Tripster ATR finally built up - lush!

Looking smart Jimmy, interesting contrast your ortliebs to eshootes apidura bags!

What are the widest tyres people have fitted without mudguards?

If anyone is using PDW mudguards. Did you need to drill through them to mount the rear guard with bigger tyres? Mine worked ok with a chainstay bridge running 27mm Open Paves, but trying to fit 30mm Scwalbe S Ones is proving to be a struggle.

What are the widest tyres people have fitted without mudguards

I have some 41mm Surly Knards which fit with room to spare. Others are running 42mm Conti X-Kings.

You could get a Smart Sam 700 x 47 in the front. I think it might be tight in the chain stays.

If you want really big, you could stick a 42mm X-King in the back, and a 29 x 2.0-King in the front.

I can pop the wheels and measure with a caliper tonight, but eyeballing with a ruler, you might just possibly get away with a 47 Smart sam in the rear and a 29 x 2.1 Smart Sam in the front. Would definitely be a 'no mud' option.

I'm running 650b / 27.5 inch Mavic Crossmax SLR with Maxxis Pace 1.95. They are 10 speed wheels converted to 11 speed with the Edco monoblock 10 - 11 cassette.

http://www.edco-wheels.co.uk/product/monoblock-cassettes/

Its a great fun set up. I was inspired by Cannondales Slate running 650b and just wanted to see if it was possible. I hear that the next Tripster will be able to run 650b with fatter tyres.

Hello Tripsters!

I'm London based (Ealing/Holborn) and ready to pull the trigger on a

Anyone able to let me throw my leg over a 57cm for sizing?

Don't get on with my 58cm Equilibrium Disc, and just found a crack in my On-One Tinbred :' (

Thanks in advance!

Rick

If you want really big, you could stick a 42mm X-King in the back, and a 29 x 2.0-King in the front.

I can pop the wheels and measure with a caliper tonight, but eyeballing with a ruler, you might just possibly get away with a 47 Smart sam in the rear and a 29 x 2.1 Smart Sam in the front. Would definitely be a 'no mud' option.

After measuring, I don't think you would get a 47mm Smart Sam in the back. The stays are starting to converge to about 45mm by 45mm from the rim.

You should be able to get a 2.0" 29er tyre in the fork though, so the X-Kings option would work.

I'm London based (Ealing/Holborn) and ready to pull the trigger on a

Anyone able to let me throw my leg over a 57cm for sizing?

Aye. I work near Mansion House. I should be able to meet up one lunchtime.

Hey Matts - that's great! Thanks!!

Couldn't see a way to email you directly, to arrange things.

My address in in my profile if you want to contact me.

Thanks again!

Isaac if doesnt work with Matt i have a 57 out in Reading.

Matts - I've now added my email address to my profile - it's been a while since I was on STW so my settings had changed!

Looking to order the frame this week so drop me a line : )

Cool. Mailed you.

Matts, thanks for your reply about the tyres. I've got a stan's crow 2.2 knocking around the garage and tried it to see if I thought the 2.0 would fit, but I didn't think it would. Think I'm just going to go for the Knards or the Panaracer Gravel Kings SK (although it looks like a long wait for those to be in stock anywhere).

I've been pretty happy with the Knards. I did the SDW on them last summer and TBH I thought they were probably overkill for 98% of the route. Mind you, the other 2% of dried, rutted, bridleway I was probably wishing I was on the full susser. 🙂 The block pattern of the centre tread means they roll really well on the road or hard-pack.

@Susie. I spotted this last night.

http://www.roadbikereview.com/reviews/three-new-tires-for-gravel-grinding

45mm Riddler available in July.

http://www.wtb.com/products/riddler-45c

OK chaps, overdue a resurrection, so here's my current issue. Wall of text ahoy...

Had my Tripster for well over a year now, love it. Due to do a 4 day ride over the channel so I booked it in for some loving from my LBS.
Apart from the usual mechanical ineptitude in building it on my part he spotted an issue with the headtube / integrated headset - essentially, it doesn't appear to be quite flat, so when the bearings are loaded correctly (I had it a bit loose apparently, partially due to the expander wedge.. it wasn't knocking or moving, but wasn't as well down as the LBS would like) it binds on the fork at extremes of steering.

The suggestion is to face the headtube - anyone had to get this done? I'll do some pics to send off to Kinesis as well, but I'm tempted to just get it faced. The LBS doesn't have the tooling and it wouldn't be economic to get it (and I trust them completely) - but I purchased it whilst working away from the only source that claimed to have stock and shall remain nameless (search the thread - I doubt I'd get any joy that way).

Any similar experiences? I thinking about Argos for the facing, any others in the South (central) worth considering?

For those that asked - I now have 25mm Schwalbe Pro Ones fitted to my Hunt Wheels and love them.

Very low rolling resistance and high levels of confidence on pothole strewn gravel roads. Lovely.

Recently acquired a new (to me) Tripster courtesy of Ed from this thread.

Built it up late one evening with a new ultegra hydro groupset and parts from another bike. Realised I wasn't up to trimming the hoses so let the LBS do that, although as a result the front is too long and the rear is too short, but i can live with it.

[img] [/img]

I'm debating swapping to a black saddle, but you cant see it when i'm riding. I've fiddled with the seat and bar angles since.

Anyway, had one 50 mile ride round the Surrey hills to work out the seat and bar position and then last friday embarked on London to Paris in 24 hours.

[img] [/img]

Really enjoyed the ride - a group of 30 dads from my son's primary school. Big mix of abilities and fitness. Up until march I'd never ridden more than about 30 miles in one go. The bike was great. The 200 odd miles rolled away in about 11 hours riding. I fitted novatec/grail wheel with conti gp4000s2 28mm tyres and found i could freewheel much faster than some on skinny, aero bikes.

I spent some time burying myself in a small group of carbon bikes keeping the pace up around 40km/h on the flat and although I was working hard, it never felt inefficient, which was a concern before I got the bike.

I know I don't need to persuade any of you how good it is, but thanks for helping me decide it was worth it. Next step is to get some fatter tyres on and get off road, but i will definitely be doing some more long road rides on it too - my local club is planning a 3 day ride to Lille in the summer.

Time for an update on mine too - lots of cracking looking builds on here and it's always interesting to see the varying ways they're used. What a bike...

Anyway; heading towards 9,000 miles on mine and it'll be three years old soon - it's serving me very well; across a mix of after-work-fresh-air-around-the-lanes, longer weekend rides, gravel explorations, commutes, trying to keep up with mates on their 'proper' road bikes (I'm the limiting factor with this one, not the Tripster) and a few short tours too. Talking of which, I'm off again next month; train to the Lakes and head back home over a few days via a series of NCN routes on gravel and back roads.

Current build has seen the addition of a wider range 10spd cassette on the back with corresponding XT 9 speed rear mech, PDW guards replacing the SKS Chromos and proving very neat and tidy, some Acor semi-hydraulic brakes (bit better than the Spyres but not massively so), a shorter stem than previously as I'm struggling with my back... and some Mavic Ksyrium Allroad wheels, set up tubeless with the 30mm tyres they came with. Very, very impressed with the wheels, even though they're a little heftier than the CX Discs that I'd run before. I couldn't fault those - just fancied treating the bike, ahem... These feel very stiff, great pickup and they hold their speed well - plus it's nice running lower pressures too. I'll be sticking on some wider and more off/onroad suitable Specialized Trigger Pros for the tour though.

All in all, still amazed at how much of a blast the Tripster is to ride, how well it performs in so many different guises - and just how capable yet refined it is.

[img] [/img]

So I've just bought a tripster frame. I've seen some posts about the headset.
I have a question about the headset I received, or more specifically the crown race. The fork taper is much wider than the crown race bore. It will never sit on the flat of the fork crown (I've only dry checked so far) there is small gap when crown race sits in lower bearing, as expected. But there is/will be a 3mm gap as far as I can see between the fork crown 'flat' and the race. This seems very wrong.
I've built a lot of bikes in my time and fitted many crown races but not many carbon steerer forks. The ones I have done(2) the crown races all sat flush. Admittedly they were all semi integrated headsets.

It doesn't look at though I can even 'fit' the crown race, there is no way, unless it's supposed to take some carbon material/resin away from the bottom of the steerer as it goes on that it will sit flush and thus straight.

So. Is this normal or have I got a wrong 'headset' kit.
I have to say I thought the bearing would be a closer fit inside the headtube too but hey.

Any help appreciated. I can post pics of that helps.

The fork has an integrated crown race, so you don't need to fit one. Not sure if that's your problem?

Cheers. That makes much more sense and matched up with my caliper measurements! Not come across it before.

Caused me some confusion. Glad to help!

I've a cosmetic question on the front mudguard - because of the height of the fork arch from the wheel, the mudguard section out front sticks up well away from the wheel and, well, just looks a bit rubbish. Any cunning ideas on how to keep the whole thing lower profile to the tyre?

Any cunning ideas on how to keep the whole thing lower profile to the tyre?

fit a fatter tyre?

But if it were closer then you wouldn't have any mud clearance.

If you are not bother about mud clearance, get a road bike...

Have a look at 650b wheels and tyres. I fitted some Mavic Crossmax SLR 650b to mine with Maxxis Pace 1.95 inch and its a hoot. I've also just ordered another set of tubless wheels with Panaracer Gravel Kings. I know Kinesis are looking at this as an option on the next version so it might be the future.

I took the Tripster away to Snowdonia so that I could do some road rides as well as a bit of off-road, and some pootling around with the family. I love this thing more and more all the time. It's so versatile, and yet gives up so little in any one discipline.

We went to the same cottage a couple of years ago and I took my race bike. I really did prefer the Tripster in this type of terrain. It smoothes the harsh roads, rides well enough when the road goes up (I took a few KOMs back that I'd lost since 2014), and on the stupidly steep descents the discs are really confidence inspiring.

This was from a 130k ride I did around Snowdon, taking in the climbs of Rhyd Ddu, Pen-y-Pass, and Prenteg.

[img] [/img]

Still a fantastic thread, still enjoying reading all your different builds and rideouts..

8)

Rode mine down to the beach today, quick swim and back home. I thought this was a nice pic of a nice bike. 🙂

[img] [/img]

I wanted to fit Panarace rGravel Kinf 40cs but they were on backorder due now...been extended to July now...Bought Some Clement XPlor MSO in 120 TPI 40c instead.

I should be able to build it next week. its a mixture of fairly boring stuff I had in the garage from assorted builds (wheels, brake calipers, discs), functional performance/value stuff I've bought (Rival, Genetic, Hope V twin, Thomson (fixed post and 70mm stem!) with the odd highlight, I'm 5'10" with maybe an extra 0.5" on a good day, 31/5" inside leg, avg everything else:-)

Tripster ATR 55.5 Frame
Sram Rival Rear mech, 11sp, Long cage
Sram X01 10-42 cassette
Sram Rival 1 one brake/ one shifter/brake
Sram Rival 1 Crank 170mm, 42T
Hope stainless BB + gxp adaptor
Hope V-Twin resevoir + x2 calipers with 160mm discs
Thomson x4 70mm 10deg stem
Genetic Digest 48cm/Genetic cork tape
Thomson elite inline
Brooks Cambium slate
Enve AM29's on Pro2 Evos with CX-rays
Clement Xplor MSO 120tpi 40c

Took general inspiration from on here and tried to stay both classy and true to the components I like/get on with.

Wasn't sure about the stem rise seeing many builds on here but felt I could integrate it and it provided flexibility to make sure I get the hand position right (a friend has a Fargo and its good with the higher drops)

I'm really looking forward to getting out on it.

Sounds like a great build.

Has anyone tried Schwalbe S-One tires on Kinesis CX rims?

I'm thinking about making a few tweaks for long-distance Autumn/Winter riding:

- External Ultegra Di2
- S-Ones
- PDW guards
- 46cm wide bars (currently 42cm) to help fight cross-winds and give more space for aerobars

If anyone has done similar would love to know.

As people are doing updates on bikes thought I would share mine 🙂

Had mine for a year and half now done thousands of milles on and off road and am still very much in love with it just done lejog in 4 and a half days thoroughly enjoyable apart from losing the feeling in my hands !
[URL= http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f169/ddc69/image.jpg1_zpsaupuxh9q.jp g" target="_blank">http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f169/ddc69/image.jpg1_zpsaupuxh9q.jp g"/> [/IMG][/URL]

Since returning changed the set up to a more gravel/off road set up
[URL= http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f169/ddc69/image.jpg1_zpssegdoxqe.jp g" target="_blank">http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f169/ddc69/image.jpg1_zpssegdoxqe.jp g"/> [/IMG][/URL]

Gone from a ultegra di2 set up to sram rival hydro 1x 11, comparing the group sets is like chalk and cheese ! Both work brilliantly and both very different in feel but liking the gears on the sram went for a 11x36 cassette with a 42 front ring more than enough for almost all riding....will update when used a bit more 🙂 ps excuse the blue bar tape

Looks like you had your Di2 fitted internally - got any more pictures of the set up?

It would also be interesting to know which frame bag and bottle cages you were using for LeJog!

ps excuse the blue bar tape

The bar tape, maybe. But that garden is shocking.

</stwreply>

p.s. Congrats on LEJoG. 8)

Atrthanks I drilled 1 hole on down tube and one on seat tube and expanded breather hole at drop out. Revelate bag from Charlie bikemonger and specialized zee cages side entry.

And yes garden 🙂 picture taken in tortoise patch

Done. Some spacer tweaking to do to make sure I have the right riding position but apart from that very happy.

May need to figure out some kind of protection for the v twin if I use a roll for bikepacking on the bars

[img] https://www.flickr.com/gp/the_pilot/09j152 [/img]

dmc I've decided to build it up using the Di2 internal battery, mounted in an external SM-BTC1 battery mount.

https://www.evanscycles.com/shimano-sm-btc1-external-battery-case-for-sm-btr2-EV222009

It looks a lot neater than the old external options (because the lower junction is built into the battery holder) and involves no frame drilling!

Will post photos when complete.

Interesting. In the pic of Chainline's bike, the fork now appears to be post mount.

Short bike update. Used my for a trip through West Wales and a tour of the Yorkshire Dales a couple weeks ago, done around 700 miles since I got it.

Its pretty standard - Kinesis wheels, 105 groupset, but I've added shimano hydraulic brakes which are amazing.

I love it, its really comfy and stable and gives me confidence descending. I'll never be a fast rider so it suits my needs perfectly.

@matts - yes mine came with a post mount fork I think they changed it 8-9 months ago

[img] https://goo.gl/M57ixn [/img]

[img] https://goo.gl/pWhFCT [/img]

My pic didn't seem to work, here's another
[url=[url= https://c3.staticflickr.com/8/7383/27820648346_cc5c75b4c0_b.jp g" target="_blank">https://c3.staticflickr.com/8/7383/27820648346_cc5c75b4c0_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/Joq6uN ]IMG_4324[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/the_pilot/ ]Phil[/url], on Flickr]null

heresay I gather but I may lift the bars back up again to make it super comfortable to remain in the drops for normal riding..

Might be worth checking with Kinesis as to how much steerer you can safely have above the cone spacer.

I will, but if its not safe, the steerer shouldn't be that long!

The steerer is a standard length that needs to be able to fit many different sized frames. If it came with a 20cm steerer, it wouldn't be much use in a frame with a 22cm head tube.

When I'd built my Tripster and took it back to show the (very experienced!) bike shop owner, he sucked through his teeth when he saw I had a couple of spacers on the top! The carbon bung needs to be flush under where the stem clamps for maximum safety.

oops repeat post

Sorry, not down with that theory!

How about: It looks bleedin awful! 🙂

More plausible...

I don't like high rise stems either mind. I've dropped it 20mm. Maybe a bit more. Drop position needs to be sensible though for normal riding

Just prepped the tripster for summer, fitted some mudguards :

[img] ?oh=e1a9c821245ab78ac642f49a33a8ed21&oe=580086F8[/img]

Thanks turnerGuy.. Should guarantee us no rain for the next 4 weeks..

I am buying a new umbrella tomorrow as well...

Ha. I just took them off mine as the forecast looks OK for the next week.

Probably a big mistake.

Aaargh!! Matts! Put them back on.. Put them back on now!

Pic of my trusty ATR, after the hard, painful but fun Lapierre white-roads-classic-sportive.

[img] ?oh=10996534a4de5bd425e9193d1cf93710&oe=58361E0A[/img]

There was some other nice bikes/set ups there as well.

Right then! I see a few of you Tripster owners have Tubus racks fitted. Anyone tell me which model and whether bodging/adapting is needed? Thanks!

I think its the Tubus Airy Ti.. probably head to rose bikes for one

Sizing help.

I'm looking at getting one, I'm 5ft8in, would a 51 be too small??

I'm looking at getting one, I'm 5ft8in, would a 51 be too small??

UrbanHiker - yes, definitely. Mine's a 51 and am 5'5".

UrbanHiker, the problem is that what is the right size for you is not determined just by your height, and based on personal experience I would not rely on the suggested height ranges in Kinesis' geometry charts.

In your shoes I would try to get a chance to sit on a 51cm and a 54cm - maybe other Tripster owners reading this thread are near you and could help: where are you based?

A while back someone asked what bolt to use to fit a mudguard to the fork. Unless you want to have the mudguard bracket at the rear of the fork crown, it is not necessary to use an extra long bolt.

There is a shoulder inside the rear of the hole that appears designed specifically for a standard recessed allen nut for caliper brake bolts, so I used an 18mm recessed allen nut and a 30mm bolt:

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/shimano-caliper-brake-sunken-nut/rp-prod17557

and

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B009YHJFL0/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Anyone ridden their tripster in a CX race?
I've been thinking of entering a few races in the welsh CX league this year.
Anyone know if I need certain width tyres? Got some 38c nano races.. But do I need 33c?

Someone looking at this thread might be interested. There was a full build, 55.5cm frame, Tripster on the classifieds this morning. (STW regular selling, I think).. Might be gone by now.

Question: what is a 'Tripster ATR'?

Question: Who, outside of late 90s Bristol, actually uses the word 'lush'?

64 pages. Perplexed...

A: It's a bike frame made by Kinesis

A: The bloke who started this thread

You read them all??

So my Tripster proved a perfect companion to a London to Amsterdam last week. Always comfy, fast when needed, relaxed when not.

Unfortunately it gained its own battle scar - a dirty great crack across the top tube just under a cable stop weld 🙁 - pics when I collect the bike, but it's a crack for sure. Explains the creaking .. it was under an Alpkit fuel cell so wasn't apparent till I stripped the bike for transport home.

With Shiny Bikes (yes, I actually received one from them) apparently gone, do I go back to Kinesis or a distributor to see if I have a warranty claim?

Brassneck.. try upgradebikes or go direct to kinsesis

Question: Who, outside of late 90s Bristol, actually uses the word 'lush'?

late '90's Bristol was all about "pesh" only the old folk used "lush"

Being a titanium fan (my road bike is a Van Nicholas) and recently purchasing a 2nd hand gravel type bike (Genesis CdA) which I'm loving, I started to look for one bike that would combine both, found this thread & fell in love 😛

LBS has a 6 month old demo frame & fork they'll do me for £999, it's used but in good condition, and I can use cycle to work 🙂

Test ride on Sunday, it's a 57cm & I'm 6'3", hopefully it fits then I might be in the club !!

restlessnative123 would you share the LBS if the frame is no good for you?

Nipper - yep, will let you know if it's no good.

Mini PSA:
Challenge Strada Bianca Race tyres (33mm) are EUR 25 and bike24.de. just had a good review on road.cc. Works out at about £46 delivered for a pair.

[url= http://road.cc/content/review/196793-challenge-strada-bianca-race-33 ]http://road.cc/content/review/196793-challenge-strada-bianca-race-33[/url]

After 2 years of ownership and 14,000 miles my Tripster died.

[img] [/img]
[img] [/img]

Freeborn were excellent with replacement, luckily they had a 54 in stock and the frame was swapped out in under a week. Freeborn said this is the first one they have had back.

@brassneck, speak to Upgrade.

brassneck.. has yours gone in the same place?

Looks like I'm joining the club, had a test ride today and I have to say that although 7cm taller than the Kenisis size guide the 57cm felt great. Bike shop set it up so the measurements were the same as my road bike.

There was no toe overlap, I didn't feel too big on it and it was pretty comfortable - does anyone one else over 6ft ride a 57cm bike ?

Here's the bike the way the shop set it up - I won't be buying the carbon wheels, monococque bars or the 1 x set up, but I might get a good deal on the SRAM Red hydraulic shifters .....

[URL= http://i902.photobucket.com/albums/ac229/gavmck123/IMG_2716_zpsa5ao34d2.pn g" target="_blank">http://i902.photobucket.com/albums/ac229/gavmck123/IMG_2716_zpsa5ao34d2.pn g"/> [/IMG][/URL]

Yes. I'm 189cm and I'm on a 57. I use a 130mm -6? stem for commuting and training on the road, and swap in a 110mm +6? if i'm planning to do extended off-road riding.

Has anyone else had cracked frames - I've found a deal on a new ATR frame and fork but feeling nervous now after seeing the above, cheap titanium etc, and thinking of just sticking with a steel frame?

Has anyone else had cracked frames - I've found a deal on a new ATR frame and fork but feeling nervous now after seeing the above, cheap titanium etc, and thinking of just sticking with a steel frame?

turns out I was wrong - hadn't read brassnecks post above

I have a choice of All City Macho King in 853 with a Whiskey carbon fork or an ATR frame and fork for the same money...