Kinesis 'Tripster AT' new build - what did I forget?
- Thread starter Pedropete
- Start date
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OP
OP
Pedropete
Guru
- Location
- West Sussex, UK
Barrel adjuster, chainring & crankset. Ubyk aparently had a delayed dispatch due to stock taking. If no show by Weds I’ll stick the old one on as a stopgap.
Get your point entirely, but I prefer to use a dab of grippy stuff to keep the torque down. Some alloy stems just don’t hold onto carbon steerer too well for some reason.
Agreed
160, so all good. But thanks, genuinely helpful to get these sanity checks
Tenacious Sloth
Guru
- Location
- Huntingdon, UK
Good luck with the build. 
A piccy is obviously compulsory when finished.
Graham
A piccy is obviously compulsory when finished.
Graham
Tenacious Sloth
Guru
- Location
- Huntingdon, UK
Carbon specific or 32 tpi hacksaw blade for cutting fork steerer?
OP
OP
Pedropete
Guru
- Location
- West Sussex, UK
All tooled up, but another good spot, cheers. Will leave cutting the steerer for a while as geo is different to current bike. And yes, will share some pics when complete.
OP
OP
Pedropete
Guru
- Location
- West Sussex, UK
Finally got started on the build and find myself missing pad retention pins on the RX4 calipers. Supposed to ship with them fitted or included but no pin in either box. None available locally either. My fault for not checking the small parts were all there but still annoying that they left the factory without them!
Answering a previous question about internal cabling: this frame has no internal guides/conduits, just an entry port on each side at the top of the down-tube, and two exit ports on the underside of the down-tube just before the BB shell. Runs to rear mech and brake are external from the BB. Which tube enters/exits where is entirely down to the builder.
The ports are too small to allow feeding cables/hoses with anti-rattle tubing fitted and are even proving difficult to get cable ties through. Definitely a lack of thought at the design stage. You can access cable-ends from inside the BB shell but insufficient space to push back up into the down tube with ties/anti-rattle fitted and then re-exit at the ports above the BB. More swearing in the shed to come.
Answering a previous question about internal cabling: this frame has no internal guides/conduits, just an entry port on each side at the top of the down-tube, and two exit ports on the underside of the down-tube just before the BB shell. Runs to rear mech and brake are external from the BB. Which tube enters/exits where is entirely down to the builder.
The ports are too small to allow feeding cables/hoses with anti-rattle tubing fitted and are even proving difficult to get cable ties through. Definitely a lack of thought at the design stage. You can access cable-ends from inside the BB shell but insufficient space to push back up into the down tube with ties/anti-rattle fitted and then re-exit at the ports above the BB. More swearing in the shed to come.
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OP
OP
Pedropete
Guru
- Location
- West Sussex, UK
Finished the Tripster AT build at the start of July. Wrote this some time ago so apologies if it might have helped anyone with an earlier buying decision.
Warning: marathon post that may contain the odd rant!
Positives first: The finished bike is great to ride and as versatile as I'd hoped for, with solid UK support from the manufacturer (more on that below). I’ve done mid-distance road rides, short sharp sprinty country lane stuff, all-day mixed terrain trundles and some 2-3 hour blats on single-track. I’ve never felt I’m on the wrong bike and am confident it will do me for a few years, or until the budget stretches to titanium.
A large part of that versatility comes from having two wheel sets. Both are Hunt’s Four Seasons Gravel Disc 700c: one with WTB Riddler 45s (43 on these rims) for off-road stuff and the other with Panaracer GravelKing 38s (non-SK version) for road and smoother bridleways.
As for the build, I had some common (but no less annoying) compatibility issues, along with a couple of retailer 'knobheadedness' issues thrown in for good measure.
Biggest point to make about these frames is that you should expect to have them properly prepped - as Kinesis openly admit and advise - as there's significant paint overspray on the brake mounts and even more on the BB shell faces.
Also, it turned out the reason it was so difficult to get cable outers and anti-rattle sleeving into the frame was that what had initially appeared to be paint in the cable-exit port was actually a load of excess weld, blocking around 30% of the port in the first frame I received.
That meant a mail order exchange with Merlin Cycles. Unfortunately I'd already had the frame prepped locally at this point (Merlin declined to do it at the time of order) and despite promises by Merlin to prep the replacement to the same standard, when it arrived it clearly hadn’t been. Added to that, it had been so badly re-packed (after whatever ‘prep’ they’d done) that the mech hanger was bent and chipped. The frame was also missing the dropout-spacer, all of the packing around the head tube and any protection for the top of the seat-tube, so I guess I’m lucky it was usable at all. The response from Merlin Cycles was bloody rude, but as they knew they had the only remaining UK stock in my size/colour they clearly felt they had the upper hand.
Thankfully, Kinesis UK stepped in and got the replacement frame fully prepped again locally (avoiding the 2-week queue) and provided a replacement hanger. So, props to Kinesis UK/Upgrade for standing by their product. Goes to show that you never really know how good a brand or retailer is until something goes wrong.
The other main issue was the BB/crankset. I'd initially planned to order a 24mm Hope BB and GXP converter to run with a new Force GXP direct mount crankset (to fit an Absolute Black direct-mount chainring). When I asked my LBS to order the BB, they instead suggested that I could run a Hope 30mm BB with the SRAM BB30 chainset from my donor bike. I went with their recommendation intending to save a few quid and upgrade the crankset at a later date. Of course the crankset didn’t fit, with the spindle being too short. Hope also confirmed it would never fit with a 68mm shell and the spindle-length I had.
Despite the error clearly being theirs, the LBS initially refused to refund or exchange the BB and specialist Hope tool as it had been fitted to the bike. When I reminded them it was their recommendation in error and not my request I got an earful of bitching and moaning while they did the refund over the phone and then a load more attitude when I returned the part to them. This from a shop who I’ve bought three £1k+ bikes from along with lots of other bits over the years. Fun!
Ended up ordering the 24mm Hope BB, GXP converter and Force 22 GXP chainset (as originally planned) from Evans on a price match and clawed back most of my consequential losses by selling on the unused spider and chainrings. As for the broader issue of BB compatibility, when even the LBS gets it wrong you know things are a mess. Be nice if they’d at least own their mistake though.
Also ordered from the same LBS were Hope RX4 callipers (SRAM/flat mount) that were an absolute pain to set up and still give the odd issue with lazy pistons. I’ve re-bled the system a few times now and regularly do a piston advance/lube but suspect some of the seals are a bit tight so may have send back to Hope for a rebuild/swap. Hope have been great with advice on the initial setup, which was problematic, and with advice since. As for the flat mount standard, what an absolute pain in the backside! It just makes alignment even harder than it needs to be. The only real benefit is to the frame manufacturer, allowing them to remove yet another production stage and, if I'm being generous, I suppose it allows them to run a tighter rear triangle and still keep the calliper on the chainstay.
Final point, and regarding bottle cage mounts: on this size at least (55.5cm) and running a 1x 42t ring, you can drop the seat-tube mount by around 2" and still have good chain clearance across the block. This lets you run a smallish frame bag (Alpkit 'Slider 46') and still fit a 950ml bottle in each cage if you use side-loaders. I used a Wolftooth Components 'B-RAD' 2-slot adapter to drop the cage and run 2x Specialized Zee Cages: one in the lowest factory downtube position and one on the adapter plate at it's lowest position.
To sum up, a few issues in the delivery room eventually produced a fantastic bike that I’m very happy with, bar the ongoing occasional brake issues.
What have I learned?
Warning: marathon post that may contain the odd rant!
Positives first: The finished bike is great to ride and as versatile as I'd hoped for, with solid UK support from the manufacturer (more on that below). I’ve done mid-distance road rides, short sharp sprinty country lane stuff, all-day mixed terrain trundles and some 2-3 hour blats on single-track. I’ve never felt I’m on the wrong bike and am confident it will do me for a few years, or until the budget stretches to titanium.
A large part of that versatility comes from having two wheel sets. Both are Hunt’s Four Seasons Gravel Disc 700c: one with WTB Riddler 45s (43 on these rims) for off-road stuff and the other with Panaracer GravelKing 38s (non-SK version) for road and smoother bridleways.
As for the build, I had some common (but no less annoying) compatibility issues, along with a couple of retailer 'knobheadedness' issues thrown in for good measure.
Biggest point to make about these frames is that you should expect to have them properly prepped - as Kinesis openly admit and advise - as there's significant paint overspray on the brake mounts and even more on the BB shell faces.
Also, it turned out the reason it was so difficult to get cable outers and anti-rattle sleeving into the frame was that what had initially appeared to be paint in the cable-exit port was actually a load of excess weld, blocking around 30% of the port in the first frame I received.
That meant a mail order exchange with Merlin Cycles. Unfortunately I'd already had the frame prepped locally at this point (Merlin declined to do it at the time of order) and despite promises by Merlin to prep the replacement to the same standard, when it arrived it clearly hadn’t been. Added to that, it had been so badly re-packed (after whatever ‘prep’ they’d done) that the mech hanger was bent and chipped. The frame was also missing the dropout-spacer, all of the packing around the head tube and any protection for the top of the seat-tube, so I guess I’m lucky it was usable at all. The response from Merlin Cycles was bloody rude, but as they knew they had the only remaining UK stock in my size/colour they clearly felt they had the upper hand.
Thankfully, Kinesis UK stepped in and got the replacement frame fully prepped again locally (avoiding the 2-week queue) and provided a replacement hanger. So, props to Kinesis UK/Upgrade for standing by their product. Goes to show that you never really know how good a brand or retailer is until something goes wrong.
The other main issue was the BB/crankset. I'd initially planned to order a 24mm Hope BB and GXP converter to run with a new Force GXP direct mount crankset (to fit an Absolute Black direct-mount chainring). When I asked my LBS to order the BB, they instead suggested that I could run a Hope 30mm BB with the SRAM BB30 chainset from my donor bike. I went with their recommendation intending to save a few quid and upgrade the crankset at a later date. Of course the crankset didn’t fit, with the spindle being too short. Hope also confirmed it would never fit with a 68mm shell and the spindle-length I had.
Despite the error clearly being theirs, the LBS initially refused to refund or exchange the BB and specialist Hope tool as it had been fitted to the bike. When I reminded them it was their recommendation in error and not my request I got an earful of bitching and moaning while they did the refund over the phone and then a load more attitude when I returned the part to them. This from a shop who I’ve bought three £1k+ bikes from along with lots of other bits over the years. Fun!
Ended up ordering the 24mm Hope BB, GXP converter and Force 22 GXP chainset (as originally planned) from Evans on a price match and clawed back most of my consequential losses by selling on the unused spider and chainrings. As for the broader issue of BB compatibility, when even the LBS gets it wrong you know things are a mess. Be nice if they’d at least own their mistake though.
Also ordered from the same LBS were Hope RX4 callipers (SRAM/flat mount) that were an absolute pain to set up and still give the odd issue with lazy pistons. I’ve re-bled the system a few times now and regularly do a piston advance/lube but suspect some of the seals are a bit tight so may have send back to Hope for a rebuild/swap. Hope have been great with advice on the initial setup, which was problematic, and with advice since. As for the flat mount standard, what an absolute pain in the backside! It just makes alignment even harder than it needs to be. The only real benefit is to the frame manufacturer, allowing them to remove yet another production stage and, if I'm being generous, I suppose it allows them to run a tighter rear triangle and still keep the calliper on the chainstay.
Final point, and regarding bottle cage mounts: on this size at least (55.5cm) and running a 1x 42t ring, you can drop the seat-tube mount by around 2" and still have good chain clearance across the block. This lets you run a smallish frame bag (Alpkit 'Slider 46') and still fit a 950ml bottle in each cage if you use side-loaders. I used a Wolftooth Components 'B-RAD' 2-slot adapter to drop the cage and run 2x Specialized Zee Cages: one in the lowest factory downtube position and one on the adapter plate at it's lowest position.
To sum up, a few issues in the delivery room eventually produced a fantastic bike that I’m very happy with, bar the ongoing occasional brake issues.
What have I learned?
- The Tripster AT is a fantastic, hugely versatile bike, but...
- ...it needs a full prep before building up: face the BB shell and brake mounts and chase threads
- Internal cabling is a P.I.T.A.! I get why you’d want it on a flashy road bike, but for everything else it’s needless hassle and makes it harder to bodge a fix when you’re miles from home.
- Flat mount brakes, why?! What was wrong with post mount?
- BB/crank standards are still a disaster. Do your homework and don’t be surprised if you still get it wrong.
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