Strengths: Light, responsive, and really comfortable
Weaknesses: Gearing is too high for long off road riding or loaded turing.
Bottom Line:
I've been riding for over 30 years now and can say cycling is the most important part of my life away except for my family. I bought a 2010 Tri-Cross Expert in late Spring as a commuter / off road bike and am very happy with the ride and performance of this bike. I remover the off road tires and replaced them with some better suited for the road and my commute 700/28C. I was surprised at how responsive this bike is, and how well it absorbed the rough pavement I dealt with on my commute.
My only complaint about the bike is the selection of the cranks and the limit of the gearing I can use on this bike. Until I started doing a few off road rides I was very happy with the range of gears but then once I got into the dirt with the heavier tires, I found I was not geared low enough to handle some of the climbs I was facing. I know this bike is designed for cross racing and the gearing is probably good for that type of riding. BUT I was under the impression that I could simply change the inner ring and get a bike that was better suited for longer off road adventures. The crank set is a compact with a 130 mm BC, it will not accept anything lower than a 38T, which it has. The cassette is a 12X27 and the rear derailleur will not accept anything larger than a 28T. This really limits the off road usefulness of this bike. My only solution is to replace the rear derailleur with a long cage and add a larger range cassette. Money I really wish I didn’t have to spend.
I think this bike is better suited for cross racing and road riding than "FREE RIDING"
Strengths: Fleaxility in terrain it can handle, its respnsive to inputs while cornereing, light weight, style -
Weaknesses: So far none -
Bottom Line:
When I deciding to get into cycling, I looked around for quite a while and rode several diffrent bikes to find out exactly what kind of bike i was looking for.I rode several hard core road bike, some commuters , and thne started looking at cyclecross bikes. The cycle cross bikes looked like they would give me some flexability and options for riding areas that a straight up road bike couldnt, and it opend up the roads like my moutian bike wouldnt.I rode several other bikes , then, I rode the Specialized Tricross and was done. This bike provides a very confortable riding position and yet is agressive enough to really hammer out some miles.The folks at my local bike shop set this bike up exactly for me using the BG system and Ive been riding it ever simce . To date I have several hundred miles on it and like it more every time I go for a ride.In motorcycling a dual sport bike is commonly called a bike that represents the worst of both trail/dirt riding and street. The Tricross can not be lumped into that catagory, it preforms very well and the street and can handle gravle/loose trails without a problem.
