It does feel from the ride that bike is made for tyres that big.

I have some 42c Contis to try yet, but I will wait to get some use out of the Stans I put it.

I liked the rise on the 32c cross wolfs. Just nae use for 50 km each day on the road…

I forgot to say thanks to whoever mentioned the WTB Nanos in this thread earlier…

Finally got some pics today with 50mm guards and tub us rack fitted

And with an ortlieb back roller fitted (this is a 51cm frame too)

Looks like the Tubus Airy is the rack of choice to fit for the Tripster, quite right too as it’d be a shame to fit a chromoly rack to a TI bike 😉 . Those Back Roller panniers look massive on the bike, you could dispose of a body inside them – do they sit ok on the rack? – i was advised to use the Front Rollers with my Airy.

Being a tart I removed all the decals from my Tripster frame today with wilko’s paint remover and a sponge backed scourer pad with soapy water, i then gave it a buff with a fine grade scotchbrite pad and soapy water, now it looks far better and it quells my irrational hatred of stickers and decals on my bikes.

The only decal i left was the ring decal at the bottom of the head tube.

Yeah they sit fine, I never load them up fully anyway, I have a cargo bike for shopping 😀

It’s just for lunch / clothes etc if needed

I’ve heard a lot recently about cargo bikes, if i lived in a city i’d like to think i’d own one ( i listen to the sprocket podcast and others from the portland area) , are they really as practical as folk make out or do you have be evangelical about them?, any pics?

are they really as practical as folk make out or do you have be evangelical about them?

…not when they have wide bars and a big cage on the front and the camp Business Analyst whose brother bought it for him insists on riding it in and parking it in the same tight corridor where everyone else has to park, blocks access for everyone and damages the walls as it is so big, and then the landlord bans bikes totally…

Sounds like the camp business analyst would be be a dick no matter what he rode

Slight hijack, but I’m enjoying your thread no end.

I’ve just bought some Clement X’Plor MSO 40C’s for my Giant Adv CX’er, intention during the grim winter days is to do some longer distance gravel/fire track/farmers roads and just wondering if any of you lot have tried/thought about using these on your Tripsters…

I’ll let you know how I get on with them, think some of you might be interested in them for your bikes.. 😀

Somafunk, quite a few threads on here about cargo bikes. A few Big Dummy, Xtracycle and Kona Ute owners do post. Did this thread a while back.

A mate of mine has the clement x’plor.

(That’s the end of the story, BTW…)

DrP

I have 32c clement x’plors on my charge filter. They have been a great on/off road compromise over the summer offering good low rolling resistance on road and a nice confidence inspiring grip on gravel and gritty sand/ hard dirt. They’re are actually not too bad in mud although I’m thinking of looking for something with a bit more volume and “knobble” for the winter. Sometimes they feel a little skittery on off camber especially if there are rocks although it’s my first foray into cx bikes so I’m not sure how much of that is just riding on drops with small tires and a rigid fork!

I’ve ran the Clement XPlors mso 40mm (along with Clement xplor USH 35mm and Clement strada lgg’s 28mm) for the past 18 months and i’ve raved about them throughout this thread, they are all fantastic tyres in my opinion and the mso’s are great – very low rolling resistance yet super grippy when banked over on trails due to the flexible nubs of the tread.

They wear quite well too which is a bonus, they are rather expensive but i’ll put up with that for the 120tpi supple carcass and variable tread compounds.

What’s the difference between the mso and the ush?

Excellent, a good choice then ! 😀

X’Plor USH here

X’Plor MSO here

On the US based gravel/adventure bike websites and blogs you get the usual tyre reviews and Clements of every variety seem to be a favoured choice of many, the Clement name is reproduced under licence and i’d like to know who produces them.

I think i’m going to try a set of the new Hutchinson Sectors (tubeless) for my new wheel set though, i’ll donate my Strada’s to my bro’s alloy tripster.

Has anyone had front end creaks on their frame? It was driving me potty. I stripped down and regressed the headset twice and almost gave up on a solution until I realised it was the front qr. As tightening it up stupidly tight was the only way to stop it, I ditched it for an Ultegra. Normal service was resumed! Popped an XTR on the back for good measure. 😀

I did have an initial problem with the wheel skewers on my bike coming loose (or so i thought), it turned out to be the little spring that sits on the skewer was going into the hollow axle and locking in place giving a false positive closure when closing the skewer, sometimes the skewer would be so tight on initial closure that it would leave an imprint on the palm of my hand thus leading me to believe it was securely closed but after a few hundred yards and bumps on the road the spring rattled loose and the wheel would fall out if you picked the bike up.

I dunno if this was because of undersized skewer shafts, oversized hollow axles or dodgy skewer springs but i always double checked once i realised this.

I now use Paul Components skewers but sometimes still had* the same issue where the skewer spring slotted into/up the hollow axle.

* – I have different wheels now (son 28 dynamo hub front/CK R45 rear)

Sanny – I had the most horrendous creaks a while back. Stripped the whole drive train down, took the pedals apart, still made a (very embarrassing) racket. Turned out to be the rear qr…

On the tyre front – I do think the Tripster likes a big tyre. I graduated from 25 to 28 to 40 then flirted with 42 but couldn’t get them under the guards (unsurprisingly!) then the 37mm Travel Contacts which are superb and have seen me through the end of summer playing on the gravel and into the shite of autumn roads. I’ve just taken delivery of some 32mm Duranos, the thinking being I’ll sack off the offroad stuff ’til spring (well, maybe the odd frosty one in a few weeks time…) and get back into razzing around the lanes. Plus I’ve not had a 32 on there yet…

cr500dom – looking good! 🙂

😆 The creaking has driven me mad… even bought a new BB

*scuttles off to shed to take that stupid lightweight bling rear Ti Skewer off.

Can anyone tell me the length of the Tripster ATR fork? – DIrect measurement from centre of axle to top of fork (rather than virtual in-line with the head tube). I’m trying to work out if a 57 or 60 would be a better fit for me.

I think I could replicate my road position using a -8 stem on the 57, and a -17on the 60. But I want to be sure I’ve got my calculations correct.

I’d like to have the option to run my road position when I’m putting in longer winter miles and the majority of my commuting, and then go less aggressive when I put knobblies on.

Also, does anyone with a size 57 have any toe overlap? I think I calculate the front-centre to be 623mm, which I’m guessing should be clear even with guards.

Thanks in advance. 🙂

From centre of axle to top of fork where crown race sits is 397mm, my Tripster is stripped down at the moment so Its an accurate measurement, measurement to top of the crown race is 400mm.

Awesome. Thanks.

I’d been using 400, so that’s perfect.

Now just to decide what to order. 🙂

I think I’ll start ordering the build kit and try a few positions out on my temporary bike (the chainstay rusted through on my old commuter/trainer) with the stems and spacers I have lying around at home.

I should really go on fit alone, but I think the 60 looks a bit lanky and unwieldy – Which people would probably say about me, so maybe it’s not all bad! 😉

I’m unsure about replicating your exact road position from your road bike as the tripsters geometry and steering response will be different from whatever road bike you currently ride, whereabouts in the country are you as there’s a few folk who’ve posted on this thread with 57cm tripsters, I’m sure they’d offer you a quick test ride to check out positions.

I was initially thinking that a 57 would have been better for me because of the slacker HA, rather than my 54.

However I am now not so sure as the standover would have been much tighter and the steering doesn’t seem so slow now with the bigger tyres.

As I have Hope hubs I have been running 9mm and 10mm DT RWS Skewers from the start, especially when I saw someone mention brake judder on the front fork.

I was impressed again with the Spyre SL brakes and their lack of squealing – does anyone know what the OEM pads are ?

@somafunk – Thanks. I realise that the HA is much slacker, and running a longish stem would mean to steering is quite slow. But I found this blog – http://danguestcoaching.wordpress.com/tag/decade-tripster-atr/ – and the guy said the handling is fine with a -17/130. And that’s on a tiny frame, so the hoods will probably be out past the front axle.

I wouldn’t necessarily run that position all the time, but I’d like to be able to get it, otherwise I get a really sore back and neck when getting back on the race bike after the winter.

I’ve calculated that running a -10/120 on the standard headset cone will put me the position I’m used to. I’ve also got a +17/120 that I’m going to put on my temp bike today to test out the position I’d have if I ran a +6/120 on the Tripster. I think that should give me an idea if it’s right or not.

mine has a 110mm stem at -6, or maybe -5, and the steering feels perfect with the big tyres, felt a little sluggish with 33c for some reason.

What’s the mud guard of choice for the tripster. Looked at the sks chromoplastic but was thinking of the Portland design one. Just wary of the ends of the Portland one regarding the caliper clearance.

Enough chat…I’m off to have a blast about on the hills in the rain on mine!

I think that if i get the time this weekend, I’m going to go tubeless.
Just to decide if I stick the WTBs (32c) or the Conti 42c on there…

DrP

moonwrasse : I did have the sks chromoplastics fitted previously but i have a set of the Portland Design Works to go on when i rebuild my Tripster, It should be back together by next weekend so i’ll post up pics etc.

Thanks.

I run quite a road position on mine, i replaced the 15mm spacer for a 7mm and fitted a -10 stem.

Since this pic it now has 11spd 105 drive train and ultegra shifters, didnt go full ultegra because of the miles it does and its main role is a commuter. The bb died on the FSA cranks after 1600miles.

The original skewers on mine also creaked, replaced with hopes.

buzz – how are your hubs holding out / wheelset in general ?

it now has 11spd 105 drive train

how is the clearance between the bolt arm of the front mech and the tyre ?

I ask as it’s looking a bit tight on the new Arkose 4 and Croix de Fer 30 which also have new 105 11 speed

Looks great. 🙂

Be careful running a single pannier on 28 spoke wheels, the uneven loading puts it under a lot of stress.

@Tlr, I had to change the freehub body to a 11speed and when free wheeling now I roll forever. The old freehub had hardly any grease and was noticeably marked from rubbing the hub, need to keep an eye on it. The hubs themselves seem fine, bearings still lovely and smooth. Had to tru the rear about 3 times at first but its settled down now and stayed tru for ages.

@iainc don’t know! Kept the 10 spd front mechanical.

@Matt, only very light loads thanks.

How do these CX disc wheels hold up for commuting?? They appear to be back in stock at Wiggle, but i’m concerned about the seemingly low weight and alloy nipples through the salty winter roads.

I’ll be doing a bit of everything on the bike too, light touring, road rides, bit of off-road etc..

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/kinesis-crosslight-disc-v3-roadcx-wheelset/

Horatio, I’ve commuted about 3500km on mine, no dramas and my hubs are silky smooth, just pulled em apart last weekend to clean check and re lube.