Advice wanted on cross bike...

In article said:

Just scored a deal on a used Surly Cross Check frame; want to make a budget bad weather/cross/fire
road bike out of it. Had a couple of questions:

I was thinking of going with shimano bar end shifters (I'm a Campy guy but they don't have much
that works for this application),

Ergo shifters? I prefer them to bar-ends when riding on loose surfaces. I suggest Veloce or better.

Quoted message said:

normal road cranks, and XT or LX derailleurs to get access to wider gear ratios. Will the Dura-Ace
H-bar shifters work with an XT or LX (front & rear)?

All the Shimano 9-speed bar-end shifters are interchangeable.

Quoted message said:

An alternative might be a cheaper Campy drivetrain and with 36/48 chainrings on a mountain crank.
Anyone have any opinions as to which way flies best?

Either way will work. A Centaur triple in 30-40-50 gearing is a good fit as well. Shimano 9s cogs
work fine with Campy derailleur and shifters so your hub and cogset choices are not constrained by
using a Campagnolo derailleur.

Quoted message said:

Avid Shorty's a good canti to use with road levers?

Yes, all cantilevers work with road brake levers, only v-brakes require trickery.

It can be nice to use Campy brake levers with cantilevers since the QR is built into the lever
instead of the caliper.

--Paul

"TC Rider" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

Quoted message said:

Avid Shorty's a good canti to use with road levers?

work dandy.