Cyclocross as a touring bike???

noccer

Hello all,

I am a newbie here so go easy on me if i missed a similar thread anywhere but i couldnt see any from my searches...

I am from Dublin, Ireland and for 4 months will be cycling the East Coast of Australia in January 2009. Its a long way off yet but im starting my planning early none-the-less.

I have had my eye on the Specialized Tricross Sport as a possible bike to use for the tour, has anyone experienced a tour on a cyclocross before? I like this bike because of its wide range of gear ratios, bosses/eyelets for panniers, shifters, ample room for mudguards and because it generally seems to be built to take a bit of a pounding. My tour will be confined to paved roads, i wont be going off-road.

What would peoples take on this bike be? I cant seem to see any issues with it other than perhaps its weight (which i cant see listed anywhere by the way). Is it lighter/heavier than a typical touring bike?

Any advise is greatly appreciated.

Cheers!

ilmooz

The TriCross Sport is a decent bike, but if I were planning some extensive touring I would want a bike with better components than the Sport has. In that price range I would spend my money on a Kona Jake The Snake which is better outfitted throughout from top to bottom with Shimano 105 components, FSA MegaExo goodies, Avid brakes, solid Mavic Aksium wheels, and you're going to get pedals with the Kona. You get way more bang for the buck with the Kona.

Still another bike I'd take over the Sport is a Felt F1X, another better equipped bike for the money.

With either bike you'd trade the Sport's triple chainring crank for a double, but unless you're planning on spending a lot of time climbing steep hills that shouldn't be an issue. The rest of the trade-offs far outweigh that one.

Hope this helps!

noccer

thanks ilmooz,

i had a look at the jake the snake bike. very nice indeed!
as slick as it looks though, the gearings are way wrong for what i need. i often look at the gear ratios by dividing the number front teeth by the rear, and the jake-the-snake only ranges from 1.44 to a max of 3.83. A touring bike would really need a bigger range, with as low as possible to 1.0 (or less even) for the hills, and to as near 5.0 as i could get for cruising the flats. hence why i was considering the Tricross at the moment, it ranges from 0.88 to 4.54.

the same goes for the Felt F1X. both are really nice cyclocross bikes, though im not sure they'd be handy for touring on.

but you've definately given me something to think about regarding components. ill have to study them in more detail. i did hear before to try avoid 10-speeds because they tend to wear quicker, though im not sure about this.

thanks for your advice!

Eden

Another bike you might want to look into is the Trek 520 - its pretty close to the same price as the Tricross, but its made for touring. It comes set up with a rack and spd pedals included.

The ultimate tourer is the Kona Sutra - but it is a bit more expensive than the Tricross or 520.

chainstay

Those are all very important factors for a touring bike---much more important in my humble opinion than whether you have Shimano 105 shifters versus Shimano Tiagra shifters. Wheel base length, which factors in to stability when loaded, and chain stay length, which gives you room for you foot to revolve around without hitting your rear panniers are a couple more important considerations. The specs for the Tri Cross looked OK in both those departments too. I suspect some folks might argue against the aluminum frame as being less forgiving than a steel tube frame though, but I suspect that Tri Cross would work just fine.

There is probably a ton of information regarding long distance touring on this forum, as well as on other bicycle forums like this link below. I think it would probably be worth your while to read this sticky thread at bike forums titled " The Newbie's Guide To Touring Bikes".

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=180433

Have a great tour!

xilios

Get a cheep(ish) hybrid or mountain bike $300/$400. They make good tourers, you don't need to wory about damage or theft as much, if the worst happens, just buy another one. I've met people on the road riding 2-3000 euro bikes and they sleped with them, out of fear from theft
cheers

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noccer

excellent chainstay, ill give that thread a read over, i completely missed it! thanks for the input on the Tricross, i will have a look into aluminium frames for touring. i know steel is stronger and weldable should the very worst happen, but aluminium is lighter all the same.

I wont be using panniers if i can get away with it, i want to tow a Bob Yak (or will it be an Ibex??? check my new post in this forum)...

The Trek 520 does seem a good option actually, it seems to get good reviews and most of all is a comfortable bike according to owners. very important. the surly looks very good too, i like the gear ranges.

as for a hybrid, im not going to get one, i much prefer the seating position of a racer/touring bike to a hybrid, the handlebars on a hybrid always seem to be too high for my riding style.


Finally, if anyone has any info on the Bob Ibex & Yak, please have a look at my other post in this forum,

thank you all!

chainstay

Yes, both those touring bikes get a lot of very favorable reviews from owners in the United States. Here is a thread that is comparing the two models:
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthrea...20+versus+Surly

I noticed that nobody has replied to your post yet. Try doing a search here, and if that doesn't answer your question, do the same search under the touring forum over at bikeforums.net. The touring forum over there at bikeforums.net is very active and full of information. I know I have seen threads devoted to the pros and cons of various trailer systems over there.

noccer

thanks for the link chainstay, i checked out that forum and there is plenty of info there on what i was looking for RE: trailers.

nice1!

youhaditcoming

here's a nice custom touring

http://www.strongframes.com/the_buz...etails=1&ID=122