Specialized Tricross Sport. Commute now a pleasure

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Following advice from Mr Brooke of this group, a test ride and an
interest free loan from work, I finally went out and bought the
Specialized Tricross Sport from EBC Manchester (20% off everything!).
I collected it, put it on the train and then rode home carefully and
put it away until I had returned from my hols (cue much chaining and D-
locking to other bikes, step-ladders, shelving etc).

This morning I did the 16.25 mile commute. Crikey. On arrival, I
turned to the bike, my face still flushed from the ride, my chest
still gently heaving and sighed "I never knew it could be like this".

David

[Simon Brooke]

in message om>,
') wrote:

> Following advice from Mr Brooke of this group, a test ride and an
> interest free loan from work, I finally went out and bought the
> Specialized Tricross Sport from EBC Manchester (20% off everything!).
> I collected it, put it on the train and then rode home carefully and
> put it away until I had returned from my hols (cue much chaining and D-
> locking to other bikes, step-ladders, shelving etc).
>
> This morning I did the 16.25 mile commute. Crikey. On arrival, I
> turned to the bike, my face still flushed from the ride, my chest
> still gently heaving and sighed "I never knew it could be like this".

Glad you like it. It's a nice, fun, practical bike, isn't it?

--
(Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

;; ... exposing the violence incoherent in the system...

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On May 23, 4:55 pm, TerryJ > wrote:
> On 23
>
> > Glad you like it. It's a nice, fun, practical bike, isn't it?
>
> What do you think of the tyres and wheels? Are they heavy? Does it
> have mudguard eyes?
> Did you weigh it ?
>
> I have been looking at this in the catalogues for myself.
>
> TerryJ

Tyres and wheels: I'll probably replace the rather basic tyres with
Schwalbes once they wear out or show a tendency to puncture. Wheels
seem OK, but I'm no expert.

Weighing: Er... no, but it does seem very light compared to my old
cro-moly mountain bike, not that that's saying much. Also, I've added
a rack and muguards so the weight would not be accurate. That does
answer your muguard question though.

One reservation I do have is an occasional bad judder on the front
forks when braking. This looks like a bad design fault and Googling
reveals this is not just me and I will experiment with toeing-in etc
to try to solve. I may write to Specialized for a laugh. I don't
expect much of a response though - the fact that their lawyers seem to
have written the manual that comes with the bike leads me to believe
they'll deny everything.

David

[Adrian Godwin]

wrote:

> cro-moly mountain bike, not that that's saying much. Also, I've added
> a rack and muguards so the weight would not be accurate. That does
> answer your muguard question though.

How did you get on fitting mudguards ? It does have eyes, as you say,
but I had trouble with the fork crown fitting : the tab on my SKS
mudguard wasn't long enough to reach into the hollow in the back of
the crown, in two dimensions : not tall enough, and not deep enough
for the hole. The depth problem was fairly easy (special spacer) but
the height problem needed an extension tab. I'm not completely happy
with this yet, I think it contributes to the front guard rattling.


>
> One reservation I do have is an occasional bad judder on the front
> forks when braking. This looks like a bad design fault and Googling
> reveals this is not just me and I will experiment with toeing-in etc
> to try to solve. I may write to Specialized for a laugh. I don't
> expect much of a response though - the fact that their lawyers seem to
> have written the manual that comes with the bike leads me to believe
> they'll deny everything.
>

I had this. The shop sent the bike straight back to Specialized, who
replaced it. The replacement was much improved, but it came back to
some extent eventually. I haven't had it for a while; possibly because
I've got used to when it happens and avoid that, but perhaps
particularly because the front brakes are a bit squealy at the moment
so I tend to keep off them as far as possible. Of course, squealing is
closely related to juddering so perhaps it's a matter of degree. I did
change the blocks to Koolstop two-colour, don't know if that's an
issue or not. It didn't stop the squealing. I have tried adjusting
the toe-in but haven't completely fixed it.

-adrian

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On May 24, 1:55 pm, Adrian Godwin > wrote:
> wrote:
> > cro-moly mountain bike, not that that's saying much. Also, I've added
> > a rack and muguards so the weight would not be accurate. That does
> > answer your muguard question though.
>
> How did you get on fitting mudguards ? It does have eyes, as you say,
> but I had trouble with the fork crown fitting : the tab on my SKS
> mudguard wasn't long enough to reach into the hollow in the back of
> the crown, in two dimensions : not tall enough, and not deep enough
> for the hole. The depth problem was fairly easy (special spacer) but
> the height problem needed an extension tab. I'm not completely happy
> with this yet, I think it contributes to the front guard rattling.
>
>
>
> > One reservation I do have is an occasional bad judder on the front
> > forks when braking. This looks like a bad design fault and Googling
> > reveals this is not just me and I will experiment with toeing-in etc
> > to try to solve. I may write to Specialized for a laugh. I don't
> > expect much of a response though - the fact that their lawyers seem to
> > have written the manual that comes with the bike leads me to believe
> > they'll deny everything.
>
> I had this. The shop sent the bike straight back to Specialized, who
> replaced it. The replacement was much improved, but it came back to
> some extent eventually. I haven't had it for a while; possibly because
> I've got used to when it happens and avoid that, but perhaps
> particularly because the front brakes are a bit squealy at the moment
> so I tend to keep off them as far as possible. Of course, squealing is
> closely related to juddering so perhaps it's a matter of degree. I did
> change the blocks to Koolstop two-colour, don't know if that's an
> issue or not. It didn't stop the squealing. I have tried adjusting
> the toe-in but haven't completely fixed it.
>
> -adrian

Mudguards - fitted by EBC. Also SKS and yes, they are a little high
off the tyre. No rattle though.

Judder - had a chat with the mechanic at EBC (who incidentally was
about to take up a new job as a mechanic with a cycle tours comapny in
the West of Ireland - yet ANOTHER job my careers teacher failed to
mention) and he rang Specialized and got an immediate response that it
was a recognised problem. Apparently someone in E Anglia cured it by
fitting a v-brake in place of the canti - give a more gradual braking
response. Think I'll live with it.

David

[Anthony Jones]

wrote:
> Judder - had a chat with the mechanic at EBC (who incidentally was
> about to take up a new job as a mechanic with a cycle tours comapny in
> the West of Ireland - yet ANOTHER job my careers teacher failed to
> mention) and he rang Specialized and got an immediate response that it
> was a recognised problem. Apparently someone in E Anglia cured it by
> fitting a v-brake in place of the canti - give a more gradual braking
> response. Think I'll live with it.

I think the tricross has as steerer mounted cable hanger? In which case the
judder might be caused by the steerer flexing under braking, and a fork
crown mounted cable hanger would fix it (and you wouldn't need to worry
about brake/lever incompatibility as you would if you fitted a v-brake).

Anthony

[Adrian Godwin]

Anthony Jones > wrote:

> I think the tricross has as steerer mounted cable hanger? In which case the
> judder might be caused by the steerer flexing under braking, and a fork
> crown mounted cable hanger would fix it (and you wouldn't need to worry
> about brake/lever incompatibility as you would if you fitted a v-brake).
>

That sounds an interesting experiment, but I'm not sure if the layout
works - the joiner in the straddle cable falls exactly in line with
the hole through the fork crown. It might be possible to drop it a bit
lower, but I think the cable would then foul the mudguard.

Perhaps I'm misunderstanding where a fork crown mounted hanger would go ?

-adrian

[Rob Morley]

In article >, Adrian Godwin
says...
> Anthony Jones > wrote:
>
> > I think the tricross has as steerer mounted cable hanger? In which case the
> > judder might be caused by the steerer flexing under braking, and a fork
> > crown mounted cable hanger would fix it (and you wouldn't need to worry
> > about brake/lever incompatibility as you would if you fitted a v-brake).
> >
>
> That sounds an interesting experiment, but I'm not sure if the layout
> works - the joiner in the straddle cable falls exactly in line with
> the hole through the fork crown. It might be possible to drop it a bit
> lower, but I think the cable would then foul the mudguard.
>
> Perhaps I'm misunderstanding where a fork crown mounted hanger would go ?
>
It fits to the mudguard/reflector bolt and sticks up an inch or two.

[Adrian Godwin]

Rob Morley > wrote:
> In article >, Adrian Godwin
>>
>> That sounds an interesting experiment, but I'm not sure if the layout
>> works - the joiner in the straddle cable falls exactly in line with
>> the hole through the fork crown. It might be possible to drop it a bit
>> lower, but I think the cable would then foul the mudguard.
>>
>> Perhaps I'm misunderstanding where a fork crown mounted hanger would go ?
>>
> It fits to the mudguard/reflector bolt and sticks up an inch or two.

Might be OK then - I'll have a go when I can find one.

-adrian

[Anthony Jones]

Adrian Godwin wrote:
> Might be OK then - I'll have a go when I can find one.

http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=kona+design+front+hanger

Anthony