mindi1manny

I just got back into biking last summer and have been riding my old 10 speed schwinn and decided that I wanted to get a better bike this year and do alot more riding. I have done tons of research online and based on my history with sports as well as my research I have so far pretty much narrowed my choice down to the specialized comp or specialized tricross. I seem to get mixed opinions on the flat bar vs. the drop bars in terms of comfort. I have always ridden on bikes with the drop bars, and been fine on them, but now that I am 45 and talk to other people in my age bracket alot of them seem to like the flat bar. I will mostly be riding on the road in the park in manhattan, but will also be on packed dirt roads as well. I have always been a runner and plan on doing more longer rides than shorter ones 12 plus miles or more. I don't care much about speed, but don't want to buy a bike that I will grow out of in 6 months so that is why I am looking at these two. The sport was comfortable, but as shallow as this may sound I hate the colors it comes in so I am contemplating the comp. My favorite in looks is definitely the tricross and when I did a test ride the only one they had put together was a size too big so although I loved the feel of it it was hard to tell. I am female and would definitely have to swap the standard drop bars for narrower ones.
Also, since I only have an old 10 speed I am not used to shifting on the drop bar so it felt a bit awkward cause it was new to me but I think mostly because the bar was too wide. The guy at the shop said that he would be happy to put one at my size together for me to test it before I would buy it though. I just want to hear other opinions or advice out there with regard to my choice and which they might recommend.

Coloradopenguin

Which models are you comparing?
[specialized comp?? or specialized tricross]

mindi1manny

I am comparing the specialized sirrus comp to the specialized tricross

67walkon

Go with the drop bars. They are much more versatile. You can sit upright, with hands on the flat part, or hands on the hoods or hands on the drops.

RoMad

I like the drops. You can ride down low, on the bars or on the hoods. Many more options to move around. I spend 90% of my time in the drops, my wife almost never,but she moves her hands around on the bars so it is good to have the options. Oh and about your age, you are still a spring chicken compared to me, so don't let anyone convince you that you need a bike more comfortable for "older" people.

Coloradopenguin

I bought a 2007 Sirrus Comp last November and have about 500 miles on the bike. Love the bike, but have swapped the straight flat bar for a low-rise with more backsweep and added bar ends to give me more hand positions. Coming from 15 years of mountain bikes, I just could not see myself with anything but flat bars. If I were doing it again, would not be so quick to dismiss drop bars because of the hand positions.

I'm very comfortable riding 30-50 miles on the bike at a time. I swapped the gear cassette to a mountain bike range to get better climbing gearing for the terrain around western Colorado, which works very nicely. With 27 gears, I'm re-learning how to ride with more emphasis on higher cadence.

I have discovered an issue with my rear wheel -- it has popped 3 spokes in 500 miles. Am visiting the LBS tomorrow to get that resolved. Don't expect any problems. Upon delivery the LBS owner noticed a slight blemish on the carbon fork and ordered its replacement before I noticed it, which speaks well for the LBS and for Specialized warranty.

flipped4bikes

Tricross.