a quick release rack on the crosscheck. Going to try and commute by bike more!

This is a full rack, it has quick release mounts, I'll try and take some pictures later after class.

Posted By: veggieI'm seriously considering getting a pair of Orileb panniers with my tax refund. I have a quick release rack on the crosscheck. Going to try and commute by bike more!

you can't find better, more easy to use panniers than the Ortliebs.... I commute to school with mine daily... and I don't just ride to school with them, and then let them sit in my locker all day... I am dragging them around all day from class to class using the shoulder strap... I use them to cary text books, change of clothes, lunch etc, and have been using them for almost 2 years and they have held up very well... it rains a sh*t tonne here... and having the full water-proof dry-bag concept vs a pannier with a water-proof cover is definitely the way to go.... the quick release engagement system they use is brilliant as well... the top clips on to the rack, with no chance of a pop off (although I'm not sure I've ever seen or heard of that happening with standard panniers)... if I was to ever get another set of panniers i wouldn't consider anything else...