Freeroad

2007 Specialized Tricross Sport Triple.

I finally purchased my new bicycle! After mulling over my options for quite a while, and speaking with a few people at my local bike shop, I ended up purchasing a Specialized Tricross Sport.

The bike is considered a "cyclocross" bike, which resembles a traditional road bike, with drop down handlebars, road-based components (27 speed gearing, Shimano shifters), a lightweight aluminum frame and a carbon fork. For adventures that take me off-road, however, the bike comes equipped with Specialized Borough CX tires, which provide enough tread to handle dirt trails. Also, if ever I want to try out the trials in Memorial Park, the wide fork allows me to switch out the tires for real knobbies.

I had the chance this weekend to try the bike out a few times and see how it performed under a variety of terrain. Riding along the roads from my house to Buffalo Bayou allowed me to test out the bike's road speed. As someone who has ridden a mountain bike for the past 10 years, I am surprised at how comfortable riding seemed in the forward style (roadie hunchback) of riding. I feel that the bike will handle long distance rides with ease, and the road style of riding will definately help to distribute weight across the bike. Also, with my old mountain bike I never reached (and maintained) such fast top speeds. Overall, on the roads I'm quite excited to start training for 30-45 mile weekend rides, and eventually working my way up to handle the MS150 next year.

After a short 5 minutes, I reached Buffalo Bayou and decided to take the trail ride along Memorial/Allen Parkway into the downtown Houston area. The route was mostly a curving paved trail and my bike hugged the turns quite well. Occasionally, the pavement would end and I'd ride along a dirt trail. The Tricross handled the changing terrain wonderfully, but a little bit of mud caused some concern with my brakes. With so much rain in the Houston area, I was bound to find trail areas inundated with mud. In those places, I dismounted and easily threw the bike over my shoulder for a quick trek through the muddy areas.

Overall, I'm certainly pleased with the endless riding options available on my new freeroad bicycle. It's a wonderful form of exercise, and a great way to get outdoors!