Cyclotrons: Story of the Crosscheck v2.0

So about a month ago, I only owned 2 bikes (2006 Jamis Quest and 2007 Jamis Coda). I started riding my road bike everywhere, which is not the smartest thing to do in PHL since the drivers are dicks, the peds are clueless, and a >$1000 bike is not guaranteed from thieves anywhere at any hour. For a general idea about the city of brotherly love from a biker's perspective click here. I hated the Coda, mainly because it was way too small. When I had bought the bike, I didn't know anything about bikes or such a procedure as getting fitted for a bike. But they sold it to me anyway.

I was on the prowl for another bicycle. One that would last me through the harsh North American winters, one that would handle my 22 mile commutes to school, and one that I could do a little trail riding on. So Chris from Trophy chimes in saying, "What you need is a cyclocross bike... Peter's selling his and it'd probably fit you." Every bike mechanic that I know from Trophy has a Surly Crosscheck so I knew their had to be some confidence in it.

Here's the complete Surly Crosscheck if you bought it stock:
My first problem with it is that it has bar-end shifters. Since the price of the geared bike is so close to the price of the singlespeed, it's almost worth it just to get the geared bike. At that time I was also thinking about getting a different fork since it weighs alot. The saddle and tires also had to be swapped out.

Even though I didn't know how to build a bike, I bought Peter's frame and fork anyway. Since I had to get an arthroscopic menisectomy on my right knee, I knew this bike had to be geared. I was also insistent on brake-shifters. So I decided that I should just take off the entire drivetrain from my Quest and put it on the X-Check. In the meantime, my friend helped me gather up an Shimano Ultegra groupo for my Quest. After that, I ordered some Salsa handlebars and stem, and a Fi'zi:k Gobi, which is Fi'zi:k's version of a mtb saddle.

Here it is almost complete (I'm sharing one wheelset for two bikes):
By the way, learning how to build up a bike is not hard. Go learn how to do it, then go teach someone else, and then we won't have to pay bike shops god-awful sums of money because no one ever showed them how to change a flat tire.