On a 36x25 with a 700x28 tyre you have a gear inch of 38.4", if you switch to a 28 on the rear you will have a gear inch of 34.3", if you switch to a 30 on the rear you will drop to 32"
If you switch to a 34 on the front and a 25 on the rear your gear inch will be 36.3.". if you switch to a 28 on the rear you will drop to 32.4", if you switch to 30 on the rear you will drop to 30.3.
For the most cost effective way to help you up the hills i'd go for a 11 to 28 tooth rear cassette, they are only £22 from merlin and you will notice the difference, it doesn't sound like like much but when your lungs are climbing out your chest that 4" difference will be noticeable.
I normally ride here on a 32:18 29er single speed...
I'll be fine!
DrP
I see some owners have put slicks on,
So how many have set it up for road use with 25cc or 28cc tyres and how does it handle on the road, climbing/descending (and when compare to a "road bike")
Mine's currently got 25c Gatorskins on for summer, 28c for the rest of the year, though I'm just about to treat it to some Conti GP 4 seasons in 28c, so it's shod more as a road bike than a CX. I just like (love) the way it handles, rolls over stuff, soaks up the bumps on our crappy roads. I like the riding position, the way it sprints and climbs but is super stable on descents. I rode today with a mate on his carbon Focus and didn't feel like I was missing out. To be honest, the disc brakes (which is how I discovered the original Tripster in the first place) are one of the biggest points and I really benefited over him with them today on some of the sketchy, slippery lanes we encountered.
I was inspired by the shot of the one atop Ventoux a while back that had skinny tyres on, so haven't looked back at using it as "a road bike, that tours and goes off-road too". It's actually been quick enough for me to set some handy Strava times on - even getting on some leaderboards and a random KOM - and I'm a long way from being a fast rider!
Got an 11-36 cassette with a 9 speed mtb mech (old school XTR) and works with 10 speed shifters. Gets me up Kingston Ridge on a good day, lungs and grip permitting.
28t bought - see what like with the 28c gravel kings.
may treat it to a set of compact cranks before long too.
(hides CC)
(deletes Upgrades number from phone)
(cancels broadband)
Aaaaagggggghhhhhh stop it!
Timbur...
Sometimes, you just gotta accept that itch has to be scratched!
DrP
😀
Indeed, however there's a small price tag to slip past the Mrs which I'm not confident on!
For those thinking about it...
*goes back to thinking about it*
I wouldn't trust the man in that first video....
😉
DrP
(It's not me...)
Tim you'll never get those wheels anyway...........
Re routed the cabling this evening, wasn't convinced by how freeborn had done it. They had crossed the gear cabling over down the down tube and the rear brake outer round the head tube and up over the top tube. I can see why they did it to stop the outers rubbing on the head tube but it left a lot of outer that was affecting my OCD.
new ultegra 50/34 chainset procured now to complement the 11-28T cassette - will give much better range offroad i reckon......!
FINALLY!
Pics up!
Original build for the Welsh C2C and with latest bags and cranks on it!
[url= https://flic.kr/p/ocL9dj ]original set up[/url]
[url= https://flic.kr/p/nXiUtK ]cock pit set up[/url]
[url= https://flic.kr/p/nXiUtK ]latest set up[/url]
how do I direct link the photos??
[url= https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5507/14572942906_bacc2ea038_s.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5507/14572942906_bacc2ea038_s.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/ocL9dj ]Sheffield-20140507-00441[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/people// ]scandalous29er[/url], on Flickr
[img] 
[/img]
[img] 
[/img]
[img] 
[/img]
Open the Flickr pic you want, click flickr share, (little arrow in bottom right of flickr page), make sure BBCode is highlighted and copy the entire link, Click IMG from above and paste link into box then click IMG again
That's quite an extensive set-up you have, nice!
Does anybody know if you can get a smaller fsa conical spacers? The current is 15mm and would ideally like a 7.5mm to get the bars a bit lower.
Rapid 25 miles tonight of mixed terrain. CANT WIPE THE SMILE OFF MY FACE. LIFE IS GOOD!!!!!
although managed to crack my saddle!
Does anybody know if you can get a smaller fsa conical spacers? The current is 15mm and would ideally like a 7.5mm to get the bars a bit lower.
9mm spacer also available for that FSA headset
Thanks for that DrP 😛
Mine is next in line apparently but looking unlikely that I'll get it before the weekend 🙁
trying so hard to resist, but taking it day by day!
Ok, I may as well join in the love in....I have the final prototype Tripster ATR. Here's a spot of blogging about it from last years 3 Peaks Cyclocross race.
http://www.kinesismorvelo.com/random/three-peaks-cyclocross-race/
[img] http://https://www.flickr.com/photos/56147456@N04/14602781911/ [/img]
or even.... https://www.flickr.com/photos/56147456@N04/14602781911/
With golden trim.
Totally in love with this bike.
I fitted the ultegra compact 50/34 , and a 11-28t cassette ...... What a huge improvement in useable range !
Forest climbs can be spun out and on road the 50 works like a dream.
Both 105 supplied mechs have the range for the gearing, somifvanyonebelsevwamts improved gear selection I can recommend !
Note THE FSA bottom bracket is very skinny so shimano cranks don't fit !
Looking at improving the best range I went and ordered an 11-28 cassette! ( despite my earlier comment!)
Little outlay for more use!
DrP
I just wanted to join the ATR love as I am riding one solo and unsupported from the UK to China! Tried to set it up as a pack bike per this picture with Apidura bags [img] 
[/img]
Ended up fitting small panniers for extra volume and a skinny Axiom lightweight rack but no big seat pack. Currently 780km into the ride in eastern Germany and LOVE the bike so comfortable and fast, it literally eats up the miles!
Setup with the standard build but swapped for wider 46cm bars, triple up front as need the range, carbon spyres with RWD pads I love the extra power, put 25mm Conti gatorskins on the 28mm rated Kinesis cross light wheels bit of stretch but works fine and so quick. Wheels seem fast and strong, done about 25% dry off road on them with 90psi and fully loaded, been fine if you like drifting the corners
Eshoote. Are you using the contis off road ?
on the Kinesis CX hub, do I need to fit the rear 1mm spacer with the new 11-28t 105 cassette - seems to work fine without the spacer and the 10spd shimano 11-25t cassette i removed had no spacer...........????
Yes on the flat they're fine on light gravel and dry dirt paths. Saves using chunky slow tyres as bulk of European section is on tarmac. Will swap to fatter tyres for central Asian roads though! End of my post got cut off but will have more info on welovemountains.net and on Kinesis website if interested. Ed
i went with panaracers new gravel king in 28c flavour - hopefully get good forest / gravel path results from them !
good luck eshoote 🙂
Great stuff eshoote, please keep us updated with your progress, do you have a blog?
Ive covered 88 miles on mine now commuting, i currently have 28c gp4 seasons and they are fine on dry paths/light gravel. Had a really annoying creaking, after taking the BB off and re greasing everything it turned out to be the rear qr was not quite tight enough!
The rear brake on mine is a bit annoying, noticeable engaging noise when the pads hit the rotor and move in the caliper, had it apart but cant see much i can do about it. Anyone else's do this?
Riding it like a loony, its just so comfortable over rough ground and dodgy roads compared to my old road bike.
Tubus Airy Ti rack should be turning up this week.
buzz - have you also fitted guards - will a rack fit with guards and if so how ?
Ive not fitted them yet but will be, its going to involve some creative bending of the guard stays but im sure they will fit on fine with a rack. Soma has posted pictures of his with this set-up earlier.
Myself and Hummerlicious will be riding some/all/most of the SDW this saturday on our tripsters!
Most likely we'll get to steyning and take a road detour, as I'm sure our teeth will have rattled out by then!!
It's too late to get some 40mm tyres...isn't it?!
DrP
This bike looks mighty appealing but I am a bit concerned by the big jump between the 54 and the 57 frames.
I have a 54 croix de fer with an inline seatpost and a 100mm stem with a couple of spacers and a -5 degree drop and Salsa Cowbell 2 bars.
The bike is fun and I like the fit apart from it being slightly too crampt in the drops, so I am changing the stem to 110mm.
I maybe could have got away with a 56cm Croix, but my 56 Genesis Equilibrium is I feel a little large and I changed the stem from 110mm to 100mm and put some bars on with less reach.
The Tripster size charts say a 57 frame for me at 178cm (5ft 10), which on the face of it seems pretty large, and I see a few people of that size with the 54 frame. And my 54cm cdf is on the playful edge of small so I wouldn't want to go any smaller.
Maybe I should just get the stainless croix to be safe, or even a Shand Stoater FT for fat tire ability ?
Well this has been an interesting thread ...
So much so that I've just ordered a 51cm Tripster from Freeborn today.
Thanks for all the pics and reports - I hope I enjoy mine as much as you all seem to be doing 🙂
Cheers
eshoote has a twitter feed [b]@1loveMountains[/b] , that's the sort of trip we all dream of doing on our tripsters but a 10 mile run along the coast t'night to Gatehouse of Fleet for a pint will have to do me for the moment, got to make the most of this glorious sunshine and i guess i'd best keep hydrated with a beer or two as it's 20? at the moment. 😉
[url= http://welovemountains.net ]We Love Mountains blog/website here[/url] , well worth a look and a bookmark for all us wannabe travellers
DrP, rode most of the SDW a few weeks ago. ATR was great but must of got close to losing some of my fillings. Wasn't till I got to Washington and let my tyre pressure down a bit that it became fun!
Used a frame bag, old Carra barley and dry bag on the bars. Worked really well. Loving the bike packing pics!
Wow.. big up to Eshoote.. what an adventure
Mine came on Monday. 51cm.
Had a quick 5 mile spin Monday night and changed the stem straight after to an 80mm I had lying about.
Done a 15mile loop today and it felt much better. It's the first "road type" bike I've had since I was about 9 and I think it's going to be well used.
As mentioned the gearing is quite high? I've ordered a 12-30 cassette to ease climbing.
It's like a road bike that likes to go off-road!
How tall are you Russ, trying to fight the itch but doubt I'll last the week and need to decide between the 51 and 54?
gonesailing
I'm 5'5 and have ordered a 51 today which I reckon will be just about right.
I did look at the 54 but thought it might be a touch large for me and my short legs 🙂
I'm 5'6" and felt definatly stretched on the stock stem.
hey russ- are youusing thestandard 10s short cage mech ?
if so let me know if it works 🙂
Will do. I ordered it today. Prob be the weekend before can try it.
I am 178cm, I have a 56 equilibrium and also felt it was to long, it has a 90mm stem on it now. My 54 tripster with its 100mm stem is pretty much exactly the same length as my equilibrium, I can put them next to each other and take some pics if it will help? I'm really glad I went for the 54, the 57 would have been way to long and the head tube would have put me sky high. The 54 actually has a 55 tt and 54 st, the 56 equilibrium has a 56 tt and 53 st.
I'm 182cm and the 57 fits like a glove.
Still waiting for mine, so in the mean time I`ve just ordered some 28c GP 4 Seasons, and a Tubus Airy Ti rack for it from Germany 
Has anyone got any info on best Guards to use ?
I`m thinking the 45mm wide SKS Bluemels ? but they say only up to 38mm tyres ?
Was that rack the 88 quid job from rose?
I'm amazed and impressed at how much attention (and how many pages) a single bike has got!
DrP
Here's mine. 105 triple gruppo to get me up the hills. Slicks and mudguards were on in the winter for road duty. CX tyres for summer off-roading.
[URL= http://i1024.photobucket.com/albums/y308/crimsondynamo/P1050703_zps99ae3e97.jp g" target="_blank">
http://i1024.photobucket.com/albums/y308/crimsondynamo/P1050703_zps99ae3e97.jp g"/> [/IMG][/URL]
Just tonked the 22 miles home on mine tonight from work. Tailwind, sunshine, quiet lanes, dry roads. Happy days.
My 28c GP4Seasons were waiting for me when I got back, so will probably pop them on for the weekend. The 25c Gatorskins have been fine - fast, grippier than people suggest, but I'm looking forward to the slightly higher volume and hope the rolling resistance isn't much more.
Seeing everyone's setups with knobblies on has me thinking that I *need* to go down that route pretty sharpish too... 😉
damn you Buzzlightyear, I had almost talked myself out of getting one 🙂
Gtth... Bet you hardly notice the difference speed wise.. More comfortable though. Worth a play around with tyre pressure too
DrP I was thinking about some fatter rubber before Saturday!
I'm amazed and impressed at how much attention (and how many pages) a single bike has got!
I'm not that surprised as the Tripster is very easy to get evangelical about, to be honest the only time i take my Hummer out is to walk the dog round the woods or round the coastal hill path, I've used it perhaps once or twice this year for it's intended use as a mtb and the only reason i don't take the Tripster round the woods is that i have 28mm Clement's on it at the moment.
Cracking run t'night round the coastline for a pint at Gatehouse then took the long way back and got home at 10.30pm with the very last of the light, I've not had my tea before 11pm any night this week as the weather has been so good that as soon as i finish work bout 6ish it's a quick 3 mile pedal home, get changed, fill the bottles and head out to play till the light dies or i die through lack of food/energy and then i limp home, knackered and weary but already thinking about where to go the following night.
[img] 
[/img]
Here's couple of so called Gravel bike websites/blogs to look through plus a few other blogs/sites, there's reviews of various relevant bits of kit you may find interesting.
[url= http://www.gravelbike.com ]Gravel Bike[/url]
[url= http://gravelgrindernews.com ]Gravel Grinder News[/url]
[url= http://cyclophiliac.com ]Cyclophilliac[/url]
[url= http://www.blackmtncycles.com ]Black Mountain Cycles Blog[/url]
I'm sure there's many other sites/blogs so if you find anything interesting please post a link
D'ya think we should rename the thread title now that it's not about my initial post?, 😀
[i]The All Accommodating Kinesis Tripster ATR Love-In thread[/i]
Dr P
Was that rack the 88 quid job from rose?
Rose didn't have 28c contis, but bike discount.de did and the airy at the same price as rose 😯
Less for the Ti rack from Germany that a lot of the steel ones cost over here !!
Anyone got any pointers on guards ?
I have SKS Chromoplastics in a 45mm width (700x28-37), they fit over my Clement USH 35mm tyres and i'd doubt you'd get anything bigger under them - i had the stays sized so they fit really snug around the tyre, they were great on the road but mud clearance was an issue off-road, there is a larger 50mm width (700x38-45) which is listed as for Hybrids.
There was someone who posted up a thread recently with regard to custom carbon fibre mudguards - i'd be interested in a set of them.
So how does this bike compare to an out and out roadie... I have a carbon Boardman that I am enjoying a great deal.
Would the Tripster be a match for it on the road with say 28c tyres?
TRIPSTER WITH 28c here [gravel kings].
not a million miles away from my carbon cube on 23c but noticeably different. more comfortable if a tad slower.
the cube feels sharp in comparison. geometry and frame material to blame, less so the tyres.
My carbon road bike got stripped down and sold within months of buying my Tripster. Yes it was a couple of pounds lighter, but the Tripster really smooths out the sort of bumps that a carbon bike skits over and is perfectly quick and sprightly too. It is, however, a totally different riding experience. Mine's been shod with 25c and 28c road tyres.
I have segment times on Strava that are faster and slower than the carbon bike. Both of my only two current road KOMs were set on the carbon bike, but I pinned it up one of them last weekend on the Tripster and took another couple of seconds off it - it's a minute and a half, 4% average climb up a narrow lane that steepens to 11% in places. I'm happy with that...
Not that I've any experience of it, but I wonder if it's a bit like wanting a race replica (of sorts) motorbike, hooning around for it and enjoying it, but realising the shortcomings of something like that, probably getting a little older and appreciating that something a little more refined / less specialist / less racy would let you get more out of it. You could argue that unless you're racing the TT or doing track days or whatever, you don't need a Fireblade or a GT3. It's no reason not to have one or that they're not brilliant at what they do, but would something else actually be more rewarding for the sort of cycling / motorbiking / driving that you're doing. Not very eloquently put, sorry.
I understand....
I am hoping to have a dabble on Mr Lightyears Tripster very soon.
there's something still satisfying about an R1 on an open B road though 👿
TLR - Yup, I get that too! 🙂
I Loved my Carbon Cube (And my Fireblade 😀 ) but it was a bit of a "one trick pony" and only came out on nice days where I didn't have to carry anything..... which basically meant club runs.
If it was wet/damp or I needed to carry anything, then I ended up on the Langster single speed (With Rack and raceblades) or on the cargo bike.
I figured the Tripster would be the equal of the cube in terms of feelgood factor but so much more bike too, and with me on it not really any slower 😳
It`ll be practical for more of the riding I actually do, rather than more of the riding that advertisers want us to believe we do 😉
I`m never going to race, but if I do want to try and hang with the fast group on a club run I may still have a chance on the ATR if I can ever get fit enough !!
EDIT: Oh and mine shipped today so hopefully it`ll turn up tomorrow !!
I cant wait to try it out 😀
(I only just held off on ordering the second set of wheels today too, but I suspect that`ll be the next purchase along with a wider range cassette)
Thanks cr500dom, much better put! It seemed daft to me that the bike I was riding most had the crappiest kit on it. My high days and dry days carbon bike had Dura Ace and fancy dan bits, and got used a fraction of the time. I don't care that the Ultegra kit on the Tripster gets grotty in the winter and wears out. That's because I use it all the time.
You will enjoy yours 🙂
EDIT: 2nd set of wheels? I tried that too - just stick the good ones on, enjoy them and replace when they need it. Life's too short...
Gonetothehills,
Love your reasoning in your previous post - beautifully put and precisely the reason I've just ordered a Tripster and just sold my carbon mtb which I could not do justice too ...
Can't wait to get my Tripster and just relax and do my own thing 🙂
Hmmmm it's tempting as I live in the Chilterns and really do quite a lot of 'gravel'.
But I like higher volume tyres on my HT, found 1.9s painful, can't imagine rigid fork as find some bits too harsh with a fork locked out (and that has an inch or so of give) so a light HT works better for me.
Anyone care to do the Ridgeway at some point from Goring to Avebury and back - about 90miles and nothing more than ruts.
freeborn have upped the price !!!!!!!!
Well it arrived this morning !!
Happy is an understatement, this thing is fantastic !
It's just so comfortable and what DrP said is so true, you can just hoon along the road and turn off-road at the same pace and it just goes off up the track like a rocket !!
I never thought it would be this good over mixed terrain, and I haven't even pushed it yet.....
I don't regret selling the carbon road bike at all, this is miles better for the real world riding that I actually do
Oh and Gtth.... I wanted a second set of wheels for ease of swapping between 28c Conti 4 seasons and Small block 8s or other CX tyres depending what I was doing that day 😀
freeborn have 20% off the kinesis cx discs 😯
Might just treat myself to a second set of wheels so I can have them set up tubeless with a chunky off-road tyre ready to swap out my existing road set-up, at that price it'd be impossible to build better myself. If I keep to the same wheels then I have no probs with disc alignment.
somafunk - whatwould the kinesis cx disc need to go tubeless ? assume stans tape and some sealant ?
2 Tubeless valves £10, a £2.50 roll of 1" gorilla tape and a small bottle of stans or suchlike fluid. I clean the rim bed with isopropyl alcohol wipes then lay the tape into the rim bed as I spin the wheel in the frame, press it down with a thin rounded tyre lever to make sure it's well stuck down. Complete one revolution, then take a scalpel and as you spin the wheel lay the scalpel gently into the rim bead to cut away any excess tape as you don't want tape interfering with the tyre bead seal. Cut a small x in the valve hole and insert your tubeless valve and do it up tight but not too tight, fit tyre, squirt in approx 80ml of fluid and inflate - job done for less than £20 with a roll of gorilla tape left over for all sorts of odd jobs.
I've done it that way in one form or another for over 10 years, some tyres are a really slack fit on the kinesis rims so try and only do it with tyres that are a tight fit.
Wonder if the supplied wtb cross wolf would work ? They are identified as tubeless ready.........
[hey russ- are youusing thestandard 10s short cage mech ?
if so let me know if it works ]
Yip it works fine.
Yeah they do work fine, I'd hazard a guess that any wtb tyre would be ok as WTB designed/made the rims for kinesis.
