Specialized CrossTrail Expert

Price Paid:  $830.00 at Eddy's Bike

Model Year:
2007

Favorite Ride:
Raleigh Route 66

Bike Setup:
After enough flats and tire wear, changed the tires to Schwalbe Marathon, added Ixon IQ headlight, B&M Toplight 4D tailight, Lightman strobe, SKS fenders, Tubus Cargo rack, Ortlieb Sport Packer panniers, Pitlock skewers, head and seat bolt, Greenfield kickstand. Changed front brake to BB7, much better feel than BB5, little chatter. Also picked up a Novel Doggy Ride trailer for 85# Akita-mix Samson - a bit pricey, but if you have a larger dog who can't run as far as you want to ride, this is a great product!

Summary:
Was looking for a versatile commuting/light touring bike, which meant either a hybrid or flat bar road bike. I had previously only owned true road bikes, but was tired of flats and rim dings from the commuting, plus the inability to use effective fenders for 11-month commuting. I am not a hard-core rider - average about 1600 miles per year.
Looked at a number of bikes at different shops. Loved the ride of the Raleigh Route 66 (at Fridrich's in Cleveland - great shop), but it couldn't take tires wider than 28, and it was questionable fitting full coverage fenders with those.
Staff at Eddy's were also very helpful, test rode a number of bikes. Wasn't sure about the front shock fork, but it was lockable, and roads here in Cleveland appear to have had bombing practice done on them. I also had never ridden a bike with tires anywhere near this wide, and was concerned about excessive rolling resistance.
In practice, it has worked out very well. I have about 1400 miles on the bike now. The shock really does make a difference, but not a huge one, and the lockable feature makes for easy A/B testing. When the shock is worn I may replace it with a solid fork. With good quality wideish tires, it has a very comfortable ride without adding significantly to rolling resistance, and ditching the shock fork would probably lose 3 pounds.
I had never used other than down tube or bar end shifters, and this was my first experience with indexing shifters (other than adjusting my wife's). The Rapidfire shifters took some getting used to, and I can't use this bike on the coldest days (<10) because I can't get my thicker gloves into the shift levers, but overall I like them, and have had to do virtually no adjusting in the first year.
Eddy's also had a free 100-mile checkup - adjust, true wheels, etc., a nice service, plus free lifetime adjustments.
Overall, I think this is a very good commuting bike, although if you have better roads, you may want to think about a bike without a shock fork, to save weight and money. I haven't taken it off-road at all yet, other than onto packed-gravel bike paths and dirt country roads, so I have nothing to offer about its performance if you are thinking about some trail riding.

Strengths:
Easy ride, good seating position for me, surprisingly easy to mount rack around rear disc brake, good clearance for full-coverage fenders even with wideish tires (stock were 45, replacements are 40), good value, adequate component group, shifters have held their adjustments very well, minimal cable stretch, disc brakes work well in any weather (except in cold, as noted), stock seat surprisingly comfortable. As a commuter/tourer, also appreciated the stock 2-bolt kickstand mount on the left chainstay, although you have to be a little careful with balance with the kickstand this far back.

Weaknesses:
Stock Continental Borough tires were unimpressive, relatively high rolling resistance, no Kevlar, short life, a number of flats in the first 500 miles. Avid BB5 brakes worked well, but the front one had a fair amount of chatter, no matter how it was adjusted, and the rear tends to freeze up in cold weather (<20). Not a big deal; I don't use the rear brake much, and changed the front to BB7. Two spokes on the rear wheel broke for no apparent reason on two separate occasions during level-ground, smooth road riding (sheared heads, not warranty covered, even the one that broke two months after purchase).

Similar Products Used:
None.