also isn’t it trying to move back/jack the front end up when you hit the brakes?
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They were $99 all day long a few years back.
pubes with the scoop
smiling-mike.gif
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rim brake LHT is dead too.
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That’s been at least practically true for a year or two, because that’s about when I started looking for a replacement for my rusty LHT frame.
I pinged Mike on instagram and he says Blue Lug has convinced him to do the next run of Monstercrosses with 132.5mm spacing lol so I may get my frame swap wish after all!
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I’m surprised Blue Lug hasn’t found a domestic builder for a CC clone. The steel canti + level top tube aesthetic seemed to be their bread and butter for many of the featured builds.
I’ve been waffling over revamping my CC’s drivetrain or find something else to put into daily service and make the CC an SS tarcklocross again. Might have to look at the next Monstercross…
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R.I.P. I sold many of those ~2004 to city/commuter/path/gravel path riders in Seattle.
If you wanted drop bars with nonskinny tires/fenders/rack it was xcheck, LHT, Trek 520.
Also sold a light smattering of Lemond Poprad, Redline Conquest and Rocky Mountain Sherpa, and later Specialized Tricross. I didn’t work with Giant/C’dale/etc but I presume they had similar offerings.
Either way, in a town like Seattle, with “steel is real” in full effect, the xcheck sold strong.
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When first learning about bikes, the cross check was the coolest sounding thing. However with my budget I ended up with a series of jalopies off clist instead.
I never understood why the head tube is so short on them though!
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They really should–Japan is so close to the steel factories in Taiwan and they can even use the Tange branding for more authenticity. But between Crust, VO, Rivendell, and BMC, it’s a crowded space. They’re probably all competing for line time at the same factory anyway
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EBS has been cranking out some similar bike models for themselves and at least one other label (Grown) for a while now…there must be some other production shops that can do the same. Like you say, I think the usual suspects are probably booked and this gives them a solid homegrown story to build on.
when I was new to the Seattle CX scene (like 2008?) I clearly recall seeing a guy with matching A and B crosschecks. There’s some real dedication to a mediocre boat anchor frame rare and beautiful jackalope.
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Blue Lug should make their own frames but they seem to like the cachet of US companies. I think I remember one of the Riv emails talking about special edition frames that were shipped straight to Blue Lug from Taiwan, which makes a lot of sense.
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The short headtube was good for cross racing. I miss nerding out on getting cantis to work.
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the Cross Check came with a 1" threaded steerer originally and they never changed the geometry when updating to an oversized headtube and threadless
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but blue lug’s whole deal is fetishizing #influenced gear. they make some of their own bits and bobs but they really want that “Crust” or “Rivendell” or “Black Mountain” on the side of the frame.
I was just there ~2 weeks ago and it was moderately surreal seeing all of the same MUSA bags that you’d find in a trendy bay area bike shop.
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Damn… now I want to dig up pictures of the shitty cross check I built up and rode around Iceland. It had 2x10 105 on there and instead of fucking with a triple I just put on a MTB parts bin double and got it to work ok ish with the 105 pusher.
Had wood chipper bars and pink tape.
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which are then so consistently in those trendy US bike shops partly due to Blue Lug exporting their curatorial dictat
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