Specialized Tricross

Mr Bojangles

Anyone tried or bought the Spesh TRicross. Impressions? Spesh call it a 'Freeroad' bike. More marketing blather or an up and coming new category of bike? I quite like the look of them but it seems to me that if you own one you alienate yourself from every other group of cyclists,ie it isn't a 'proper road bike' so you'll be out of place on a club run, it isn't a 'proper off road bike' so no XC then, it isn't a 'proper CX bike' ,messenger bike (for the SS model) etc, etc. So what's it all about then?

http://www.evanscycles.com/product.jsp?style=86032
http://www.evanscycles.com/product.jsp?style=86033
http://www.evanscycles.com/product.jsp?style=86034

ash68

i've got the tricross sport, use it mainly for the winter commute, about 27 miles round trip. Also for winter riding in general from 80 to 100 miles on a sunday. I've put mudguards and panniers on mine for the winter. It's fine for a general winter hack bike, around 24lbs so it's never going to be nippy, but get back onto your sumer bike and you feel the difference..I think in general a good alround bike capable of light off-road, cycletracks and on road cycling.But if your after high speed, look for something a little bit lighter.

tyskie

Until it got written off by a car I was loving my Tricross Comp for commuting (18 miles each way) and for cycling up canal/river towpaths. I found it to be a very comfortable, well balanced bike and it was no slouch either (no appreciable time difference on the commute from my road bike). I swapped out the 32C tyres for 25C Gatorskins for commuting and they were working really well. Having the ability to fit mudguards and a rack is an advantage too.

However, the reason I got a tricross was because I wanted something I could use for light off-road as well as commuting (I have a road bike as well for weekends). If you just intend to use it for road work then you would be better off with a road specific or Audax bike. Also, I'm not that impressed with canti brakes with respect to stopping power.

MadammeMarie

Mr Bojangles wrote:

Anyone tried or bought the Spesh TRicross. Impressions?

I bought my Tricross Sport 2008 in August, and I'm absolutely loving it, but I don't race, so my point of view would be different. I moved on from a hybrid to this one. At the moment, I'm using it for commuting, but the intention when I bought it was for touring. I wanted a fast, light tourer and that's what I got. I'm not sure it weights 24lbs though, as someone said here, I think it's a lot less.

I did have to customize it a bit because it's a guy's bike (unfortunately, there are no cyclocross bikes for women). I changed the stem which lifted the handlebars a bit to make it easy for my shoulders. I also put mudguards and rack - unfortunately at the moment I couldn't afford a light rack (no less than £80), so I had to put a normal one, which regrettably adds a bit of weight to it. I would suggest, if you are going down that road and you can afford it, go for a light one.

All in all, I think it's a great bike. Go for it.

ash68

MadammeMarie wrote:

[
. I wanted a fast, light tourer and that's what I got. I'm not sure it weights 24lbs though, as someone said here, I think it's a lot less.

Edinburgh bicycle cooperative 08 winter catalogue shows 24.5lbs for a tricross sport, agree lighter tyres will make a difference, but add on mudguards and a rear rack and your back well over 24lbs me thinks :?

Richard_D

I got a tricross In April and it fulfils exactly the niche I wanted filled. Reasonably fast and ligt for the road but still man enough for the local gravel cycle paths and forestry roads. I use it as my excercise back on a combination of road and gravel tracks. Plan to go touring with it in the future even to the extent of using it for a LeJOG. Though that tour is still some time in the future.

secretsam

Dunno but these things are everywhere in London at the moment, haven't see one in ages (nearly bought one on Fleabay a while back) but just now they're like a rash on the roads...at least in Clerkenwell...

MadammeMarie

ash68 wrote:

Edinburgh bicycle cooperative 08 winter catalogue shows 24.5lbs for a tricross sport, agree lighter tyres will make a difference, but add on mudguards and a rear rack and your back well over 24lbs me thinks :?

I carry the bike 2 floors up and down every day, it just doesn't feel 10.88 kgs, but you might be right and I just got stronger!

Mr Bojangles

What I'm really after is a bike that I can ride all day, every day if I want, or for short fast blast when the mood takes me. I want to not look (feel ?)out of place if I want to wear baggies or cut downs and MTB shoes or Lycra and roadie shoes. I don't ride with a club, but I may in the near future. Can't see me being welcomed with open arms on a club run on one of these. I used to be a messenger (20 years ago mind, for a financial printers in the city) and rode a Raleigh Triathlon or a Raleigh track bike depending on what mood took me. I've been looking at Audax bikes but none of these have really lit my fire. And to add to all this I've been hankering after a new fixed wheel bike like a Lemond Fillmore too. In the mean time it's just me'n'my MTB

I don't expect you to have any answers for me, sometimes it's just good to talk!

ash68

I don't ride with a club either, but often meet other groups on the road. Looking at various club cyclists kit, I don't feel out of place on my tricross. Especially during the winter months any bike seems to do, if it has mudguards attatched all the better.Just the same if I was to wear baggies and just saunter along, don,t think that would be a problem. IMO the only drawback with the tricross sport is that it is slightly on the heavy side for fast eyeballs out cycling. But I have another bike for that sort of riding in the summer.The wheels and tyres are fairly heavy and robust, but there's nothing to stop you having a lighter set for faster rides.Another possilility is to go for a giant scr, theses seem to get good reviews on here and I believe they take full size mudguards for winter riding.The scr 2 is around £545It comes with a triple chainset and is 22.7lbs.See a pic and description at www.edinburghbicycle.com . Typr in 9042 into search window.

tyskie

Mr Bojangles - which one are you looking at getting, the Sport or the Comp as there is very little in common between them in terms of frame and components? I would guess the Comp is a few pounds lighter than the Sport as well, given the superior frame and other components. I had the Comp and to be honest, after I put some road tyres on it, it seemed almost as quick as my Sigma Attica, veloce equipped road bike.

jongooligan

Mr Bojangles wrote:

I don't ride with a club, but I may in the near future. Can't see me being welcomed with open arms on a club run on one of these.!

Guy in our club rides one on the club runs with no problems. From what I hear, most clubs are struggling for members and can't afford to be sniffy about what type of bike you're riding. I think you'll be surprised to find that most other riders will be genuinely interested in your choice of bike rather than being scornful that it doesn't meet some preconceived notion of acceptability.

Gary D

Mr Bojangles,
I think you need to ask yourself what you intend using the bike for. What I mean is, do you actually think you will use it off-road?

I own an '07 Tricross Sport and bought it on a whim because I thought I would use it both on and off road. However, my cycling has evolved and developed such that it has never been off road so I have spent lots of time and money doing mods to it to make it more of a road bike! I swapped the chainset to a triple, changed the cantilever brakes and pads, put 25mm Gatorskins on it etc etc.

Don't get me wrong, it is a fantastic bike - but I think with 20:20 hindsight I should have bought a proper full on road bike. Whether it would make me any faster is another story!
My cycling is purely recreational with the odd TT and club ride thrown in and I certainly don't get any adverse comments bnecause of what I ride. Any club that exhibits that sort of bike snobbery is probably not worth belonging to anyway.

I would guess that if you were looking for a good alround fast commuter bike, then it would certainly fit the bill with its wider tyres and comfortable position, but then others would advocate the flat bar type bikes for that sort of thing as well.

To summarise, I would definitely recommend one - but you could find yourself quickly hankering over something different!

Gary.