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Ian Dewar's Journal
This may just be the perfect bike...
posted by id* at 08:48 AM on October 24, 2007
I’ve been looking forward to riding this bike all summer – the prospect of an all carbon cross bike combined with SRAM Force was exciting for me. I rode the bike a bit on the road during some of the summer demo events, but it wasn’t until the end of September that I got it out on the first real ride – and what a ride that was.
Two of us took the S-Works Tricross out for a ride on the Flume trail while we were up at Xterra USA in Tahoe and I couldn’t have been more impressed. The first part of the trail is a 1600 foot climb on a fire-road and the Tri-cross responded perfectly to that. I expected as much with a light frame and a Zertz equipped carbon fork, the front end had just enough give to make the riding comfortable, but the stiff carbon bottom bracket kept the bike stable and made me feel like every bit of my pitiful power was at least propelling me forward (and upward).
Once onto the trail I was really impressed by how the tri-cross handled itself on single track. This is supposed to be a cyclo-cross race bike (and it is – more on that later) but once on the actual Flume Trail the bike handled the bumps, curves and small rock gardens perfectly and couldn’t have been more comfortable. On the return descent back down the Tricross tracked great through the corners and while a real suspension bike would have made for a more comfortable rocky descent I was really impressed with how well the Tri-cross descended on dirt.
Once I got a chance to ride this bike a few times I knew it was time for a real cyclocross test – so I suited up in my BareKnuckleBrigade kit and headed to the Bay Area Super Prestige race #2. Perfect weather at Candlestick Point made for perfect cyclocross racing. Getting the Tricross ready to race was as simple as pumping up the tires and putting a spare pair of wheels into the pit. This bike is race ready out of the box – all you need to add is pedals.
Immediately into the race I started to appreciate the Zertz inserts in the fork and seat stay. As with the cross country ride we did the effect of added comfort makes for a more stable and faster ride. The more you are on the ground pedaling the faster you can go. Even on the bumpiest part of the course I never felt out of control. I was really happy with the S-Works Houffalize CX tires. They were perfect for the dry, bumpy conditions of California cyclocross and I ran them at about 45-50 psi with no problem.
Where the spec on this bike really shines is the inclusion of the SRAM Force group. Force has two distinct benefits for cross that really came through here – one the lack of cables from the shifters leaves one less thing to get tangled up in on run-ups and when carrying the bike over barricades, and two the ease of one-finger shifting (up and down) makes for quick and easy shifts on a course like this with a ton of terrain change. I think SRAM is on the money with Force and having it on my cross bike now as well as a road bike has made me more of a believer in the progress SRAM has made in the past few years. This is a great group-set and while it might not make me a better rider, it definitely gives me one less thing to blame my performance on. :)
This is the bike that I am going to ride all winter. It’s a perfect race bike for cross racing, but also a perfect bike for winter commuting and early season training. I can put fenders on it when the cross season is over and the rain season begins, and I can run it with road tires all spring while I wait for the road to dry out to get on the new Tarmac SL2.
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Comments (2)
04:06 PM on October 25, 2007 UTC Wiley wrote:
I am guessing by your garb, you guys have not hit the thirties yet... Getting pretty chilly in New England. It is a sweet ride for sure, I am having my best season so far on it, YEEEAAAAA!!!!
12:49 PM on November 21, 2007 UTC johans wrote:
This is cross post from the main review article: I am interested in what type of trails/single track one can resonably (without wrecking the bike/wheels or worse) expect a Tricross to handle.
I have always been a mountain biker. I got myself a Tricross Comp Double recently. It is great and the flexibility of the bike has opened up a lot of new riding opportunites.
Since my bike is still new, and I am not too sure what dirt stuff it can handle, I have not tackled any gnarly trails - in your review you mentioned that you even rode some small rock gardens - wow! Sounds like my mountain bikes may not get so much attention anymore.