First ride: S-Works Tricross ultimate cool guy build

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I just rolled the S-Works Tricross for an hour in my dark, icy neighborhood. Real quick:

Build: Value-conscious but sweet. Highlights include Sun Accelerator wheels (pretty light, very strong), Ultegra SL drivetrain, Avid cantilever brakes and Vittoria Cross XG Pro tires. The whole bike, with pedals, is 19 pounds.

Cockpit: I’m trying a short (90mm) stem with a high bar position. Right now the bars are just above the seat. I’m trying to find the right balance of a comfortable sitting position, a powerful pedaling position and an athletic descending position. This will be interesting.

Terrain: Some pavement, some dirt. Some dry, some wet. Some snowy, some icy. A perfect shakedown for a cyclocross bike. I rocked a helmet-mount headlight.

Feel: This bike is quick! This bike is smooth! The canti brakes work better than I remember. The tires roll fast and grip surprisingly well. I was nowhere near their limit, even in the snow. The packed dirt was heroic. Quick! Smooth!

To do: 1) Move the saddle a bit lower and farther back, to match my Stumpy. 2) Find the right place for those bars — and those infernal levers. 3) Gradually turn up the dial and figure out what this baby can do.

Stay tuned for photos, specs and Big Adventures.

Drop-bar braaap!

4 replies
  2. Daniel says:

    I am wondering if a shallow drop bar would be good for you. Then you could have a lower top and hood position with a higher drop position for descending.

  3. leelikesbikes says:

    I’m thinking the same thing. The bars I have — BBB Elitebar — have a moderately shallow drop with an anatomical bend.

    http://www.bbbparts.com/handlebars_elitebar-bhb31.php

    After last night’s mission, I want to set the angle of the diagonal drop section so it feels neutral when I’m in my attack position. Then I want to position the brakes so I can get easy one-finger braking in that position. After that, I suppose it’ll be about reach and height.

    Super interesting (at least to me).

  4. dblspeed says:

    Love my singlespeed tricross (I hear the frame is the same across the various models), it costed like a cheap set of wheels and it’s worth much more, it’s light nimble, fun like a little sports car.

    As a bonus the SS comes with a flip flop hub, fixed on one side, free on the other; out of curiosity I started riding fixed for commuting, the I moved to light trail duty, then CX then CX racing; ; fixed offroad riding teached me a ton about being smooth, supple and pedaling in circles, all at the same time. I suspect the braking with your legs thing is beneficial for your strength training as well.

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