Simon Brooke <
[email protected]> wrote:
> ('[email protected]') wrote:
>> A short while ago I bought a Specialized Tricross (after some very
>> useful advice here).
>
> Tell us how you like it, and what you use it for. I think it's one of the
> most interesting bikes on the market just now, but I haven't got one.
>
I'm probably not the best person to review it - my experience of decent
bikes is very limited and pretty well anything will impress me...
I was looking for something to use for all-day road trips with some
proportion spent on gravelly NCN tracks or towpaths. Possibly going
on to do Audax or weekend cycle touring. But although that's a fairly
wide range, I already have an eye on the next bike, and wanted to leave
a recumbent-shaped gap to fill.
I tried a Trek hybrid early on, but was disappointed - it was slow and
heavy, and I found the flat bars far too wide. I wanted something more
like a road bike. For a while, a Dawes Audax was very tempting - it
seemed suitable for much of what I wanted, but I was wary of the
narrow tyre possibilities and thought it might be limited to similar
good surfaces as that future 'bent. The obvious alternative was a
Galaxy or Dalesman but after reading enthusiastic comments about the
Tricross I had a look and it caught my imagination.
As you may remember, I was a bit concerned that if I loaded it up for
touring I might wish I'd got a third ring. But in the end, I opted to
leave the double rings alone but upgrade the rest; that way, if I
subsequently decide I need the triple all the most expensive parts
will already have been done at upgrade rather than replacement cost.
So the final spec is :
54cm Tricross Sport Double
original RPM 34/48 chainrings
105 shifters
105 10-speed cassette, 12-27
Shimano 10-speed chain
Ultegra front mech (added by LBS to make it work with a narrow chain)
Specialized Alias saddle
Crank Bros Quattro SL pedals
SKS mudguards
I did take a kitchen picture but it's rather poor - the bike's as
black as a shiny black thing can be and it confuses the camera's
exposure to the extent that it looks like a silhouette with highlights.
I'll try to do a better job and post it later.
On the road, it gave a comfortable ride with rather a lot of tyre
noise. The standard tyres are 32mm and perhaps best suited to gravel,
but pumping them up to 90psi (the LBS had them at 65) has improved it
hugely. Still a little noisy but noticeably less resistance. I do
expect to replace them with some slicker 25 or 28mm tyres, but am
still dithering over what : I suspect Marathons would be fairly
similar to what's already fitted and am looking for something a bit
less heavyweight. I might eventually get another set of wheels too
(this was always the intention as I thought it would help me cover
tracks and roads without too much compromise).
I've mostly ridden roads so far (a moderately hilly route on quiet
B-roads on which last year's 12 miles @ 13mph average has quickly
risen to 20 @ 17, without pushing myself very hard. I also took it on
mixed gravel, grass and muddy tracks around Grafham Water and it coped
well with that too; though an exceptionally deep longitudinal rut beat
me (that's when I had the unobserved clipless tumble !).
The replacement saddle was a bit of a lottery - I'd probably have
spent ages trying to decide what to get and ended up trying a Brookes,
but the Alias was what the LBS offered after measuring me up, so I
plumped for it (I think at quite a good price). I'm very happy with it
- the longest ride so far has been about 35 miles but that's a big
improvement on last year, there's no numbness and any soreness doesn't
persist once I'm off the bike (I have recollections of doing a cowboy
walk last year when I started cycling again). It's more about getting
me used to longer periods on any saddle than getting accustomed to
this one, and I think I'll be extending that mileage a lot.
I'm happy with the eggbeaters too ; I liked their mechanical design
and since I have no big investment in existing pedals and shoes I
went for them rather than SPDs. I don't have much to compare them
with except for the cheap Aldi SPD clones, but as a clipless newbie
I'd count them as easy to use. I had the Aldi pedals on the minimum
tension whilst I got used to them, and the eggbeaters have no such
adjustment - but still, I find them easy to unclip (when I remember!)
and easy to locate for clipping in. I found it quite difficult to
locate the clip laterally onto the pedal on the SPD style, whereas
these seem to just roll in.
So it seems to meet the bill : fast, light, flexible (in a good way!)
and even looks good. I'm delighted with it.
A couple of bugs so far :
The front changer is rather fussy. I couldn't get it right so I took
it back to the LBS who made it perfect .. for a couple of days. Further
stretching of the cable lost the sweet spot again and I haven't been
able to get it quite that good again. I'm wondering if the ramps on
the outer ring are good enough for 8-speed chain with protruding rivets
but a bit soft for smoother 10-speed chain.
A curious problem showed up at first : after the first few miles,
squeaky front brakes became juddering forks, and quickly got very bad
indeed. The LBS had a look and were quite concerned; they sent it
straight back to Specialized who had a new one out a couple of days
later. This was perfect (as the shop model had been). After wearing
the brake blocks down a little and using it various wet and dry
conditions some judder has returned. It's a lot more manageable and
probably fairly normal but I'm keeping an eye on it.
-adrian
