Bonus Time

Stuww

Well my annual bonus will be in my account at the end of the month and I can feel a bike purchase coming on.

My trusty Giant Escape M1 has served me well for over a year, but the 08 Specialized Tricross keeps winking at me every time I go in my LBS.

The last time I had drop bars I was still at primary school (30 years ago), so it's going to take some adjustment to change from flat bars.

Can anyone recommend guards and a rack that will fit a Tricross and still remain asthetically pleasing!!

Cheers Stu

niblue

I ordered my Tricross Sport on Friday and it's getting SKS P45 mudguards and a rack (can't recall what one though) fitted so I'll be able to show pictures of what that looks like once I've picked it up at the weekend.

The rack I've gone with is bare alloy however for asthetics reasons a black one would probably be better. I've gone with black mudguards though.

Stuww

I'll look forward to seeing some pictures of that.

Cheers

Stu

niblue

First snap.



IMHO it looks ok with the mudguards and rack fitted.

Stuww

Thanks for making the effort to upload the picture Niblue, your Tricross looks great!

Are you going from a flatbar bike to a drop bar, or did your old bike have drops.

If I go for the tricross I'll be making the transition from a flat bar mountain bike frame and 26" wheels to drops and 32's. So quite a change, I'm hoping the increased speed \ reduced commute time will be a bonus.

Any comments \ observations in your first few weeks of ownership would be great.

Many thanks

Stu

niblue

I'm mostly a mountain biker however I've also had a road bike for a few years so I'm already used to drop bars and road STi shifters.

Prior to getting the Tricross I was splitting my commuting between a rigid MTB based bike with slick tyres (On-One Inbred) and my road bike (Giant OCR3T). Initially it felt a little odd changing from one to the other (or even more so from my knobbly tyred MTB's) but it didn't take long before I stopped noticing.

I'm just back from giving the Tricross it's first spin, including some off-road stuff:


So far I'm very impressed although there are a few set-up tweaks needed (front mudguard position & the end of the cable to the front mech). It's very noticeably more compliant than my road bike and I think it'd also make an easier transition to drops etc. for someone coming from a flat-bar'd background. It also rides pretty well off-road, although the tyres have a lot less grip than I'm used to in mud and it also gets knocked offline more readily by roots. Great fun though!

Stuww

Nice to see you are getting it dirty straight away!!

I'll probably use mine on road and occasional cycle routes such as the Tarka Trail and Exe Trail, but it's nice to know it can take to the rough stuff when needed.

I'm a big fan of Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyres, no punctures in over 8 months, so I'll be putting those on straight away.

My current bike, a Giant Escape M1 has hydraulic disks, so it will be strange going back to wired brakes, are you finding the Tricross brakes OK?

Thanks for your comments so far.

Stu

niblue

Stuww wrote:

My current bike, a Giant Escape M1 has hydraulic disks, so it will be strange going back to wired brakes, are you finding the Tricross brakes OK?

I've been quite impressed by the V-brakes that it's fitted with - they seem very powerful, much more so than the canti's on my road bike.

The only time I've missed disks (which all my MTB's have) so far was when I was going through some muddy trails and the brakes started grinding a little because I'd got mud on the rims. It shouldn't be a big deal though as I don't really expect to be riding it off-road a lot in muddy conditions.

tardington

Oh hey that looks nice! My plans for a courier have been upgraded to one of those, going in to get it this saturday!

As for racks... I do like the Tubus ones! They are black, too! Hold on;
Front
http://www.edinburghbicycle.com/ebwPNLq ... 1&f%5Fbct=
Rear
http://www.edinburghbicycle.com/ebwPNLq ... 1&f%5Fbct=

Muy expensivo though!

Though I see there is an Edinburgh Own brand lightweight rear rack..
http://www.edinburghbicycle.com/ebwPNLq ... 1&f%5Fbct=

tardington

Was just searching for the nice pictures!

Am putting on my Blackburn Rack (my gf pointed out that I already had 3 racks) - but it seems a bit narrow to fit onto the lower attachments - is it okay just to stretch it out wider? Niblue it looks like you've done that on yours?

niblue

Don't know as I bought the bike and the rack at the same time so the shop fitted it for me. When fitting racks to previous bikes I've sometimes had to stretch them to fit and never had a problem though.

jedster

BTW,
I've used blackburn and tortec racks on my commuting bikes. I much prefer the tortec ones FWIW - seem stronger, stiffer and better finished. I also think that a black one would lookk better on that tricross (nice bike though). SKS thermoplastic guards are the ones to have

J

tomfoolery

I've been commuting for the past year or so on a borrowed Specialized Expedition. I'm waiting for possible office move news to find out whether I need to get a foldie (grr Chiltern Trains) or can get a full-size bike.

If I get a full-size, I think I now know what I want to get. Cheers niblue!

house_trained

Stuww - I got a drop bar bike last month after riding on flat bars and 26 inch wheels for the past 13 or so years. I felt a little wobbly on the ride home from picking the bike up, but got used to the new bike pretty quick. Had a little niggle in my lower back for a few days due to the stretched out position, but it wasn't anything major and soon cleared up. I keep forgetting about the toe overlap though.

iainment

Why not put race blades on instead of full guards?

Stuww

I've now mastered the drop bars and newfandangled gear \ brake levers and I love it. Must admit I did have a week or two of "Have I done the right thing!"

I've also had a few niggly knee problems having gone from my flat bared Giant to the drop bared specialized.

All is well now though and I'll be riding in the 100 mile overnight Exmouth Exodus in a few weeks so that should put me and my new stead to the test.

Stu

dirk_van_gently

I switched from an old MTB with flat bars to a cyclocross bike with drops, it's a no brainer getting used to them, or at least it was for me. Riding the MTB now seems weird.

TheBoyBilly

+1 for Race Blades. Got 'em on my Langster, they work fine and are easy to take on/off