Possible New Commute Bike- Tricross?

[palinurus]

Right. So I want a new commute bike. The current bike is a steel road bike which I like enough but the frame is too long for me. The frame- a cheap training frame- is really heavy, although that isn't so much of a big deal- once it's rolling it's good.

I've been in the LBS. They, like a lot of bike shops, sell mostly Specialized and Trek. A Tricross might well do the job- probably one of the few things they have that will. I'm almost certain I want gears on my commuter, not needed for the commute but it will be put to other uses too (not cyclocross tho'- I've already got one for that)

I like that the bars are a higher than the ones on my current commuter, and I might like those extra brake levers on the bar tops- never used them so I'm not sure about that.

The Tricross will take 'guards and a rack so that's good.

The LBS are going to build up a 54 for me so I can try it next weekend.

It's a triple. That puts me off a bit. I am definitely prejudiced against triples, I'm a pretty energetic climber.

It's a 2009 model, I might be on for a discount (I get a fairly good discount from the LBS anyway)

Who's got one? any opinions?

 

[neslon]

Ive used one for a few years and I like it a lot. It seems pretty bomb proof, the brakes on the top are excellent in traffic, when you want to sit up & look around, although the actual stopping ability is a bit mushy compared to calipers. I put lighter wheels and 23c on, as I never use it for 'crossing & it does me fine - today I rode the Northern Rock Cyclone on it, doing 101miles through Northumberland & climbing 7789ft in 7 hrs (an averege of 14mph, which I am happy with, as a 50 yr old 90kg commuter). The carbon forks do a good job of tacking the sting out of the road as well.

 

[Tynan]

I considered this

In the end I passed as it's a bit of a jack of all trades, if you're going to use it only on the roads, get a proper road bike, look and you'll find bikes that take guards and racks

 

[palinurus]

Thanks to you both..

Tynan: That's sort of what I'm thinking, I'll see how I like it when I try it out. It will almost certainly be used on the road most of the time.

Nelson: If I get it I'll be doing like you and using my current wheels, with a dynohub in the front, and probably some 25mm tyres of the tougher variety.

 

[ed_o_brain]

I've got a Tri-Cross single (which I've now fixed) and it makes a great tourer.

 

[palinurus]

Well.

Eventually I bought a Singlecross, not as good a deal as those £270 jobs from Pearson's but got it for £420. Already spoiled it with 'guards and dynamo lighting. I'll have to change the tyres (Spesh Houffalize- they'll do as spares for the cross bike) for some well hard commuting tyres because I don't want to be whopping the mudguard off everytime I puncture.

Felt good during the test ride.

 

[Tynan]

dynamo lighting? wha?

good led commuter lights are cheap and effective and run for ever on rechargeable batteries

why does the mudguard have to come off to repair a flat, am I missng something?

 

[palinurus]

It has to come partly off because of the track style dropouts- the rear wheel comes out backwards rather than downwards. I'll be changing the tyres next weekend so I'll put it to the test, I'm pretty sure it won't come out without freeing up the mudguard stays.

I've been using a Dinotte headlamp for a couple of years, works well enough but sometimes I'll forget to charge batteries and then I'm not sure what runtime I'll get out of it. My regular commute has some unlit roads, some other commute options are mostly singletrack lanes. I used a hub dynamo and a B&M Cyo for part of this winter and it worked well so I transferred it from my old hack to the Singlecross today.

 

[Tynan]

ah, sorry, thanks for explaining

all the more reason to get some without track style dropouts, and mudguards surely?

 

[palinurus]

I'll probably regret stating this but when using 25 mm Armadillos* I puncture so infrequently I don't think I'll have much of an issue.

*I'm sure there are better tyres than Armadillos but I've just been particularly lucky since I've been using them and I'm unlikely to give up until my luck runs out.