Help needed regarding Specialized Tricross???

MIkejc said:

Hello all.

As you'll no doubt realise soon into this post I am a complete newbie to the bike world. Unless you count the few silly bikes and their even more bizaar names that I owned as a child ! 😄

In short I was looking for a bike to make the 5 mile commute to and from work on. After a little research it seemed that the New Specialized Tricross fitted the bill and so I found myself handing ovet the £699.00 for the bike, not to mention the other few hundred pounds worth of heard earned ready's for the rest of the kit, water proofs, helmit, lights, etc...

On returning home I was feeling very pleased with the prospect of making my first commute into work tomorrow morning and so thought i'd toy around with the new goodies for a while. I wanted to get a feel for the new shoe's more than anything as i've never used the type that click into the peddles before. Which is where the possible problem comes into play...

When I have both peddles even in the cycle, if I turn the front wheel ever so slightly the toe of my leading foot hits the tyre! Surely this can not be right?

It would seem to me that I have been sold the wrong size frame!? Let me give you some sizes and measurements...

Specialized Tricross....58cm (XL) Frame
Me....6.4" tall, 36" inside leg, size 11 shoe's.

I've had a look at the Specialized brochure and I see that they do infact sell a bigger Tricross at 61cm. The top tube was also bigger although I forgot by how much.

Could this possibly be the problem? Is it as simple as having been sold the wrong size bike? It seems strange to me as i'm pretty sure that their are a good few people out there who must be shorter than myself, with shorter inside legs, riding the smaller Tricross bikes from the range, yet still have size 11 or bigger feet. Are they not also experiencing the same problem!?

Any help and wisdom would be great on this?

Best,

Mike

Make sure that your feet are positioned properly. The ball of the foot should be centered over the pedal spindle (axle), or within a few millimeters of it. If this doesn't fix the problem, you may have to right frame size and your toe may still overlap the front wheel, particularly if you are using fenders (or mudguards as I believe you call them in the UK-or maybe that is what you mean by waterproofs??). Do not fear, during actual riding the wheel will not likely turn far enough for your foot to hit it. At a stationary position, my front toe can overlap the fender of my front wheel on my properly fitting commuter bicycle by over 1cm and it has never hit the wheel during actual riding, including pedaling through corners.

As far as correct frame size goes, cyclocross bikes have higher bottom brackets than standard road frames and many cyclists ride a smaller frame on their cross bikes because of the higher standover height and higher center of gravity that the high bottom bracket causes. If you had help from the shop in selecting the frame size and the bike feels comfortable and balanced, it is probably the right size.

Enjoy the bike commuting!!

MIkejc said:

Hello all.

As you'll no doubt realise soon into this post I am a complete newbie to the bike world. Unless you count the few silly bikes and their even more bizaar names that I owned as a child ! 😄

In short I was looking for a bike to make the 5 mile commute to and from work on. After a little research it seemed that the New Specialized Tricross fitted the bill and so I found myself handing ovet the £699.00 for the bike, not to mention the other few hundred pounds worth of heard earned ready's for the rest of the kit, water proofs, helmit, lights, etc...

On returning home I was feeling very pleased with the prospect of making my first commute into work tomorrow morning and so thought i'd toy around with the new goodies for a while. I wanted to get a feel for the new shoe's more than anything as i've never used the type that click into the peddles before. Which is where the possible problem comes into play...

When I have both peddles even in the cycle, if I turn the front wheel ever so slightly the toe of my leading foot hits the tyre! Surely this can not be right?

It would seem to me that I have been sold the wrong size frame!? Let me give you some sizes and measurements...

Specialized Tricross....58cm (XL) Frame
Me....6.4" tall, 36" inside leg, size 11 shoe's.

I've had a look at the Specialized brochure and I see that they do infact sell a bigger Tricross at 61cm. The top tube was also bigger although I forgot by how much.

Could this possibly be the problem? Is it as simple as having been sold the wrong size bike? It seems strange to me as i'm pretty sure that their are a good few people out there who must be shorter than myself, with shorter inside legs, riding the smaller Tricross bikes from the range, yet still have size 11 or bigger feet. Are they not also experiencing the same problem!?

Any help and wisdom would be great on this?

Best,

Mike

Make sure that your feet are positioned properly. The ball of the foot should be centered over the pedal spindle (axle), or within a few millimeters of it. If this doesn't fix the problem, you may have to right frame size and your toe may still overlap the front wheel, particularly if you are using fenders (or mudguards as I believe you call them in the UK-or maybe that is what you mean by waterproofs??). Do not fear, during actual riding the wheel will not likely turn far enough for your foot to hit it. At a stationary position, my front toe can overlap the fender of my front wheel on my properly fitting commuter bicycle by over 1cm and it has never hit the wheel during actual riding, including pedaling through corners.

As far as correct frame size goes, cyclocross bikes have higher bottom brackets than standard road frames and many cyclists ride a smaller frame on their cross bikes because of the higher standover height and higher center of gravity that the high bottom bracket causes. If you had help from the shop in selecting the frame size and the bike feels comfortable and balanced, it is probably the right size.

Enjoy the bike commuting!!