spesh tricross single, anyone got details of...?

chrisw12

I've had enough of gears and am going back to fixed this season. I've got a tricross on order, but I can't find details of:-

1) chainring bcd size. Praying that its 144 as I've got track chainrings, but not holding my breath.

2) What size spacing is the rear axle, 120 ( 8) 8) 8) or 130

Anyone help, so that I can search my garage for 'upgrades'

MrGrumpy

I looked at one today and it was nice, however it says it comes with a derailleur hanger ?? But i cannot see where or how it would fit and wether there would be room. Its a nice looking bike, albeit the size i tried was a 54, think I need a 56 or large. Another thing it had was V breaks rather than canti`s ?? All in all it looks nicer in the flesh, frame is smart and it takes the full mudguards, rack etc which for me is good for commuting. The hub is a flip flop as well, but you need to buy another cog. Nice change from a pure racer or MTB, so its top of my list, dunno when to order

chrisw12

Thanks for that Mr G. I don't know why I've bought it tbh, well I do, I want it to do everything, commute, ride trails, ride with mates, ride with my children, timetrial. It just seems so versatile that I'm afraid that it will end up as a jack of all trades master of nothing. Throw in the fact that you can stick a rear mech on it and it might become too versatile. I see a lot of whell swapping to be done in the future.

MrGrumpy

Has it arrived yet ? Can it at some point be upgraded to gears with a derailleur, every advert on the web mentions a derailleur hanger ? All the pictures seem to also show cable stops on down tube as well ?

chrisw12

Arrived on a Sunday!!!!

Expecting it sometime early next week and it can't come too soon, I'm so p... off with my geared bikes, everything seems to be braking/siezing. Can't wait to have the simplicity of v-brakes (they must be better and less likelyto sieze than Shimano callipers surely) and no deraiulers to bend, snap, missallign, and don't get me started with cabling.

Saying that, I hope it does come with a mech. hanger as come summer I may want gears.

chrisw12

Ok, took delivery of the bike today when I came home from work and so not had a chance to ride it. Very strange animal, I don't know what I'm going to do with it. You could probably do any sort of ridding that didn't involve gears. Some things are strange/confusing.

1) It's set up for coss'. Chunky tyres, good clearences and v-brakes and extra 'cross brake levers. Comes with a lowish single speed gear ratio set up.

2) Close inspection reveals full bosses for mudguards and holes I pressume for some niffty panniers, front and back. It also has three bottle bosses. Why would you need three bottle bosses on a fixed wheel/single speed bike, would anyone tour on such a thing?

So I don't know what it is, spesh seems to be selling it as a cross bike but when you change the freewheel to fixed and stick some guards on, it makes an excellent winter commuter/trainer. Stick on some panniers and all the cages and you've got a tourer. If I had the money, I'd buy another one. One for commuting one for off-road.

What it isn't though, is a timetrial bike too heavy and a bit too fat so I'll need to get my steel fixie renovated.

Also no sign of gears, it didn't come with a gear hannger or any bosses for cables.

I'll tell you how it rides tomorrow.

MrGrumpy

I take it you never saw one in the flesh then before purchasing ? Yes its heavyish but not MTB heavy, I thought it would make the ideal commuter once you swapped out tires for something zippier for the road. Wondered about a gear hanger, somehow didn`t think that it could be fitted as the rear spacing is setup for fixed/SS. The V brakes however you will notice are set well close to the wheels apparently no other way due to the drop break levers and the amount of pull required. Still a nice bike tho.

chrisw12

Yep, your right I didn't see one in the flesh but I knew what I wanted/had enough spare parts to get where I want to.

You make some good points, it does make an excellent commuter. I spent all yesterday(night) changing the tyres over to 'fast' ones.

The spacing by the way seems to be 130 i.e. normal road spacing.

Your point about v-brakes is a good one. As I'm going to have to use more than one pair of wheels, I wanted brakes that I could adjust easily. With road levers and v-brakes, there aint a barrel adjuster in sight (am I missing something), so I think I'm going to switch to a mtb set up with tri-bars. This makes more sense for me, as it will give me more real estate on the bars for lights and will be faster.

Oh and after one ride, I'm very impressed. Some of this may be down to commuting on fixed for the first time in two years, but the bike does ride well.

david p123

I got my tricross single this week. Have used it to commute all week and love it on and off road. I've never had a ss before and i was a bit apprehensive because of all the hills around here but the gearing has been fine. The front forks juddered when braking on the test bike but this seems to have been sorted on this one. I've got full guards to put on in the winter. I thought the bike was quite light and it handles really well

Would anyone recommend a 16 sprocket fixed rather than the 18 freewheell?

chrisw12

David, I'd definitely try the fixed side rather than freewheel for commuting. Do some searching about possible gear ratios but you may not be able to use a 16 depending on how the chain has been cut.


I've been thinking of mudguards (one of the reason I bought it) but as new, the bikes too pretty and minimal to stick guards on. Perhaps when the monsoon comes I'll change my mind.

MrGrumpy

meant to ask are there any cable bosses on the down tube ? Pictures show them but on the bike i saw they weren`t there ?

chrisw12

No cable bosses on the downtube but there are bottler bosses, which as I said earlier, I realy can't understand. Who'd be mad enough to need three bottle cages on a single speed bike, cue flood of people claiming to have travelled the world on a single speed :roll:

MrGrumpy

So what size did the two of you order ? I tried a 54 in the shop too small really, I`m 6ft so not sure on sizing, 56 might be big enough, don`t want something too big tho ? Have to order through halfords, got a feeling they might not have a clue about sizing for this baby !

chrisw12

Mr G.

I'm about 5'10 and my tt bike is I think a 54 and my road bike is a 56. I'd say I'm long in body, short in leg. I went for the 54 tricross because I wanted it to match my tt position more than my stretched out road position. To be honest it just works. I've had to use a down stem of 12cm rather than the stock stem. When I've taken it off road I've been a bit too forward but nothing major.

I'd say that given you're a few inches taller than me and you've already tried a 54 then you'd be safer with the 56.



By the way, loving the bike but it really is/can be used as a jack of all trades, master of nothing bike.

MrGrumpy

cheers for that one other question what size of tyre will it go down to for fast rolling road tyre, 28mm the min or could it go to 25s ?

chrisw12

I've put a spare road wheel up front with a 23 on. Using different rim widths has ment me having to swap to mountain bike bars and brakes so I can easily adjust pad width. I've put a 25 michelin pro race tyre on the original back wheel and had no problems, a 23 would go just as nicely. Trouble is I have to swap tyres on the back in advance if I go off road.

As off this week the bike is going to get mudguards and become my winter trainner and commuter (probably the job it's best suited for). If I go off road from now on, I'll use a GEARED mountain bike as it's much better suited to the terain around me.

MrGrumpy

yep mine is going to be a commuter, then fix up my carbon framed road bike for summer. So if it takes 25 mm size tyres thats good.