Price Paid:
$0.00 Summary:
2008 Specialized Tricross Expert 56 cm
I live in the Wood River Valley of south central Idaho, near the resort of Sun Valley. Excellent single track and some nice road rides have kept me busy on my 20” Giant Anthem 1 full-suspension mountain bike (SRAM X-O) and my 59 cm LeMond carbon/ti road bike (SRAM Red), but the jeep roads and spring/fall mud seasons seemed to call for another bike that was neither mountain nor road, so I took the plunge, buying a new ’08 Tricross Expert late last summer when my local dealer had a sale. I added TIME ATAC pedals (I have similar ones on my other two bikes) and swapped out the mushy stock brakes for some more potent Avids, but otherwise the bike is stock. A few disclaimers before I review the bike: I only ride about 1,500 miles a year with no racing, and while I have been mountain biking for a long time, I only picked up road riding three years ago, and I have never ridden cycle cross/cyclocross. I am fit, 42 years old, and an above average, but not expert, rider.
The aluminum frame with the carbon fork, partial carbon rear triangle, carbon seat post and Roval wheel set is comfortable, smooth, quick steering, and climbs well. I have my doubts about the efficacy of the Zerts inserts, but I am not an engineer and have not ridden a similar frame without them, so what do I know? If money were no object, I would have gone with the S-Works all-carbon frame, but I think the aluminum/carbon Expert frame does a good job of taming the aluminum’s downside with the carbon bits, wheel set, and other selected pieces. The SRAM Rival drive train makes crisp shifts and is rock solid in all kinds of conditions, but I am partial to SRAM and really like the way their stuff works. The whole package delivers a very nice ride that gives me a lot of confidence to ride hard on almost any surface and carry some stupid speed into the corners (careful with cantilevers on the pavement!). I love the OEM short drop bars, the upper brake levers with bell (great for tapping time to tunes on the iPod when alone), and the way this bike generally flies.
I have ridden about 300 miles on the Tricross Expert on a mix of asphalt, dirt and gravel roads and moderate/hard single track here in central Idaho, and paved asphalt in Carmel Valley and Palm Desert, California. The bike covers a lot of surface types with aplomb, but don’t kid yourself (as I did) that it is a tool for real single track riding. It is, however, a great ride on the pavement and moderate dirt and gravel, though with it’s relatively tall gearing, real hill climbs require me to get out of the saddle and stay there. I have probably had the most fun climbing and descending steep canyon roads in Carmel Valley, CA with so-so asphalt that had patches of mud, water and fine gravel (results of spring runoff). The least fun to date was moderate/hard single track, where it rode a whole lot more like a road bike than I’d hoped. One particular low-speed, low-side single track crash saw the front wheel pop out of the fork, which reminds me that I don’t much care for the stock quick release skewers, as it’s hard to really crank them down on the fork, and as mentioned above, the stock brakes were nothing great, but it’s a cross bike, not a mountain bike, so take these quibbles with a grain of salt. What stands out for me is that this bike rides really well in many conditions, is fast, and a ton of fun. If I could have only one bike, this would likely be it.
|
4 of 5
5 of 5
4 of 5
