I’m tempted to try these tubeless, but at the mo I’ve just the one set of wheels and will likely swap between Cx and road tyres….

Drp – looking forward to riding the SDW with Hummerlicious tomorrow!

Just remember, go easy on me!

Well this took a long long time. Fitted P35 chromoplastics and a Tubus Airy Rack. Alot of trial and error getting the rack and guards stays nicely round the calipers.

Fitted the rear guards directly to the rack so i can take both off together with just 4 bolts and get the knobbies back on. The bike will mainly serve me for my 44 round trip commute which i do 3 or 4 times a week so it will stay like this the majority of the time.

Still to cut the steerer, I want to drop the bars more but i still cant find a small top cap cone spacer.

Looking very nice, Buzz! Similar setup to mine – and one that mine’s stayed in for the last year. Seeing as tomorrow marks the anniversary I picked the frame up from the bike shop, I’ve stuck some semi-knobblies on and am taking it for some gravel fun first thing! I shall report back at using it *properly* 🙂

Buzz. Where did you get the front fork bolt from ? Mine is too short out the sks pack.
I also had to drill the rear guard to mount to the bridge stay.
Any tips from sks users appreciated !

I used a sunken caliper nut and then what i think was a long disc caliper bolt from my spares box:

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/shimano-caliper-brake-sunken-nut/rp-prod17557

Yep – I defo needed a longer bolt and the sunken nut on my Chromoplastics. Drilling the rear guard just reduces the amount of fixings required. Actually – just found Dom’s advice when I was maithering him this time last year on my build:

The threaded hole is there so you can throw away the horrible rattly clip forever. Just get the ‘guard all set up and bolted to the c.stay bridge and then mark the position of the s.stay bridge hole [without a wheel in] with a marker pen and drill a 4mm hole so you can bolt the ‘guard up from underneath. Quiet, secure mudguard!

Unsurprisingly, it works a treat!

Em just rode a zillion miles in not long on hers.

And 206 miles later. With a castle and everything! With @mtbhuw http://t.co/pPSmmT7xGH

— Emma Osenton (@waterrat77) July 12, 2014

Long drop brakes don’t mean slow bikes!

brant – what you on about ?

anyway, that was a pain in the ar$e.

the disc calipers foul both front and rear SKS stays and as described previously, some manipulation in a vice required !

anyway, they’re fitted and aint rubbing, so should be good to go.

my only criticism is the front hovers high above the front wheel and the rear at the seat tube has a bit too much clearance.

not convinced i’ve done it 100% but i’ll tinker next weekend.

OK… first time in over 3,500 miles and the Tripster’s got some knobblies on. I’d planned a much longer ride, but the persistent rain when I got up and putting the Adventure into ATR on the first offroad bit meant the ride was only about 2 1/2 hours – however… I feel like I’ve got a new bike 🙂

The new tyres are 40c Schwalbe Land Cruisers – so night and day compared to the 25c Gatorskins I took off, but the bike feels incredible with them on. I’m sure there are vastly more sophisticated semi knobbly tyres than these, but the centre tread appealed (as did the price, seeing as it was a 4pm whim yesterday). OK, I’ve added a chunk to the weight of the bike, but I was very surprised how willing they were on the road and, bar out of the saddle climbing on damp surfaces, they never once gave up their grip.

I had a route in mind, that took me a up a previously unexplored valley, which started off fine – perfect gravel (yawn) road surface, the huge bonus of startling a massive deer that jumped the fence (and the track!) about 15 yards in front of me and woke me from my serenity – then led to hike a bike, stream crossings and waist high wet undergrowth. Still – it got me to the start of the route over the top of Wincle Minn (pic) and that’s perfect Tripster territory. Part surfaced, part loose, epic views and a road/track that just winds out along the ridge in front of you. One of my favourite places to ride.

Quick bit of main road, then back onto the lanes, climbing up the Cloud then another unexplored byway that would have been mighty fun on the mountain bike – red sand to start, then as the descent began it turned into a mix of rocks and roots and mud for a good 10 or more minutes. Back on the lanes again, a bit of A road, more quiet lanes and back through town. I threw in some cobbles at the start too, so reckon apart from snow and ice, I rode on just about everything else!

The bike’s like a magic carpet with the high volume tyres on. Still loads of clearance, still surprisingly fast and an absolute hoot off road. Thanks everyone for the inspiration to give it a try in this mode. Shame it took me a year to suss it out!

I’ll stick the new 28c GP4 Seasons on soon, but think I might just do the commute with these tractor tyres and see how it goes…

nice write up GTTH.

i took mine for an on / off road 25km / 1hr blast to confirm the guards are set. they are 🙂

i think i will stick with the gravel kings until the weather turns then put the crosswolfs back on for winter service.

the bike rides almost as fast as my “sunday best” but it’s adaptability is superb. loving it !

please stop posting pics of this bike…..my finger is poised to buy either a tripster or a fargo……and the tripster is 1k more expensive. ;o)

Em just rode a zillion miles in not long on hers.

And 206 miles later. With a castle and everything! With @mtbhuw http://t.co/pPSmmT7xGH

— Emma Osenton (@waterrat77) July 12, 2014

Long drop brakes don’t mean slow bikes!

I think someone should check Brant’s ok.

after hours of fafffing wi’t guards :

[/url]IMAG0391 by the_lecht_rocks, on Flickr[/img]

Hey gonetothehills, glad you like the Landcruisers, my absolute favourite tyre, yes they’re a bit heavy but for mix of road and rough stuff they’re unbeatable and I’ve never felt the weight climbing. Haven’t had a puncture in a year yet and traction is incredible, makes you feel really planted. Weirdly they seem to get better once they’re worn in a bit which I don’t understand. Tried the 47mm as well which is even better, but not tried it in the front of the Tripster, may just fit but clearance would be really tight…?

blimey – perhaps i should stick with the crosswolfs 🙂

Birdage – I reckon they’d go (if you’ve not got mudguards on) – there’s loads of room out front by the looks of it!

Ton – remember that chat we had in the car park at the services on the m62? You know – about just getting out riding, just for the hell of it. Going where you want, when you want… You were just off on your tour if I remember rightly (I had a week in the office planned…) I recall feeling very envious at the time! It’s right up your street – you’ll have a great time on one.

TLR – the faffing will pay off. A quiet bike is a happy bike (and rider!) Looks mighty fine too 🙂

gonetothehills…..i am sat here trying to justify buying one.

i dont drive to work, never have in 32yrs, i ride a bike to work every day, i ride it on errands on a weekend, and also for pleasure.
if i were to drive, even a banger for work would cost me 2k to buy and run for a year……all to do something i would hate.

no brainer really.

are they only available as a frameset? i fancy a fullbuild with some low spinning tripple gears.
who offers full builds.

http://www.freeborn.co.uk/kinesis-tripster-atr

Well, Hummerlicious and I did our fairly big ride yesterday and had a whale of a time!
About half the SDW, then peeled off for some road miles I order to get this month’s grand fondo!

All written up in my blog – too much to transfer to this thread, but gives a good idea of what this bike can take on!
http://www.drpidgeon.co.uk/blog/tripster-time

DrP

TLR, yup much faffing on the front, used a vice and some molegrips. Im also not happy with how much the front guard sticks up, ive got some metal brackets to make up an extender to get the guard lower.

I made up some spacers out of old TF tuned nylon shock bushing to get the rear guard closer, worked a treat.

I have to say that the Tripster is one lovely looking bike! Some nice builds there and plenty of happy people. 8)

As a matter of interest, how much do they weigh? Anyone use one purely on the road?

Have fun guys. 😀

19lbs w/o guards is mine with ultegra compact and kinesis build kit.

the_lecht_rocks – thank you but is that with slicks?

buzz – much neater than mine but mine works perfect so thats ok.

drp – great blog write up 🙂

are they only available as a frameset? i fancy a fullbuild with some low spinning tripple gears.
who offers full builds.

Isn’t the full build, rather than the frame, on offer at the mo? Will probably work out cheaper, relatively speaking, to get the full build and change the rings/chainset/cassette (delete as applicable).

cinny girl – with gravel king 28c and ultegra compact chainset.

jamie is right – i went for the £1809 ful build and changed chainset, cassette and chain as well as tyres. tyres supplied will do in winter perhaps.

t_l_r – thanks. 🙂

cinny – are you fancying one ?

t_l_r – mmmmmmm, I have a Ti hardtail that’s my favourite bike ever and so comfy, totally sold on Ti. Would love a Ti for the road, currently using a CdF which is great with bomb-proof wheels on pot-holed roads. Would the Tripster have that ‘sure-footed’ feeling that the CdF does?

Edit: would never use off road.

Not sure about the cdf but the tripster can handle it all. Road, gravel, mtb and fire road .. The ultimate do it all……….?

Cinny how heavy is you’re cdf ?

big shout that TLR. i wouldnt fancy riding such a bike down a lakeland descent.

Ton – my thoughts (on the using it every day thing) exactly. How much per day to stay fit and enjoy yourself…?

CG – up until today (my Tripster’s 1st birthday…) it’s only really done roads, lanes, tracks and the odd bit of gravel. With some chunky tyres on it loved the stuff I did today. I think I prefer 28c tyres to the thinner 25s that I’d been running through the summer, but if there’s a 32 or 38c slick, then I’d look at that too. The 40c Land Cruisers were surprisingly good and oh so comfy on and off the road! It’s a hugely capable road bike, super commuter, winter trainer, pinging around the Strava segments – or whatever you throw at it!

With Ultegra 6700, CX disc wheels, 25c tyres, high end Ritchey carbon post and bars, TRP Spyres, Time carbon/ti pedals mine (54cm) was around 18lbs I think. The guards add about a pound, the chunky tyres at least that again!

Ton. It’s not a mountain bike. It’s a do it all bike with limitations……not many though……

Cinny how heavy is you’re cdf ?

Heavier than my Ti hardtail and I’ve had a triple put on. Probably around 22 lbs but it doesn’t feel heavy to ride. It rolls along nicely on Conti 32’s although I had thought of changing the fork.

gonetothehills – you certainly sound happy with yours! 18lbs is pretty good but you’ve put some lightweight kit on there.

#rumbled… Yes, I did put some quite nice bits on – but I felt it warranted it. It’s my only road bike, so why not have something that feels a real treat… Irrespective of it being a Sunday best or commuter, winter trainer or sportive ride, it always feels special. And selling the carbon road bike left me some cash to wisely invest 🙂

I suspect that even a stock build would feel pretty sweet (and be pretty light) too – the secret’s in the frame and I’ve said it before, I don’t quite know how it works so well! I’ve had a few Ti frames and to be honest, this knocks the socks off the others – Litespeed road, couple of Ti hardtails, let alone the carbon frames. The carbon fork on the Tripster is spot on. I’d imagine that would make quite a difference compared to a steel one on bikes like the CDF.

I don’t quite know how it works so well! I’ve had a few Ti frames and to be honest, this knocks the socks off the others – Litespeed road, couple of Ti hardtails, let alone the carbon frames. The carbon fork on the Tripster is spot on.

That’s interesting, I’ve a Litespeed hardtail (with matching seat post) and it’s the comfiest bike I’ve ever ridden. A Litespeed Ti (road) racer would have been fab but didn’t have sufficiently deep pockets!

It’s been fun dreaming, I can’t justify it. 😀

Are there any shops in the South that have the Tripster on display? Have phoned one dealer in the New Forest but no luck.

Failing that, is there anyone in Hampshire or surrounds who would permit me a peek? In an ideal world I’d like to sit on a 51.

Thanks. 🙂