McQz

We took our first ride on the Spec TriCross Comps this morning and had a great time. We rode about 13 miles, starting on local streets, transitioning to dirt/gravel/rock, back to an unmaintained bike path, back to very loose dirt and gravel to a HILL, back to road, and then about 6 miles of our regular road ride.

The bikes, with 100psi, rode very smoothly on the local streets and accelerated well to keep pace with and cross traffic. The 700x32 tires got a nice bite in the dirt/gravel and absorbed the rocky bits nicely. We rode the bike path mostly in the saddle and the same tires still at 100psi smoothed out the bumps and dips well enough and rolled through the broken bottles that were unavoidable without walking without punctures.

We transitioned to what was basically a 4-wheel/dirtbike track and were having fun slipping and bouncing through the single and double track... until we came to THE HILL. Maybe with a 24T front and a 38T rear it might have been doable. Perhaps if we had been able to accelerate on the uphill runup to 12-15 mph we might have had the momentum, but we both walked the 10 yds or so to the top before we clipped in and resumed riding. We were very grateful for the walkability of our new Spec Tahoe shoes.

The bikes weigh in at 22 # with pedals and H2O cages, but no other extras. We may have found a way to mount our Garmin 705s to the handlebar stem, but there is no room on the handlebars, which is where we mount them on the road bikes,so we didn't have them for this ride. Therefore speeds and distances are courtesy of my Samsung Galaxy S Verizon cell phone. (I wish Garmin offered a stem-mount!) The geometry is a little more relaxed and upright than our road bikes and that results in a more relaxed ride, even on a nearly 30 mph descent. This was very apparent on a level stretch where we were protected from the wind and rode a block or so no hands. The wide flat bar top provides a very stable and comfortable upright position and the suicide levers offer remarkably good stopping power with very little diminution over the main brake levers. Compared to my Dura Ace and N's Ultegra STI setup, the 105s are noticeably stiffer shifting with a longer throw for the shifts to larger cogs/chainrings, but they are still quite positive. We discovered that some trim was necessary on the front derailleur when shifting to the lower gears on the rear, but nothing earth-shattering.

Overall, we had a throughly joyful ride on a day with moderate winds and temperatures in the mid 50s. We are looking forward to many joyful miles around our fair city and wherever our travels take us.