Has anyone gotten one as a road bike?
I got an exploro for gravel and really like the fit and feel and considering changing my madone SLR for a 3T. Also like the 1X setting especially since I just mash
Local team had them. 3T were difficult to deal with. Had to JB Weld seatpost to stop from slipping. Problems with chain drop while coasting attributed to large mass/momentum cassette still spinning and slackening chain. All the riders got rid of them after a year.
That’s not encouraging:)
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I got a 3T Strada 2x from Pro’s Closet (pretty much the only bike I could get on short notice).
Love it so far. I’ve had no trouble with the seatpost (and I’m not super light at ~170 lbs.)
Can’t comment on the 1x aspect, obviously. But I see no reason why it wouldn’t be a fine 1x aside from all the aspects of 1x that apply to any bike.
Yup, I have one. What would you like to know?
Had to JB Weld seatpost to stop from slipping.
I had lots of issues with my seatpost slipping on my exploro. Last year I wrapped the post with a piece of aluminum i cut from a soda can and it hasn’t slipped since. Is it ideal? No. Should i have to do this on a top tier bike? No. But it works and isn’t a semi-permanent bond like JB Weld probably would be.
Has anyone gotten one as a road bike?
I got an exploro for gravel and really like the fit and feel and considering changing my madone SLR for a 3T. Also like the 1X setting especially since I just mash
I have one which I modded a bit (hid the front brake cable, repaint etc.). Haven’t had the seatpost slip, and it’s pretty aero - at least I can achieve a 0.22x CdA on it which is the best so far on a road bike for me.
I have both the Exploro and a Strada Due. Overall I have been very happy with the Strada as an on road complement to the Exploro. The weak point is the seat post which has been slipping constantly for me. The seat post bottom out in the seat tube though so I made a spacer from a spare post I had that fills the gap so it can’t move. If you get a long enough post when ordering and cut it exactly to length it would work the same way.
That’s a good idea. Given my height, or lack thereof, chances are I have plenty enough seatpost and can it just sit on the curved part.
I have 1x Strada and it’s good, BUT the area behind the seatpost cracked and 3T did not help me. I’ve seen others have the same exact issue and they too had severe difficulty dealing with 3T.
My conclusion: really good frame designers. Low quality construction. I think the seatpost design has inherent stress areas, so while the frame is aesthetically awesome, it’s bound to fail in that area if ridden enough and on rough roads, even with a torque wrench always at the ready.
I had got the frame patched up by a carbon repair shop and it’s good to go. My only issue, now, is that I wish it had space for 32mm tires on wheels with 25mm ID wheels, and I wish the cables were completely hidden. The headtube/stack is also pretty tall, IMO. I have to run a 140mm -20 stem. (will go custom aero Appleman in the future).
I do like 1x. I run an 11s 46 x 9-39t set up. I could see myself going with the Campy 13s 9-42t and that would be really nice. I like the 9t in training, a lot. 46 x 9 is almost good enough for me to keep up with my training group, but if I miss the draft, I’m screwed. 1x will evolve and get here in full form soon enough. I digress: I want 16 cogs sandwiched onto a freehub body with a servo motor inside the freebub that moves the cogs so that the chain is always in aligned with the front chainring, and then a small chain tensioner rather than a RD…
I have 1x Strada and it’s good, BUT the area behind the seatpost cracked and 3T did not help me. I’ve seen others have the same exact issue and they too had severe difficulty dealing with 3T.
My conclusion: really good frame designers. Low quality construction. I think the seatpost design has inherent stress areas, so while the frame is aesthetically awesome, it’s bound to fail in that area if ridden enough and on rough roads, even with a torque wrench always at the ready.
I had got the frame patched up by a carbon repair shop and it’s good to go. My only issue, now, is that I wish it had space for 32mm tires on wheels with 25mm ID wheels, and I wish the cables were completely hidden. The headtube/stack is also pretty tall, IMO. I have to run a 140mm -20 stem. (will go custom aero Appleman in the future).
I do like 1x. I run an 11s 46 x 9-39t set up. I could see myself going with the Campy 13s 9-42t and that would be really nice. I like the 9t in training, a lot. 46 x 9 is almost good enough for me to keep up with my training group, but if I miss the draft, I’m screwed. 1x will evolve and get here in full form soon enough. I digress: I want 16 cogs sandwiched onto a freehub body with a servo motor inside the freebub that moves the cogs so that the chain is always in aligned with the front chainring, and then a small chain tensioner rather than a RD…
46/9 is equivalent to 56/11.
Quite a strong training group
46/9 is equivalent to 56/11.
Quite a strong training group
yo yo yo
Fount Cycling Guild races on them exclusively with the exception of my wife.
They placed 3rd, 17th, 18th, 19th & 21st at US Pro Road Nat’l Champs Road Race. Results list here.
They’re fast bikes. How fast? Not sure. But not slouchy at all.
Rationale:
My wife got 5th at the US Pro Nats TT this year.She typically does better in Merckx TT’s using her 2018 Cervelo S5 than in TT’s on UCI legal bikes using her 2013 Cervelo P5.She got beat this year at Tour of Walla Walla 2 weeks before US Pro’s by 3 of her teammates riding 3T Strada 1x’s.
Only confounding factor: she probably held back a little too much on power output on the way out, given the course profile, and I did not put a new chain on. Her chain was not badly worn. She may have left 30-40 seconds on the table because of those things, if I had to estimate. That would have put her dead even with her teammate, Veronica Ewers. (Veronica got 8th at US Pro TT, riding a 2020 Shiv).
I make no claim to the reliability of the 3T bikes. I’ve heard bad things from folks who do not own them. Seems like a lively rumor mill. Her team absolutely loves them. It *could *be that they just get all their issues taken care of faster because they have partial support from 3T.
My wife doesn’t ride one because she hasn’t believed that they could be better than her current bike, which she has loved. That may be changing very soon as she’s been offered a 3T Strada 1x with full THM components.
Hey Xavier,
Would you be able to share how you went about hiding the front brake cable?
I was considering using the QR PRfour disc top cap, but would prefer to use a cleaner solution.
I made channels in the expander plug and top cap to let the cable pass down through the steerer - the stem is a Giant Propel stem which lets you get the cable down into the top cap/steerer that way and still keep everything hidden
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I have an Exploro and the seatpost is slipping.
I’m just going to wrap parts of the post in tape to make a lot of friction with the frame.
Why Vroomen though making such a critical part subject to insanely tight tolerances was a good idea is beyond me.
What kind of CdA do you have on a TT frame? Just curious what your delta is between that and your Strada
What kind of CdA do you have on a TT frame? Just curious what your delta is between that and your Strada
Right now it’s around 0.188-0.193 on a Cervelo P5 Disc (UCI legal), if I’m holding my position well but higher if I’ve lost it, I have some body position/injury issues which limit me somewhat.
I have seen <0.180 before (that was on a P4) but it was such a grim position I only did one race like that and binned it off for something less stressful!
Has anyone gotten one as a road bike?
I got an exploro for gravel and really like the fit and feel and considering changing my madone SLR for a 3T. Also like the 1X setting especially since I just mash
I have one which I modded a bit (hid the front brake cable, repaint etc.). Haven’t had the seatpost slip, and it’s pretty aero - at least I can achieve a 0.22x CdA on it which is the best so far on a road bike for me.
How does the cda of that bike compare to something like the s5?