Three riders from the THE.ÆIGHT.BICYCLE.CØMPANY spent the weekend extensively testing the new bikes plus a range of tyres from different companies. Here’s what Glen said about how the first test went;
We’ve had the CX Pro‘s for a week or two now and I’ve been busy in the Tribeca Sport workshop modifying bits and bobs to give us the best machinery available. On my own bike I’ve tried several different front chainring set-ups and have settled upon a 39-46T for most races, whilst on the guest bike we’ll be running a compact crank with a much bigger range to suit more riders. Paul and Crissy have both ridden this and felt that it worked well for both fast rides and more technical singletrack.
On the tyre front Pete has stuck to his favourite Hutchinson combo whist I’ve plumbed for a mix of Schwalbe’s best rubber – CX Pro’s for the spare/wet bike and Ralph’s for the main bike. We’ve really got to spend a bit more time this weekend and in the evenings playing with different pressures to see what works.
The Avid BB7 brakes have performed much better than I’d imagined and apart from some squeal are all but worn in now. The leap to SRAM Force has taken a bit of getting used to – I’m still not sure if I’d like to trade it in for Ultegra, but I’m going to give it a few weeks first to see if I warm to it. The levers still seem quite clunky and the reach is pretty long – not a problem when you’re fresh, but toward the end of a ‘cross battle they could slow things down I reckon. We’ll do a race or two and then see.
All in all we’ve had a great first week with me, Crissy, Paul and Pete all getting out and testing the bikes. We should have a cracking weekend test again this week with riders meeting at Bedgebury on Sunday. Message me if you’re interested at glen@tribecasport.co.uk
All of the bikes will be serviced by THE.ÆIGHT.BICYCLE.CØMPANY at Tribeca Sport with kit and bike fits from Bike Science. Bikes and team rides are still available so if you’re interested you should contact Glen via glen@tribecasport.co.uk for more details. They have several packages to suit you as well as a full range of bikes, servicing and bike fitting in their shop in Southborough, Tunbridge Wells.
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