# Is specialized crosstrail a good choice?



## shimano4 (May 11, 2008)

Hi, I am thinking of uograding my commuting bic from pure MTB into a road hybrid. With something like Crosstrail. How good is it? Any comments??? Its speed, comfort and durability?


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## scralatchtica824 (May 6, 2008)

It's a great bike. We just got some of the 09's in at my shop and a lot of people have been looking to buy them. It's kind of a new concept. The frame is actually a full fledged xc trail bike but with a 700 wheel and a thinner more hybrid type tire.


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## bugly64 (May 6, 2008)

*ok*



scralatchtica824 said:


> It's a great bike. We just got some of the 09's in at my shop and a lot of people have been looking to buy them. It's kind of a new concept. The frame is actually a full fledged xc trail bike but with a 700 wheel and a thinner more hybrid type tire.


I was told some where on this forum that I could do that with my 08 Kona blast. I am still looking for a deal on some 700c wheels for it.


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## JonathanGennick (Sep 15, 2006)

After a bit of a rocky start last year, I've come to like my Crosstrail a lot. Specialized really doesn't do enough to promote the bike's good points. For example:

* You can run any tire you like. I can mount full-on mountain-bike tires and go trail riding. I also sometimes run a set of 38mm road tires. Right now I happen to be running the stock tires (at 45mm).

* It's drop-dead simple to mount a rear fender. All the attachment points are there. And, importantly(!), there's a chainstay bridge to which to mount the front-end of that rear fender. Don't underestimate the utility of that seemingly small feature. 

* The rear brake is positioned to avoid interference with a rear rack. You don't need to worry about buying a rack with spacers for disc brakes. And, of course, the attachment points for a rack are there for you.

There are a few things to be aware of:

* Standover height runs very high for the frame size. It gets worse if you mount high-profile, mountain-bike tires. I have virtually no clearance (maybe 1/4 to 3/8s inch) when I run 29er tires.

* Top-tube length runs short. I had trouble w/that at first, but all fell into place after I switched to a wider set of bars that opens my chest up more. 

* It's not so easy to mount a fender in the front, because there are no attachment points on the suspension fork. I've been thinking of swapping in one of Surly's rigid forks.

I very much like the Crosstrail now for around-town riding. This summer, all the streets in my town are being torn up and rebuilt. A typical ride to town for me involves riding off from where my curb used to be, dropping down about a foot or so over some ashpalt slabs left over from when they tore up my street, blasting downhill to the grocery store on a mix of sand and gravel, maybe getting an inch or two of air from the transitions to the as-yet-still-paved cross streets, and then doing it all in reverse on the way home. Sometimes I'll sneak in a bit of old double-track. Sometimes i ride a sidewalk that is an uneven, bumpy mess. And I usually manage to find a curb or two to ride up (or down). I don't need to be "dainty" when I ride the Crosstrail, and that's what I like about the bike.

Just my two-cents. Your mileage may vary.


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## shimano4 (May 11, 2008)

JonathanGennick said:


> After a bit of a rocky start last year, I've come to like my Crosstrail a lot. Specialized really doesn't do enough to promote the bike's good points. For example:
> 
> * You can run any tire you like. I can mount full-on mountain-bike tires and go trail riding. I also sometimes run a set of 38mm road tires. Right now I happen to be running the stock tires (at 45mm).
> 
> ...


Run any tires u like? I thought it's all roadie tyre. 700c wheel, right?


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## JonathanGennick (Sep 15, 2006)

Yes, 700c wheel. What I meant to say is that you can run a mountain-bike tire one week and a narrower, road-bike tire the next. I guess you can do that on pretty much any mountain bike, though not all hybrids that I've seen will have the clearance for mountain-bike tires.


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## shimano4 (May 11, 2008)

How abt scott sportster? I came across it and sounds quite reasonable for price and perfomance!


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## Rufudufus (Apr 27, 2004)

JonathanGennick said:


> * It's not so easy to mount a fender in the front, because there are no attachment points on the suspension fork. I've been thinking of swapping in one of Surly's rigid forks.
> 
> .


Can you mount a Shockboard on the fork? Great fender, might look a bit funky but who cares?


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## shimano4 (May 11, 2008)

Haha.. I decide to settle with a polygon Heist hybrid.










Spec slighter downgrade from my orignal target but very value for my and pocket friendly..


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## Chaffer (Jan 26, 2005)

shimano4 said:


> Run any tires u like? I thought it's all roadie tyre. 700c wheel, right?


The previous poster was referring to how one can run road tires in the 700 x 25mm size range, as well as cycle cross tires at 700 x 35mm, or trekking tires that are 700 x 45mm and finally mountain bike tires that are 29 x 2.25.

I don't know of another rim size with that kind of tire range.

Yeah, I know everyone and their mother has been on the 26" mtn bike tire band wagon for 30 years now, but how many cyclocross or road tires are there for that rim size?


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