Thinking of a new commuter -

iainment

is the Specialised Tri Cross any good? Can you put pannier racks and race blades on it?

My commute is about 18 miles from SE to NW London, would it cope well with this?

Many thanks.

:?

niblue

I'm considering a Tricross as well. According to what I've read it has mudguard and rack fittings - including for low-riders on the forks.

tardington

They do look dead nice! The Tricross Triple I think has drop bars and V brakes, too...

I am also tempted by the Edinburgh Courier basic-but-apparently-bombproof and light, and also the Spesh Sirrus - both have the flat MTB bars, which are apparently better for in-city commuting...

Or would a reasonable MTB with slicks (and mudguards) on be good? A hard tail so I can have a pannier (I hate sweaty backs)

iainment

tardie wrote:

They do look dead nice! The Tricross Triple I think has drop bars and V brakes, too...

I am also tempted by the Edinburgh Courier basic-but-apparently-bombproof and light, and also the Spesh Sirrus - both have the flat MTB bars, which are apparently better for in-city commuting...

Or would a reasonable MTB with slicks (and mudguards) on be good? A hard tail so I can have a pannier (I hate sweaty backs)

I have a Sirrus, it's very good but I want a change back to drop bars - could drops be fitted to it?

tardington

I don't think so, sorry! As my friend tried to switch in the other direction. Apparently it's

1) to do where the brake pivots are for changing from V to canti

1.5) Tho it is possible with enough money and time. Or maybe new forks? No one wanted to admit to that though.

2) The front mech (which can be changed) has to be done as well

I have asked in 3 seperate bike shops, and got roughly the same but still different answers in each on. :shock:

I have a big framed hybrid, and I would love to put drops on, but the mental effort seems, well, mental.

niblue

If I was spending my own cash I'd definitely consider the Edinburgh Courier but given it's bike-to-work I want to spend more!

I commute using a couple of bikes at the moment - one is a Giant OCR3T drop-barred road bike with a seatpost mounted rack and the other a slick-tyred MTB (On-One Inbred) with rigid forks, a rack and mudguards. The OCR3T is faster but the Inbred is a better & more comfortable distance load carrier & with better weather protection- my thinking is that the Tricross will be as fast as the OCR3T but with load carrying, comfort and weather protection as good as the Inbred.

alfablue

I have a Sirrus, it's very good but I want a change back to drop bars - could drops be fitted to it?

Drop bars (and STI's) can apparently be made to work with V brakes - if you use the campag mirage linear pull brakes - Condor sell them. For regular V's you don't get enough cable pull, but according to C+ review of the Condor Heritage (which is equipped with them) braking is top notch.

On the other hand, you could be spending between £150 and £200 to convert to drops and it is probably more cost effective to sell up and buy a new bike so equipped.

tyskie

I had the Tricross Comp for a couple of months. Both a comfortable and quick bike - perfect for commuting. It's got eyelets for rack and mudguards as well. I changed the 32 tyres for some 25 Ultragators which worked well. Not sure about the Sport though which although it looks similar has a different frame and almost entirely different components.

Apparently they have 'stealth' qualities though which makes them hard to be seen by car drivers

iainment

Thank you all, I'll see if I can get a test ride then. Sounds like a good bike.