Choosing a Tricross (?)

[vroom]

Hi,
This is my first post and I hope in the proper category. I didn't post into the cyclocross section because, well, I saw a lot of Specialized Tricross questions here and some CX as well.

Here's the thing, I come from the EU to the US and I use to ride MTB's.
My current one is a rather average full aluminum, 11.8Kg (XL) with hydraulic disc brakes and of course front suspension (hard trail).

I find myself doing a good 50% road and 50% actual "MTB" stuff. Plus commute.

I would like to switch to something like the Tricross, but it isn't exactly what *I want*. I am not very aware of the various US models or bikes in general (and I'm not doing competition).

While I realize it wont do some of what the MTB does, going throught the forest and going down "easy" MTB hills would be just fine.

I've ~$3000 budget (if that's well under that's better of course, it could be higher if it makes sense *ive no wife* but, it really has to make sense then) and I'd like to find something like that:

- hydraulic disc brakes (i ride in the rain too and it's just so damn good)
- rather light at around 9kg or so
- strong enough so that it doesn't break if ever I take some MTB track that's a little too hard for such a bike (I wont do jumps of course, or just a few centimeter high ones, but i'd feel really bad to break it as you might imagine)
- decent gears, so that it can go fast while on the road (my current MTB for example is pretty limited in that area)
i"d probably have just one set of wheels and tires so i'd go for a mixed tire that goes on the road and dirt - it'll be anyway way better than my huge mtb tires on the road right now.

So what I've seen so far is basically the Specialized Tricross elite disc but its not exactly fitting what i wrote just above (close tho).

Thanks in advance!

 

[vroom]

http://www.profirad.de/haibike-noon-rennrad-2011-p-12742.html that looks pretty good too, i dunno if its available in the US

 

[VamP]

The tricross elite disc is 11kg+, so I would cross that off. It's also not great off road.

There aren't any off-the-shelf hydraulic disc bikes out there yet, so you either wait another year or go for mechanical discs. A cross bike of 9kg or less, will be one of the race focused ones, so have a think whether you need pannier, mudguard and drinks bottle bosses, as most of the race bikes come without those.

Very few of the race bikes have made a switch to discs as well, basically currently the racers are not prepared to accept the weight penalty.

The two bikes that I would recommend to you are the dirty disco http://www.planet-x-bikes.co.uk/news/products/q/date/2011/11/16/Dirty-Disco-Double or this one from Kinesis http://road.cc/content/news/46405-first-ride-kinesis-crosslight-pro6 which is the first commercially available hydraulic brake offering. Not sure how easy that will be to get hold of in the US, Planet X now operate in the US so that should be straightforward.

Cross bikes are tough, so don't worry about breaking them off road. I ride MTB type terrain all the time, and TBH there is no reason why they should be less tough than rigid MTB's.

Personally, I am going to stick with canti's. With decent pads I never feel short of braking power. I am hoping to pick up some cheap tubular wheels in the mad rush to discs next year . Yeah dream on.

 

[vroom]

Thanks for your tips. The 2nd bike seems really expensive.
I've also been looking at the Crux expert carbon which is like $2600 and around 8.1Kg. Mostly because its from the shops nearby. It's cantilever, but as you said yourself its hard to find hydraulic disks. I don't like mechanical ones too much as they tend to be less precise and more fallible in my experience.

Another option is to take a full bike with mecha disks and put hydro disks i guess.. or to assemble everything.

 

[VamP]

The 2nd bike seems really expensive.

You have to read the whole thing - About £2,300 of that build is the Record groupset, and the Reynolds wheelset with tubs. Obviously they are showcasing with that build, which is at professional CX racing level. For regular usage such as yours, you should be able to get a luxurious build for about £1,500, including the frameset.

Crux is a good bike, nut the Pro6 is closer to your original spec. I note now, it even comes with pannier and mudguard bosses.

If you're going to go to canti's then within your budget, everyone makes great bikes. Look at Cannondale, Trek, Van Dessel, Focus, Ridley.

For your money you could even get a custom build in titanium or steel.

 

[zizou]

you can get a mechanical to hydraulic converter. Basically you have the mechanical shifters, the brake wire goes into a little box underneath the bars, where the hydraulic lines come out of to go to the brake pistons. It looks a bit ungainly it has to be said and it is still new to the market so i dont know what the reliability is like.

 

[VamP]

you can get a mechanical to hydraulic converter. Basically you have the mechanical shifters, the brake wire goes into a little box underneath the bars, where the hydraulic lines come out of to go to the brake pistons. It looks a bit ungainly it has to be said and it is still new to the market so i dont know what the reliability is like.

Yeah, that's what the Pro 6 is kitted out with. It's a transitory stage until brake manufacturers start making hydraulic brakes for road bikes.

 

[Globalti]

What's wrong with the Tricross? Accepted it's not a pure CX bike and not particularly lightweight but I have found it pretty good off road on anything except rocky descents. Have a look at my writeup on the CX section of this forum.

 

[VamP]

It's too heavy and expensive for what it is. Look at what you get with the Pro 6. Or DD. No brainer IMO.

The cross in Tricross actually refers to crossover (as in genre blending) rather than cyclo-cross. Specialized's CX bikes are the Crux series.

 

[jonathanw]

The 2012 Genesis Croix de Fer (steel) or vapour (aluminium) are go everywhere CX bikes which will take mudguards and racks too if that is important.

 

[vroom]

Been reviewing options some more. Just so we're clear, I don't really mind about mudguards, racks, etc.
I found out that it was pretty difficult to obtain most "medium" end CX bikes because "seasons over" "no, we dont care about ordering models til march" from local shops hehe.
I also figured a titanium frame wasnt a bad idea either even thus slightly more expensive as it seems more durable usually (i like to keep those bikes for years).

I also think going hydraulic still makes most sense, while i'm ok with canti and even v brakes, as i was riding some nice carbon road bikes lately (no, not mine hehe), i realized that whenever it's raining and if it gets slightly muddy, i would miss my mtb hydraulics a lot.

I also saw those 2 bikes:
http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/motobecane/fantom_cross_pro_ti_xi.htm
http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/motobecane/fantom_cross_ti_xi.htm

So yeah, I know, they don't really come assembled (I might just pay the LBS $100 to get it perfectly assembled), but the equipment is very good for the price, and the frame doesn't seem bad.
Those also accept disc brakes. Basically one is SRAM Rival and the other one is Shimano Ultegra 6700. (I'd prolly go with the rival)
I'm guessing I could upgrade it with "native" disc brake when/if they come around next year, or use a converter box like on the pro6 (or both!).

So basically I'm just wondering if this is worth it.

note: what this guy did seems pretty much like something i'd like http://forums.roadbikereview.com/3216312-post57.html