adgrant

I am currently looking for a bike to ride around Manhattan on. I won't be commuting but since I will be riding in Manhattan, many of my requirements will be the same as a commuter (I also want a rear rack and the option of fenders).

I have rule out a hybrid/mountain bike as too slow and heavy. Road/Racing bikes have the handlebars set too low for my taste. My options seem to be a cross bike or tourer. I was looking at the T800/T2000 from Cannondale but nobody in Manhattan seem to carry it. One store suggested the Bianchi Volpe or Specialized Tricross. Another mentioned the Cannondale SR800/SR500 as an option. Cannondale suggests they are suitable as a light tourer (they can take racks and fenders) which suggests they might make a good city bike. One major plus for me is the low botton bracket height which is lower than the T800/T2000. Anyone know that spec for the Bianchi Volpe or Specialized Tricross?

A bike shop in suburban Boston is selling a Bianchi San Jose (same frame as Volpe) with a Nexus internal hub. This seemed like a pretty cool ideal too.

apw55

I can’t comment on the SR800/SR500 but I’ve been intrigued by the concept of building something similar to Harris Cyclery’s Bianchi San Jos8 for a while now. While a bit more expensive than the San Jose, the Gary Fisher Triton looks like a possible candidate for this type of conversion as well. It has horizontal dropouts along with fender and rack mounts. Another possibility would be Cannondale’s recently announced Capo. My concern with this one is that it seems to be basically a renamed version of the track bike that they sold a couple of years ago and therefore not only does not have fender mounts but may well not have room for fenders.

Regards
Alan

flipped4bikes

I own the Tricross Comp. There is also the Sport. Whatcha like to know?

adgrant

How happy are you with it? Do you use it as a street/urban bike? Did you also look at the Volpe or the CDale SR bikes?

Finally, you don't happen to know the bottom bracket clearance? The one drawback I can see with using a cross bike in the city is a higher BB.

SDRider

I work with a guy who commutes almost every day on a Cannondale Six13 team bike.

He's a CAT1 racer though.

imnotclever

Have you thought about an adjustable stem?

adgrant

I believe the SR800/500 has an adjustable stem.

One issue with just raising the stem on a race oriented road bike is the top tube might still be too long. I feel I would be better with a less aggressive bike to start with.

I also want a bike that can be fitted with a rear rack.

jabowker

I ride a SR500 (last year's model) and like it a lot. Mine is a bit stiff because of older CAAD frame, running the 25 tires at high pressure and probably geometry. I understand that the current one should be more comfortable with the newer frame material.

Main features are fork that is designed to be able to take wider tires and fenders. Bars about the same height as the seat. Braze-on's for fenders and racks.

It's basically the same class as a Trek 1200c or Specialized Sequoia but a little more preformance geometry. The other bikes have a little more relaxed comfortable geometry and wider tires.

cabermen

First time posting here, but both my husband and I have SR800's and have been really pleased with them. We got them last summer to tour New Zealand and use as a commuter/road bike at home. I must say they're impressive on both counts. Had a BOB attatched with panniers for 2 months and they held up well with only brake pad replacement needed and one rear wheel truing due to a fall. Fenders fit fine on them; the rear rack needed some spacers to fit around the seat stay but they were easily obtained at home depot. the adjustable stem was nice after so many days on the road. Only thing I don't love about it is the seatpost. It's got a spring in it that squeeks unless it's cranked down. Now that we're back, I'm contemplating changing the stem and seat post, but I was glad I had them touring. Overall, great, sturdy bike that I'd highly recommend.

john bono

How about a Specialized Sequoia or a Trek Pilot? Both have a relatively relaxed riding position, and I believe they both can take a rack.(I know the Sequoia does, not sure about the Pilot)

adgrant

I will look into those. Thanks.

adgrant

Thanks for that information. What sort of wheels do your SR800s have. The current one has those "aero" wheels that I am reading mixed info on.

jimmuter

I've been waffling between the Tricross and the SR800 too. Right now I'm leaning toward the Tricross. Testing it, it gives a smoother ride and seems a little more rugged. It's also set up to take a front rack easily. That being said, the SR800 has some features I really like and I don't think you would go wrong with either. Pick the bike that feels best.

adgrant

Do you have a feel for how high the bottom bracket is on the Tricross compared to the SR800.
The SR800's seems quite low which I feel is an advantage (there are a lot of stop lights in Manhattan).

adgrant

Neither the Sequoia or Pilot webpages mention racks or fenders. The Trek frame is carbon fiber and the bikes do not seem cheap. I will try to find them in a store.

staple

The Sequoia definitely takes a rack. I have an 05 Sequoia Elite which I put a rear rack on.

Not all of the Pilots are carbon. The cheaper ones (1.0, 1.2, 2.1) are aluminum or aluminum with some carbon bits.

adgrant

Thansk for that info. I did find in the tech specs that the Sequoia has rack and fender braze ons.

The specs of the Elite seem quite similar to the cdale SR800. How do you like those reduced spoke wheels, are they robust enough for everyday use?

jimmuter

I don't know for sure, but from what I've read, its height is less than those of most cyclocross bikes. Some cyclocross people think it's too low, but it's probably higher than a regular road bike. I'm tall, so I don't really care about that I guess.

edit: This is totally unofficial, but I just came across a forum where a user said he measured his BB height on his Tricross, and it was 27.5cm. It looks like the SR800 has a 26.5cm height.

adgrant

That does seem low for a cross bike. I will check that out when riding it.

BTW since the distance between the saddle and the BB will vary based on the rider and not the bike, a tall person should be equally inconvienced by a high BB. Its not a huge issue but in Manhattan the Avenues have 20 stop lights per mile.

cabermen

Wheels are the shimano's that came with it; ultegra hubs. They've got the bladed spokes and deeper rims. It was a bit of a bother to find the longer valve stems at some of the smaller bike shops in NZ, luckily we didn't need too many; only flatted once each due to glass. We didn't have any trouble with the wheels except for the one rear wheel that went out of true likely due to a topple of the bike w/ the BOB. The bike store owner mentioned a nice feature of the wheels was you could replace a rear spoke on the cassette side w/o having to take off the cassette. It looks to be the case, but I've never replaced a rear spoke before so I don't know if this is in fact unique or not.

mgearing

In answer to your question about Trek Pilots, yes, they do take racks and full fenders. I have used both with my Trek Pilot 5.2.

At this time, I have them off. Here is the bike: