The Specialized Tricross has been a phenomenon; every body knows about it, has had one, has a friend with one or wants one. We like most other shops struggle to keep them in stock. Why? Because they are such a damn good 'ALL ROUNDER'. They can do a bit of everything, maybe not individually as well as a more specifically focused cycles like out and out CycleCross bikes, MTB's or Tourer's, but as far as being a very competent Jack of all Trades they are incredibly hard to beat. Ok, we are biased, because we sell them, but talking to our customers who have bought literally hundreds of them over the last four years, customers who have lived with them, loved them and come back for more, even if we are wrong about them, our customers are not. Couple this with the sheer number of manufacturers who having recognized the amounts of TRICROSS's being sold that have hastily brought their own versions into a market that pre-TRICROSS just did not exist. Should tell you something!
So when an apparently well informed publication criticizes the Tricross for having a too long wheel base, slack head angle, long chainstays, a big fork rake, and a too wide a range of gears using a triple chain set, and in the same paragraph questions who Specialized has aimed the bike at, you would think that anyone with a modicum of insight and investigative prowess would spot the rack mounts front and rear, full mudguard clearance and fittings, additional cruising brake levers high front end and worked that one out for themselves.
THE CROSS IN TRICROSS IS FOR CROSSOVER NOT CYCLE CROSS.
For a more balanced review from Bike Magic who seem to 'GET IT' check out this relating to the original bike.
http://www.bikemagic.com/news/article/mps/uan/4603
Hopefully most people will recognize that the 'test' in question has pitched the bike into a category for which it's just not intended, although the reviewers actually manage to spot this for themselves in the review's first sentence, rendering their own question in the last sentence of their review redundant and ridiculous.
We know that the TRICROSS is not ‘perfect’, there are sometimes issues with its brakes causing fork judder, this has been well documented and is not uncommon on any bike with this set up. We have as many customers for whom this has been a problem as we have those who have had no issue with the brakes/forks at all.
As far as the Shimano 2300 shifters are concerned, they work and bring the cost of a TRICROSS down to a level where it is more affordable and acceptable to a wider audience. No bad thing for such a good bike.
From our perspective and many of our customers' the TRICROSS is a stand out bike, please don’t let this review jade your perspective of it.
