Real world experience of 3T Strada?

54ragtop

For some reason I really like 3T bikes, but apart from bike tests and feedback from the Aqua Blue Sport team it's difficult to find any real honest feedback of using a living with 3T bikes, being the Due is coming out which may put any hesitant views of 1x drive trains out of the window/although Sram 1x12 gives more options...

Does any one have any real longer term experience of these bikes and more for general riding/sportives/club fun... than a pro race view...

Beatmaker

I can't comment specifically on the 3T Strada, but I'm about to sell my Ridley X-Trail with SRAM Force 1x after a month of ownership, the bike has pretty similar geo to a road machine and is set up with Vittoria Corsa Control tyres, which I love. I seem to be fighting to settle in to a comfortable cadence on road rides, I'm either spinning or pushing what feels like to hard a gear. I love 1x on my MTB, I don't get on with it on the road.

SJH76

I have no first hand experience of one, but one of my local bike shops had one. A member of staff described it as a track bike with brakes.

imposter2.0

SJH76 wrote:

A member of staff described it as a track bike with brakes.

I'm struggling to understand the reasoning behind that description, if I'm honest...

arlowood

Best I can suggest is that you message @Cheshire Cat and @bristolpete

Both have posted on the Your Road Bikes sub forum showing bikes with 1 x drivetrain. A Salsa Cutthroat in the case of Cheshire Cat


viewtopic.php?f=40044&t=13088069

and a Giant Toughroad in the case of bristolpete

viewtopic.php?f=40044&t=13088598

admittedly both bikes seem to have been used for mainly off road activities but I seem to recall some comments about their performance on tarmac

54ragtop

Beatmaker wrote:

I can't comment specifically on the 3T Strada, but I'm about to sell my Ridley X-Trail with SRAM Force 1x after a month of ownership, the bike has pretty similar geo to a road machine and is set up with Vittoria Corsa Control tyres, which I love. I seem to be fighting to settle in to a comfortable cadence on road rides, I'm either spinning or pushing what feels like to hard a gear. I love 1x on my MTB, I don't get on with it on the rod.

Yep, got 1x11 on my mtb and that's great, I understand the gear jumps and have read the challenge of spinning or grinding...

SJH76

Imposter wrote:

SJH76 wrote:

A member of staff described it as a track bike with brakes.

I'm struggling to understand the reasoning behind that description, if I'm honest...

He was suggesting it looks and acts like one. Not very forgiving in its comfort. Good in a straight line and not much else

rokt

I also have no experience of the 3T, but I do with Sram 1x. I purchased a Giant TCX back in January, to race and to also use as a bad weather/gravel/coummuter.

I've become a big fan of 1x, so much so it's now my go to bike. though my setup is 11 speed I don't find myself looking for that extra gear or think I'm missing out.

I would definitely look at 12 speed 1x on my next road bike and I live on the edge of The Pennines !

Beatmaker

SJH76 wrote:

I have no first hand experience of one, but one of my local bike shops had one. A member of staff described it as a track bike with brakes.

I think that was an Adam Blythe comment originally wasn't it?

SJH76

Beatmaker wrote:

SJH76 wrote:

I have no first hand experience of one, but one of my local bike shops had one. A member of staff described it as a track bike with brakes.

I think that was an Adam Blythe comment originally wasn't it?

Possibly, I'm not the one who said it. I just stood next to a blue and gold bike shaped thing.

54ragtop

SJH76 wrote:

Beatmaker wrote:

SJH76 wrote:

I have no first hand experience of one, but one of my local bike shops had one. A member of staff described it as a track bike with brakes.

I think that was an Adam Blythe comment originally wasn't it?

Possibly, I'm not the one who said it. I just stood next to a blue and gold bike shaped thing.

Guys in my LBS highly rated it, although did think the 3T Due would give more options... they are due to have one in this week.

w00dster

I did a ride with a chap last year, he was on the 3T Exploro. I know its personal preference, but I thought it was stunning visually. The 1x11 worked well for him, he got up Gold Hill with no more problems than everyone else with 2x gears.
They are expensive though, but if you've got the cash and fancy something different then I'd go for it.
I've recently purchased a new aero bike, if I'd have seen the deals on some of the ex demo 3T bikes I could well have gone with one of them instead.

https://saddleback.co.uk/collections/3t/bikes

(Outlet Bikes)

54ragtop

w00dster wrote:

I did a ride with a chap last year, he was on the 3T Exploro. I know its personal preference, but I thought it was stunning visually. The 1x11 worked well for him, he got up Gold Hill with no more problems than everyone else with 2x gears.
They are expensive though, but if you've got the cash and fancy something different then I'd go for it.
I've recently purchased a new aero bike, if I'd have seen the deals on some of the ex demo 3T bikes I could well have gone with one of them instead.

https://saddleback.co.uk/collections/3t/bikes

(Outlet Bikes)

Cheers, yes I’m aware of those deals and that’s what’s really sparked my interest ad yes it does make it even more appealing get one from saddleback and in a year or so when the Sram 1x12 comes out upgrade for a wider range.

I done find them interesting bikes from a design perspective as well...

luv2ride

w00dster wrote:

I did a ride with a chap last year, he was on the 3T Exploro. I know its personal preference, but I thought it was stunning visually. The 1x11 worked well for him, he got up Gold Hill with no more problems than everyone else with 2x gears.
They are expensive though, but if you've got the cash and fancy something different then I'd go for it.
I've recently purchased a new aero bike, if I'd have seen the deals on some of the ex demo 3T bikes I could well have gone with one of them instead.

https://saddleback.co.uk/collections/3t/bikes

(Outlet Bikes)

Think if I had £3,400 looking for a new home i could well be tempted by that medium 3T Exploro with Sram Force 1x demo bike...shame about the slightly gouged BB area, but otherwise looks great.

"Luckily" I'm skint :roll:

ugo.santalucia

3T has joined the bicycle market (from being in essence a stem manufacturer) with a remarkably pointless range of ludicrously priced BSOs
I don't really get any of their bikes or why people would want to spend that kind of money for said bicycles... probably just me though...

shortfall

ugo.santalucia wrote:

3T has joined the bicycle market (from being in essence a stem manufacturer) with a remarkably pointless range of ludicrously priced BSOs
I don't really get any of their bikes or why people would want to spend that kind of money for said bicycles... probably just me though...

It's not just you.

SJH76

Shortfall wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

3T has joined the bicycle market (from being in essence a stem manufacturer) with a remarkably pointless range of ludicrously priced BSOs
I don't really get any of their bikes or why people would want to spend that kind of money for said bicycles... probably just me though...

It's not just you.

I agree too. If it were not for the whole 1x11 setup they would be just another uninspiring bike range. They look a bit Cervelo, a bit Canyon and a bit BMC with no real identity of their own.

cougie

ugo.santalucia wrote:

3T has joined the bicycle market (from being in essence a stem manufacturer) with a remarkably pointless range of ludicrously priced BSOs
I don't really get any of their bikes or why people would want to spend that kind of money for said bicycles... probably just me though...

Could you not say the same of Cinelli ?

And isn't it basically Vroomen designing the bike and 3T are just the people putting their name on ?

SJH76

cougie wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

3T has joined the bicycle market (from being in essence a stem manufacturer) with a remarkably pointless range of ludicrously priced BSOs
I don't really get any of their bikes or why people would want to spend that kind of money for said bicycles... probably just me though...

Could you not say the same of Cinelli?

Except Cinelli are one of the oldest bike manufacturers still in existence.

cougie

Well I never knew that. Back in the 80s we all had Cinelli bars and stems but I don't remember any frames.

SJH76

They probably weren't available much in the UK but in Italy they probably were everywhere. Im sure not many continental types owned a Raleigh in the 80's either.

ugo.santalucia

SJH76 wrote:

They probably weren't available much in the UK but in Italy they probably were everywhere. Im sure not many continental types owned a Raleigh in the 80's either.

I lived 27 years in Italy and never seen anything with a 3T brand other than stems. It used to branded TTT and virtually every other quill stem was made by them.

Cinelli, as mentioned above, always made frames... stems and bars were an addition to the main business of making and selling bicycles.
Cino Cinelli as a framebuilder was as highly regarded as Ugo De Rosa, Aldo Gios and Ernesto Colnago

ovi

They are like the Canyon grail just shite trying to reinvent something that doesn't need it and I've just watched the GCN comparing the bike against the inflite bike that has bit angled down from the top tube to the seat tube that is designed for carrying comfort but when you watch them in a race the part never touches the shoulder. Another thing the Grails handlebars, whats that all about?
Whats next Monster bikes with flat bars and front suspension!

itboffin

Those new 3T bikes are basically the new Cervelo but 1x come on! There's a reason for more gears race.

Once day someone will do a 3x10 .........................

54ragtop

So in summary;

- no one has ridden one
- some people know people who have ridden their gravel stuff
- some people don't like the 1x setup
- some people don't like 3T bikes

cheers all..

cougie

I know they were displaying them at Ironman Austria. Trawl some Austrian forums maybe ?

badgermat

Can't comment on the Strada, but I can on 3T and 1x since I'm running an Exploro Team with Force 1x on 700c Fulcrum 4s.

This is my only road bike at the moment and has taken a little getting used to. I did struggle with 1x at first, constantly finding my natural cadence being between gears. Combined with some squidgy 30mm Schwalbe tyres it made for a fairly unrewarding experience initially, and my average speeds were down by about 0.75 kmh (Strava averages for my usual ~50km rides).

After a couple of months. things have settled down and my average speeds are pretty much back to where they were. I'm sure putting 28mm GP4000s on will get everything back to normal.

In general, the bike is very nicely made and super stiff, if a bit heavy. The Strada is a good deal lighter I think.

Be careful about the sizing though. There is a big gap between small and medium (same for the Strada), and it may be tricky to get one that fits you well.

bm

sloppyschleckonds

54Ragtop wrote:

So in summary;

- no one has ridden one
- some people know people who have ridden their gravel stuff
- some people don't like the 1x setup
- some people don't like 3T bikes

cheers all..

Welcome to the forum.

What were you expecting?

shortfall

SloppySchleckonds wrote:

54Ragtop wrote:

So in summary;

- no one has ridden one
- some people know people who have ridden their gravel stuff
- some people don't like the 1x setup
- some people don't like 3T bikes

cheers all..

Welcome to the forum.

What were you expecting?

He can count himself lucky that MileMuncher didn't Wade in with an opinion.

54ragtop

badgermat wrote:

Can't comment on the Strada, but I can on 3T and 1x since I'm running an Exploro Team with Force 1x on 700c Fulcrum 4s.

This is my only road bike at the moment and has taken a little getting used to. I did struggle with 1x at first, constantly finding my natural cadence being between gears. Combined with some squidgy 30mm Schwalbe tyres it made for a fairly unrewarding experience initially, and my average speeds were down by about 0.75 kmh (Strava averages for my usual ~50km rides).

After a couple of months. things have settled down and my average speeds are pretty much back to where they were. I'm sure putting 28mm GP4000s on will get everything back to normal.

In general, the bike is very nicely made and super stiff, if a bit heavy. The Strada is a good deal lighter I think.

Be careful about the sizing though. There is a big gap between small and medium (same for the Strada), and it may be tricky to get one that fits you well.

bm

Cool, thanks...

54ragtop

Shortfall wrote:

SloppySchleckonds wrote:

54Ragtop wrote:

So in summary;

- no one has ridden one
- some people know people who have ridden their gravel stuff
- some people don't like the 1x setup
- some people don't like 3T bikes

cheers all..

Welcome to the forum.

What were you expecting?

He can count himself lucky that MileMuncher didn't Wade in with an opinion.

My response did have a bit of sarcasm to it.... but you know what they say 'Opinions are like arseholes, everyone has one and some are full of s***'...

I got what I expected....