Next Bike — What Do I Want?

[americancyclo]

@mstone 48528 wrote:

For my do-everything bike, the checklist included: solid frame + strong wheels (I’m large & wanted to carry a lot of stuff), ability to take reasonably wide tires (>32) + fenders, front & rear racks, disc brakes for wet weather, drop bars, brifters, low gearing.

How did I do?

No. What did you get!?

[consularrider]

@eminva 48669 wrote:

26″. That way, the studded tires I already have will fit. 😮

Liz

And that’s like getting a $150 discount.

[mstone]

@americancyclo 48684 wrote:

No. What did you get!?

Older version of the Marin Lombard. They did a redesign last year and screwed it up–carbon fork, different frame. If I had to buy a new do-everything bike today, I’m not sure what I’d get. Maybe a salsa fargo? But that’s more than twice as much as I spent on the Lombard, and I’m not sure I want that much in something I park in the bike cage at work. The disc+triple version of the Specialized Tricross is another possibility. I’m hoping to not have to start looking again for a good while.

[americancyclo]

@mstone 48712 wrote:

Older version of the Marin Lombard. They did a redesign last year and screwed it up–carbon fork, different frame. If I had to buy a new do-everything bike today, I’m not sure what I’d get. Maybe a salsa fargo? But that’s more than twice as much as I spent on the Lombard, and I’m not sure I want that much in something I park in the bike cage at work. The disc+triple version of the Specialized Tricross is another possibility. I’m hoping to not have to start looking again for a good while.

if I can’t get my dream budget I was looking at the aluminum disc tricross, but I know vvill loves his kona Jake too, so those night make the shortlist if I can’t wait for the tout terrain.

[ebubar]

@americancyclo 48713 wrote:

if I can’t get my dream budget I was looking at the aluminum disc tricross, but I know vvill loves his kona Jake too, so those night make the shortlist if I can’t wait for the tout terrain.

The tricross and jake are my two top choices. The jake seems to have better specs but the tricross looks to have brake levers on the flat part of the handlebars. I think I’d like that feature for transitioning from my upright hybrid with triggers.

[vvill]

@americancyclo 48713 wrote:

I know vvill loves his kona Jake too, so those night make the shortlist if I can’t wait for the tout terrain.

I love having a CX bike, but I would prefer something with a tapered headtube if I was buying again so that I could use a full carbon disc fork if I wanted. The stock Jake also has some component choices that I didn’t want (mostly geared more towards commuters), so I spent quite a bit on upgrades, making the relatively low price not as good a deal. That said, I don’t have any major shortcomings with the bike as it stands now and there’s plenty of happy Jake 2013 owners online from what I read.

[mstone]

@ebubar 48721 wrote:

The tricross and jake are my two top choices. The jake seems to have better specs but the tricross looks to have brake levers on the flat part of the handlebars. I think I’d like that feature for transitioning from my upright hybrid with triggers.

I see those as two very different choices–the tricross is ready to carry a load, the jake is ready to go somewhere fast & relatively light. FWIW, adding interrupter levers to the jake should be fairly cheap, especially if you tell the shop before they assemble the bike.

[jrenaut]

One note on interrupter brake levers – they came on my Bianchi, and I’m going to take them off next time i change the bar tape. I don’t use them, and they get in the way. One of them actually gets stuck on the headlight mount if I actually do use it. When I get around to doing it, you’re welcome to have them, though I’m not sure how helpful that is – I don’t know what hardware you’d still need to install them.

[hozn]

I agree with vvill on the tapered headtube. If I were buying a cross bike I would buy a Foundry Auger. Carbon, tapered headtube, BB30, disc. http://foundrycycles.com/bikes/auger

[americancyclo]

@mstone 48780 wrote:

I see those as two very different choices–the tricross is ready to carry a load, the jake is ready to go somewhere fast & relatively light.

The specs I saw online were 24.5 lbs for a 53cm Jake and 24 lbs for a 56cm tricross so I would expect them to be in the same ballpark, if not the other way around.

[mstone]

@americancyclo 48811 wrote:

The specs I saw online were 24.5 lbs for a 53cm Jake and 24 lbs for a 56cm tricross so I would expect them to be in the same ballpark, if not the other way around.

Well, I’m not in the market so I’ll admit I haven’t looked closely. Where did you find load specs? In my experience the vendors actively avoid giving useful numbers for liability reasons (e.g., some will just give the same fairly low number to all their bikes, regardless of construction). From a glance at the sales sites, the tricross has mounts for a front rack, which is nice to balance the load and avoid the unicycle effect, and the 140mm brakes on the jake seem a bit miserly. (Tricross has 160 or 140/160 or cantis depending on the model.) Chain stays are longer on the tricross, and the seat stays on the jake seem really thin (could just be the picture). And the jake talks about a “race light” frame, but how that translates into reality, I don’t know. At any rate, if I was planning to buy I’d definitely want to look at them in person to get a better idea.

[GuyContinental]

@jrenaut 48782 wrote:

One note on interrupter brake levers – they came on my Bianchi, and I’m going to take them off next time i change the bar tape. I don’t use them, and they get in the way. One of them actually gets stuck on the headlight mount if I actually do use it. When I get around to doing it, you’re welcome to have them, though I’m not sure how helpful that is – I don’t know what hardware you’d still need to install them.

I’m pro interrupters but only because before I figured out the right brake (Thread of CX brake Woe) I sometimes rode CX on things that I really shouldn’t (like rock chutes) . I still sometimes use them when towing trailers or in tight urban situations but could probably do without. However, the hand position is very close together so I wouldn’t consider it any sort of a transition from wide flat bars (ride with your hands pushed up to the sides of your stem and you’ll see what I mean…)

[americancyclo]

@mstone 48814 wrote:

Well, I’m not in the market so I’ll admit I haven’t looked closely. Where did you find load specs? In my experience the vendors actively avoid giving useful numbers for liability reasons (e.g., some will just give the same fairly low number to all their bikes, regardless of construction). From a glance at the sales sites, the tricross has mounts for a front rack, which is nice to balance the load and avoid the unicycle effect, and the 140mm brakes on the jake seem a bit miserly. (Tricross has 160 or 140/160 or cantis depending on the model.) Chain stays are longer on the tricross, and the seat stays on the jake seem really thin (could just be the picture). And the jake talks about a “race light” frame, but how that translates into reality, I don’t know. At any rate, if I was planning to buy I’d definitely want to look at them in person to get a better idea.

I found the Jake weight on BikeRumors as part of a review and 2012 Bike weights for Specialized bikes here on JeJames Cycles. I’m also pretty green when it comes to knowing about geometry or brake quality, but always glad to learn!

[dcv]

@GuyContinental 48821 wrote:

I’m pro interrupters …

+1, I use mine on long descents. braking on the hoods or in the drops for extended durations hurts.

or maybe rule #5

[vvill]

The problem I see with interrupters is they’re so close to the middle that you sacrifice the control you get from a wider grip. But yeah I wish there was a better braking position for CX. Drops would work if I had my stem/bars up higher, but I have them at the same height as on my road bike, so it’s a bit aggressive for offroad bumpy descending.

[Author]

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