My airnimal joey is about 11kg. Hooks nicely on my shoulder when having to go up stairs and weight distribution us balanced. I’ve built it in a number of configurations from sealed hub to deraillieurs and straight bars to drops. on road and off. Are you getting how much I like it. check the airnimal group Facebook pages out.
I’ve used my airnimal joey on a fully loaded tour with my tent and a travelling guitar! Great to ride all day and easy to take on train. Cause of the fold, front fork swings under back wheel, I find it easier with a seat post rack and rack carrier with side panniers, also avoids any heel rub. Also use low riders. Love my Joey.
My tricross went everwhere my mates mountain bikes went, Friston and Stanmer and was never out performed. Road bits obviously more fun. Only things that convinced me to get a rigid 29er was the occasional surprise root and hole that threw me off and tiredness from very bumpy rides.
Worked on mine with 8 speed chain but I can’t remember if I used with 1/8 inch chain. Sorry. Found the Rohloff surprisingly not to be any better than the Alfine apart from looks and weight.
You don’t need to go with bar end shifters on the Cross. Pretty much any configuration you like. Got race blades and slicks on mine for commute and cyclo cross wheelset for fun. What’s not to like?
Never used suspension forks so don’t know what I’m missing but given the amount of time my friends spend fretting about amount of travel and scratches on shiny bits I’m happy in my ignorance.
Only time I wish for more damping is over hard packed ridged terrain. Swapped the singular fork to exotic carbon which feels better to me through twisty stuff but not as much contact.
They do seem to be taking longer than they used to and Merlin are good but all this buying stuff! I’ve become the consumer I despise. How can such a simple, low carbon form of transport cost so much?
Duranos all year round have served me well. Tough and used on both 520 and 700c sizes. Slicks make me ride more itelligently in the wet too, off-road ones instill a false confidence. Seem to remember some Tricross riders on a forum complaining about Boroughs. After I got 3 punctures in 3 rides on mine I swapped to Travel Contact and never had another problem.
In Lewes and regularly ride Stanmer and Friston. Haven’t had a problem with Racing Ralphs on my Swift so far but have just swapped out the rear with a narrower Ignitor. Hell getting the RR off and bit worried now about thorn punctures and having the same kind of struggle in the cold. Nearly broke my tyre levers. Should I go tubeless and is it difficult to do for a novice? Never worried about punctures with the Cross bike.
As long as the wool they used has not been obtained through ‘Mulesing’. This is where the lamb has its backside scalped. There are more ethical ways to do this and hopefully On One pursue this with their suppliers? I would presume (perhaps unfairly) that as with most consumer items, the cheaper they are the less people give a damn.
Just get it. My single speed Cross overtakes most stuff on the road and just feels right in the way steel does. Love it over distance and in traffic. Yes it makes you smile and I haven’t even put anything wider than 25mm on it yet!
Found out my tricross could handle a lot of off road but had limits and was mostly seat of pants riding. That’s why I got the swift. Love both but more different than I’d imagined. Tricross is faster over trails but depends on avoidance tactics and is better on the road. Swift takes on anything, has taken me new places and is kinder to my body. Difficult to compare ali and steel though. Don’t feel as confident about doing multi-day tours on the swift but have no basis for this.
Duranos for me. Fast and one pinch puncture in 14 months. Grip well in all conditions. I ride everyday. Gatorskins seemed heavier and slipped out from under me in some wet and also morning frost conditions. Never felt confident with them after that.
As someone who advises people on this and doesn’t make money from it yes if you have the money and a south facing roof. At a minimum. Call your Council in the first instance, get 3 quotes, look for local MCS accredited installers and do it before April. Think about how long you are going to be on your property and use energy smartly, I.e. using electricity when the sun shines. Yes you can make money now but reducing your emissions should be the motivation in my opinion. Probably better to insulate and sort out efficient water and space heating in the first instance.
My commute is 3 minutes or 5 if the ducks cause a traffic jam. So I take the long way round about 30 road or off road. Different route each time. I’m happier and nicer to the ducks as a result.
Got all these brakes on different bikes. Had no problems with any and noticed no particular difference in them. Adapt and survive. Prefer salmon koolstops on tektro 720s for fiddle-free operation, no problem in wet. BB7s scream like banshees in the wet. Good advance warning but is there any way of stopping this?
Regularly using them on a Tricross, road and trail with no problems at all. More hand positions so you’re shifting around all the time over distance anyway though I tend to be on the hoods most of the time. Only really on drops downhill. Had them on my Swift and then changed to J bars. Thinking of swapping back.
32:19 on my swift gets me up anything Southdowns Lewes way but was a bit spinny on the flats. 32:18 is a better compromise but noticeably tougher on harder climbs. Mostly though a clean drive chain and good attitude is worth more than 1 tooth.
Have open pros on my cross bike and have worked exccellently on the road and taken some fairly big hits off. Put alot of this down to a good wheel build though. Finally settled on Maxxis Mud 35 upfront and continental twister 30 on the back which just keeps running, don’t even know if you can get them anymore? Quite quick tread wear upfront but it has been the most confidence inspiring set-up yet. If it is light offroad though would back the Marathons suggestion or even the folding Racing Marathons which I found good for towpath type rides. Just gone to 29er with Racing Ralphs 2.25 on Stans Crest. Can roll over anything now but huge speed drop so would be interested in knowing about a better set-up. Crossmark on the rear sounds like it has potential?
I’ve got a CC and tricross.
As others have said the CC is fantastic, I have mine ss and it is without doubht one of the most comfortable bikes I’ve ever rode. Eats up the miles and keeps track with bikes much lighter and more road specific. Obviously the swiss army virtues of the bikes is a big plus though it looks so good ss I don’t know if would want to put gears (or weight) on. I don’t think it could quite do the kind of single track the tricross is capable of and I know which one I prefer to lift over fences, gates etc. I know some people who have done some long and confortable tours on the tricross but I suspect the cross check would be better. On the surface both seem quite similar but I ride them both regularly and get different kicks from them. Doesn’t really help does it? Probably explains why I’m giving a Swift a go!
Having had loads of fun riding my Tricross (a bike that never gives in) on single track stuff with my mountain biking buddies I am so looking forward to the SS Swift build I’m about to start.
Haven’t done it but went from Lewes along SDW and up North Downs Link and to Haslemere in 7 and something hours and use parts of the SDW about twice a week. On a Tricross. With the right tyres and wheels a cross bike is the bike for this terrain.Cycling the whole SDW in a few weeks so will find out if my theory stands up.
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