Sram Apex Build

[skreaminquadz]

So this weekend I finally got around to outfitting my Cross Check with her new SRAM Apex bits. I really like the lack of cables up front and the gearing will be much better for touring. Can’t wait to take her out.

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[CCrew]

Looks great! Don’t you just love the new under the tape cabling? The 5700 series 105 I just build with was sweet.

What size cassette?

[skreaminquadz]

Yeah, that under the tape cabeling is awesome! It cleaned up that area so nicely. I’m now looking at my road bike and it looks pretty messy. I’ll have to deal with it for now. Which bike did you put the new 105 on?

I got the 11-32 cassette. That allowed me to stay with my compact double up front. The 12-27 I had on there was not enough for loaded touring.

[Mark Blacknell]

Nice. Looking forward to hearing more about your setup for loaded touring. I’ve been chattering on for years about finally getting a bike I could CX/tour with, and what you’re putting together there is one of my likely paths.

[OneEighth]

Nice job. Looks good. And just in time for the snow on Tuesday!
Just out of curiousity, what does it weigh? My Steamroller weighs about 22 lbs.
I’m assuming there was a suitable craft(y) brew in the pint glass.

[CCrew]

@skreaminquadz 1801 wrote:

Which bike did you put the new 105 on?
.

The Mrs bought me a Salsa Vaya frame for Xmas, and approval to buy what it needed:) Here it is in roughed in form before the stem got flipped and the tires got swapped

I wanted a steel frame tourer that would be good on things like the GAP/C&O, etc and insisted on discs and had been eyeing the Vaya and the Soma Doublecross DC for a bit. She said she had a hard time locating anyone that had one in stock..

Looking at racks now, probably going Tubus front and back but I’m not in a total rush because I have a Bob trailer.

[skreaminquadz]

@OneEighth 1809 wrote:

Just out of curiousity, what does it weigh? My Steamroller weighs about 22 lbs.
I’m assuming there was a suitable craft(y) brew in the pint glass.

This isn’t fair b/c I weighed it with my heavy wheels, studded tires, and fenders, but it came in at 26lbs. With my Chris King wheels and Conti 23’s and no fenders, it would probably sit at around 22 is my guess.

@Mark Blacknell 1807 wrote:

Nice. Looking forward to hearing more about your setup for loaded touring. I’ve been chattering on for years about finally getting a bike I could CX/tour with, and what you’re putting together there is one of my likely paths.

Thanks Mark. That’s exactly why I went with the Apex group b/c I wanted this for CX, Touring, and Commuting. I guess I”ll have to get used to SRAM shifting after exclusively using Shimano, but that hopefully won’t take long. My only real concern is the gap between cogs. The 11-32 is huge, so there will be big gaps along the cluster.

@CCrew 1810 wrote:

The Mrs bought me a Salsa Vaya frame for Xmas, and approval to buy what it needed:) Here it is in roughed in form before the stem got flipped and the tires got swapped

Looking at racks now, probably going Tubus front and back but I’m not in a total rush because I have a Bob trailer.

Very nice indeed CCrew! Very nice gift from the Mrs.!

Let me know how you like the Tubus if that’s what you decide on. I’ve been using a Blackburn rack for touring, while it’s been fine so far it’s showing its age.

[Dirt]

Great looking bike CCrew. I was thinking of building a Vaya… especially with the demise of my mutant snow bike yesterday. I’m leaning a bit more toward the Van Dessel WTF for its ability to handle belt drive.

[Dirt]

@SQ: Awesome looking Cross Check. I like how that build turned out. Should be a fun bike.

[OneEighth]

26 pounds doesn’t sound bad considering how you’ve got it built up. Very nice. I have a Chris King headset in that color(way) on my fair-weather fixie. Dying to find an excuse to swap in a Chris King headset on my steamroller.
Enjoy riding it in the snow tomorrow.

[skreaminquadz]

Thanks 1/8th! I was looking for a Steamroller when I was getting my fixie/ss build. I ended up going with a Bianchi San Jose. But I’m definitely diggin’ the Steamrollers, especially with a colorful CK headset ; )

[OneEighth]

The steamroller is one of my favorite bikes and, if I had to choose, I would keep it instead of any of my other bikes. With 32mm cross tires (with loads of clearance left over) and appropriate gearing, this is the bike I can use in bad weather, on the C&O, or just tooling around with my family on the way to the market (or wherever), or for everyday commuting.
At this point, the only thing I would change is the headset, but the FSA on there now works just fine.

[skreaminquadz]

Very nice Steamroller my friend. Is that a Salsa fork? I also have the bullhorns on my fixie/ss. Very nice build.

Ah, another Toupe guy – took some getting used to but it’s now my favorite saddle.

What’s the gearing on it?

[OneEighth]

Thanks.
Actually, I just happened to have the Salsa cap lying around and threw it on because it more or less matched and is nicely made. Frame and fork are Surly. The original idea was to try to build up a beater fixie using as many recycled parts as I could. You can guess how well that went. The Sugino and the tugnut were surplus stuff I had lying around, but pretty much everything else ended up getting replaced with something nicer and newer.
Gearing is 46×17. I actually put an 18 tooth freewheel on the other side thinking I might want it for snow, but I have never used it and have since decided that I prefer the control offered by the fixed cog.
Toupes truly rock.

[skreaminquadz]

Well your spare components made for a super nice build! Well done!

My San Jose is also 46×17 and I found it fine for just about everything in the immediate area. I was riding it fixie until last summer, now I’m riding it SS with the same gearing. Not as much fun as riding it fixie though…

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