# Specialized: Tricross no longer a cyclocross bike



## tednugent

if you go to their website, bikes, road... check the "Cyclocross" box, only the Crux remains.

according to the local spec rep....

too many tricross users are using it as commuter bikes.... Crux is lighter, more agressive geometry & most importantly, no fender attachments....

so.. weird... for 2012, their Cyclocross bike is no longer marketed as a cyclocross bike.:mad2:


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## Gripped

tednugent said:


> if you go to their website, bikes, road... check the "Cyclocross" box, only the Crux remains.
> 
> according to the local spec rep....
> 
> too many tricross users are using it as commuter bikes.... Crux is lighter, more agressive geometry & most importantly, no fender attachments....
> 
> so.. weird... for 2012, their Cyclocross bike is no longer marketed as a cyclocross bike.:mad2:


To be fair, the Tricross doesn't have a true racing geometry. Whereas the Crux does (at least more so that the Tricross). So I can totally see moving the Tricross to another category -- the name notwithstanding.

I had a friend try the Crux disc and he said it didn't feel as sprightly as a tight race rig. Perhaps the weight? I know Stybar did okay with a canti Crux this year so it must be serviceable as a racing bike.


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## gobes

The current tricross geometry is the same as the crux except the tricross has longer chainstays (at least in my size).


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## simonaway427

As a former Tricross owner, it was far more a commuter bike than it was a cross bike.....


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## Scott in MN

I just picked up a basically brand new 2010 Tricross cheap. I bought it as a gravel road bike which I think it will work fine for. Cable routing is under the BB, hardly a cyclocross trait.


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## m_s

Scott in MN said:


> I just picked up a basically brand new 2010 Tricross cheap. I bought it as a gravel road bike which I think it will work fine for. Cable routing is under the BB, hardly a cyclocross trait.


Lots of cross bikes route under the BB.


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## tednugent

Scott in MN said:


> I just picked up a basically brand new 2010 Tricross cheap. I bought it as a gravel road bike which I think it will work fine for. Cable routing is under the BB, hardly a cyclocross trait.





m_s said:


> Lots of cross bikes route under the BB.


as well as mountain bikes


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## Scott in MN

m_s said:


> Lots of cross bikes route under the BB.


OK. I thought that was a cyclocross trait and most of the other ones I had looked at had it. Guess I hadn't seen them all.


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## samuel

I bought a tricross expert in 2007. They weren't available for a test ride in my size and I had to have one so I ordered it. From the first time I rode it I was disappointed. It was in my opinion a touring bike. I raced it a few times that year and sold it immediately after cx season. Wow did I take a loss on that bike.


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## AndrwSwitch

Cue the "not a cyclocross bike, you're on the wrong forum" thread.

I shouldn't trash-talk SUV owners, as of today I am one. But I feel like people are colonizing the 'cross class as commuters. When I started racing again, I picked up a base-model Kona Jake. Definitely one of the Crossover SUVs of the cyclocross class, and it's been irritating on occasion.

I'm a little surprised that Specialized's marketing people did that, though. Listing it under "cyclocross" is one way to sell a commute bike to someone who's not comfortable with the idea that some of the things that are nice on a commute bike aren't present on a racer. (Fender mounts, long enough chainstays for fender clearance, all those little eyelets and their accompanying few extra grams.)

Anyway, ultimately a cyclocross bike is the bike you take to 'cross races. I wouldn't not race a bike because its marketing, especially in a subsequent year, no longer promoted it that way.


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## LetsGoOutside

*no love for the Tricross*

I raced cx and did the weekly hammer fest road rides on a 2006 Tricross comp up until May of this year.

I've owned plenty of cx bikes (been racing since 2000) and owned a few other more "racier" cx bikes even during the period that I owned my Tricross. And the Tricross was absolutely an incredibly raceable bike. 

I had some of my best seasons on that frame, the longer cs length meant that I could stay seated on tight corners and off-camber sections instead of having to try and balance out of my seat to make those hard accelerations. 

I finally sold the bike after 30,000 miles of hard use over 5 years thinking that my new Cannondale CAADX Ultegra build could completely replace it. Not the case at all, the Cannondale is on the chopping block now so I can try and find a CRUX carbon with the longer CS length (Tricross rear end) before they are all gone.


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## benny and the jets

We did a Tricross Comp custom build for a customer, he has a disability and can only use his left hand, so we've got a Paul's brake lever and a Nuvinci hub with the shifter mounted on the left

Turned out really well and the customer is very happy


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## gobes

LetsGoOutside said:


> I've owned plenty of cx bikes (been racing since 2000) and owned a few other more "racier" cx bikes even during the period that I owned my Tricross. And the Tricross was absolutely an incredibly raceable bike.


I'm with you. I've had a few different cx bikes and I prefer the handling of the tricross.


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## SunnyinCO

I bought a '06 Tricross Sport in 2008 of CL. Did a few races a year until this year, did about 8. Last year I changed the handlebars and stem to a more compact setup, same as the '10 Roubaix. This past season purchased a set of Shimano Ultegra tubeless wheels. 

I had a great season, the bike is plenty agile and "racey" (sp?) with the setup now. Have not rode the newer frames so cannot compare but I know it would have not made a difference in how finished, the bike was not the limiting factor. Why spend good money on a cross bike to race when the breakage rate is so high in cx racing is my opinion for myself.


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## Soundtallica

Don't let the flat top tube fool you. The Tricross is not in any way a cyclocross bike. Its chainstays are a whopping 440mm, which is as long as my touring bike!


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