Tripster ATR finally built up – lush!

I decided to go for the Tortec Epic in stainless steel. It won’t be a permanent fitting on the bike, just as and when I need to carry a load (have a clunky hybrid for day to day stuff, also fitted with a Tortec rack).

Has anyone fitted PDW guards to the new carbon tripster ATR straight fork?

There doesn’t seem to be enough clearance on the drive side to connect the safety tab to the fork…the threading for the thru axle protrudes slightly. Unless I’m doing something spectacularly wrong…

It looks like the PDW tabs have quite a bit more material between the bolt hole and the end of the tab, whereas a SKS Secuclip, for example, has only about 2mm of material.

One possible solution might be to place a plastic spacer, like these, between the eyelet and the tab. Those spacers are also useful if you need to move the tab away from the eyelet to avoid the disc brake caliper fouling the mudguard stay.

great idea, cheers

I Have a Tubus Airy Ti rack on mine, I couldnt bring myself to put anything but a Ti Rack on a Ti Frame……

But I`m a tart like that 😀

The Tortec Epic Stainless steel rack was a big disappointment, very poorly finished, sent it back

I know it was asked on the previous page, but I’m also interested to hear thoughts on running 650b wheels on the Tripster. My v1 is quite happy on it’s 700c hoops, but I’d be keen to know of alternatives and how they fit / perform etc.
cheers.

This continues to be the go to source for all things Tripster ATR, so I’ll ask here. I’m just starting to build up an ATR V2 and I’m still not sure on sizing. I’ve bought a 54cm and still have anxiety about whether I’ve bought the correct size. I’m a dyed in the wool roadie but have been riding some gravel lately (hardpack, firetrail, non technical stuff). I’ve also been doing some touring and wanted this to be more capable off road than my current gravel/touring/bikepacking bike (54cm van Nicholas Yukon(2012)). At 173cm (5’8″), inseam 79cm (31″), and an ape index of +7cm (3″), have I got the size right? I know I won’t have all that much post showing (making saddlebag placement more tricky) and the front end will be significantly higher than my Yukon, but the thought of losing frame bag size inside the front triangle and having spacers and a longer stem, steered me to the 54cm. Using various online comparators and frame geometry calculators it seems that by going with a 90mm slammed stem I should have 1″ less effective reach and 1″ more effective stack which actually sounds great. Does anyone of my proportions have experience with this size?

johnpeopleman, you are close to the bottom of Kinesis’ (new) suggested height for a 54cm, and I suspect you probably could get a 51cm to fit you. As to which is likely to be the better fit, I think that really depends on the rider, their own personal preferences, and the use/style of riding. I think if you were looking for a bike to match an aggressive road racing set up on the road, then smaller might be better, but for touring/bikepacking etc. I suspect the 54cm may be the better bet.

the front end will be significantly higher than my Yukon

In my case, despite being at the top of the new suggested heights for my V1 54cm frame, I found that the bars with supplied stem were still significantly higher than my other bikes. I ended up switching to a 17 degree stem (Bontrager Elite 17 degree) flipped over (so it is virtually horizontal) to get the bars at the height I wanted. So that might be an option for you, if after building it up and riding it for a while you do find that the front end is too high on the 54cm. I used this website to work out what the effect would be of different stem lengths, rises and amount of spacers, in order to determine which stem to buy.

If you ride mostly on the hoods, changing the position of the levers on the bars can also have a significant impact on the effective height of the front end as it were, so you could just use electrical tape to secure the cables to the bars to begin with, and experiment with moving the levers before taping the bars

I’m not really wanting it to bomb single track but rather, as you say, a bikepacking and touring rig. I think I’ll be happy with the 54cm. I’ve always used 110mm -6deg stems but the geometry on the front end being so slack looks like a 90mm would be a better option. I’ve got a 6deg and 17deg on order and I’ll see which one I’m happy with.

I’m still debating on a fork. With the Kinesis flat mount forks (both have 45mm offset) the trail figure for 35mm tyres is 76mm. That seems huge! Do people find it difficult to work with? The Seven Cycles Matador has a 55mm rake which reins in that trail to a still long but manageable 68mm. I usually get a lot of toe overlap (part of the reason I chose the larger frame and that extra bit of rake seems like it would be nice.

Has anyone drilled their V1 frame for internal Di2 routing?

I’ve got externally mounted Di2 at the moment (seatpost battery in downtube/bottle cage MTB mount etc) but wondering if I can tidy it up.

2.5 years, 7000km later and I’m still loving my Tripster.
It’s the longest I’ve ever owned a bike, with no plans to move it on, probably ever.

The hype is justified: it’s still a great looking machine, that somehow does do everything well.
It’s my daily commuter, backup road bike, gravel weapon, CX 2nd-bike… only thing left to do is bikepacking which I’m planning on early next year. Maybe a gravel marathon race too!

@atrthanks: Get on with it, it’ll be grand! Just keep the holes away from the weld heat zone. Something like this: https://www.ticycles.com/retrofit-di2-eps/

[/]Has anyone drilled their V1 frame for internal Di2 routing?

Yep drilled my frame 3 years ago has (touch wood) had no problems so far, did speak with upgrade before doing it and was told would void the warranty. But in my opinion was worth doing. Just use carbide drill bits lots of lube and low speed drill. I put one hole on right side down tube 1 on front right side of seat tube and expanded the breather hole on rear drop out. Dc

I’m 5’11 and a bit, currently using a 58cm Saracen Hack with a 60mm stem, Ive never had a drop bar bike before but im sure its too big yet I’m in the range of the height recommendations. I’m looking for something new and there’s a 54cm Tripster going. There is 10mm or so off a few of the measurements and I’m a few cm over the 178 recommended limit. Anyone have a sizing opinion? I just commute on it, do a few hours on local forest track /fireroads. I don’t like the stretchy feeling of normal road bikes but do appreciate the hoods and drop bars.

there’s a 54cm Tripster going

It would help if you clarified what you mean by this (used/new, frame only/built up etc.). I presume from your post that you are not able to get a test ride or even sit on it to see how the size feels.

If it’s a used frame or complete bike (or a new built up bike), one of the things I would check is how much of the steerer had been cut off. In other words, if the stem has been slammed and the steerer cut so low that the stem cannot be raised and spacers inserted (up to the maximum of 30mm advised by Kinesis for its carbon forks), then given your height and your comment about not liking ‘the stretchy feeling of normal road bikes’ I would be wary of choosing a 54cm without a test ride.

That said, a stem with more rise would be another way to raise handlebar height if you could not insert (more) spacers. Moreover, you might prefer a 54cm because it also has a slightly shorter top tube than the next size up, and therefore the horizontal reach forward will be less for a given stem length.

Slowster, 2nd hand but not built up, don’t think the steerer has been cut.

54cm is too small.

I’m 5ft 10 with a 54cm Tripster V1.

I run a 110mm stem as a shorter stem makes it too short, and I believe it was designed for a 70mm stem.

With the slacker head angle the steering does feel slow and I didn’t like it with 33 tyres, but I now run 40mm tyres and whereas it is still a little slow on road, it is nicely stable off road and I am very happy with it.

But I think overall it would be better with a shorter stem, but the 55cm actually seems to have less reach so that wasn’t an option.

As you are taller than me I think you will find the same thing or more so.

Ok cheers, I’ll keep looking.

Where are you based, scruff? Maybe there’s someone on here with a 54 that’d let you try it. Similar to the above, I’m 5’10” and have a 54, mine has a 100mm stem and is spot on.

South Staffs.

Bit far from me

maybe my stem is 100 on 2nd thoughts.

Wanted: Tripster ATR V1 57cm frameset.

Anything out there? South east/Surrey/London preferrable.

Cheers.

If you have no luck I’m splitting my Saracen Hack, 56/58 cm, frame forks, shimano wheels & tiagra 4700 2x10drivetrain. Email in profile

Hi, did anyone in this forum tried to put a front suspension fork on the Tripster (V1)? I think Kinesis wouldn’t recommend it, but what would be in your opinion the problem with that change (if any)?

Regards,

Antonella

@scruff. Do you still need to try a 54cm Tripster? I’m in Cheshire and happy to ride out / meet up if it helps? 5’ 11” on a 54cm V1 here…

Thanks but I bagged CRC’s last 2017 NS RAG+ (54 & fits nice)

Hi all, newbie here. Great thread you have going on here. Im sooooo tempted myself with a tripster atr. Originally I was looking at the tripster AT as a one bike does all rig. I have a canyon Grand Canyon that I hardly use and can do away with several of my road bikes making more room in the shed. Once I saw the titanium atr I was taken.

So far freeborn cycles seem to have the best price and they seem to have good feedback here, as I’ve seen them mentioned many times. Also I’m 5ft9 and ride kinesis race light t3 in 54cm so I’m thinking the 54 tripster should be spot on. I would be interested in the view of others. Thanks in advance.

wow. Amazing thread. I realised this week that the  1 dropout on my chinese carbon cross bike is bent so frame might be a right off 🙁

Have always rode my commute on a few bikes – mtb with no guards, cross race bike with mudguards and rack that attaches to the seatpost and axle and road bike with raceblades.. so basically not the best set up so now i’m thinking the tripster could be the bike to replace this. Rack mounts, mudguards and the ability to go anywhere.

I actually have a 56 road bike (100mm stem)  and 56 cross bike (90mm stem) but tbh the top tube feels just a tad too long on both so wondering if i need a 54. I’m 5’9″ with 32″ inside leg. Used to have a 54 crosslight pro 3.

Just saw this video on the kinesis website and brought a tear to my eye

(ah embed works automatically)

54 will be the best fit for you I reckon, trickydisco.  I’m around 5’10 and happy with my 54 (V1). 57 is next size up, I believe.

They recently introduced a 55.5 although looking at the recommended height i would be 54.

Fairlight have an interesting looking adventure type bike coming out :

SECAN DEPOSIT

They recently introduced a 55.5

Oh yeah, apologies.

Thanks for the Di2 advice. In the end i got Enigma to drill the frame for me, then my LBS re-did the wiring.

It looks so much better than external Di2, very neat.

The psychosomatic effect is in full swing. Took 3 1/2 hours to ride London-Brighton this morning while testing everything out.

Terrible, terrible potholes but pretty good for checking all the cables are properly connected!

what a wonderful thread this is – am looking for a 54cm frame only or fully built Tripster if anyone is looking to sell…

Done with TTing for another year, so I’ve swapped the Schwalbe Pro Ones for some 40mm Vee Rails. Taking a quick break in the shade on my way to the south downs way.

It hasn’t changed the feel of the bike as much as I expected, although I’m into the little ring a bit earlier on hills it still comfortably belts along at 20mph on the flat.

This is what enigma’s Di2 drilling looks like…

View this post on Instagram

Build of the week @kinesisbikes_uk #tripsterATR XT Di2, Reynolds 650b carbon wheels, Ritchey finishing kit OMG this baby rides like a dream! #gravelbike

A post shared by The Cycle Studio (@thecyclestudioredditch) on Jun 9, 2018 at 7:52am PDT