Haven’t seen much about the TriRig Alpha as of late. For anyone who rode it all season, what are your thoughts on it now? How is the quality of the finish on the bar after some use? Did you continue to have issues with the elbow pads adhering to the elbow cups? Still comfortable with the stability of the bar?
One new thing I noticed is the BTA mount can be used to increase the stability if you use a lot of risers:
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I got the Alpha as part of the build for a new bike this year (2014 P2), and have been mostly satisfied beyond I expected I would be. Disclaimer, in that I’ve only had the Alpha since July, and only done three races (40k TT, 2 HIM legs)/400-500 miles of training on it.
The adjustability has been a godsend for finding good initial fit, and now that I have the fit I intend on keeping, aero is incredibly comfortable to sit in. Hard to anecdotally judge race performance when getting a whole new bike (which itself has let me find a much better position), but have been blown away by my speed when compared to power (and factoring in my 6’7", long-ass legged body). I can at least confirm that the adjustability of the bars has played a huge factor in letting me find the fit that has surprised me (definitely passes eye aero test, but that is certainly not a fully accurate measuring stick). Finish is still holding together perfectly for me (albeit in the nicest summer I’ve experienced in Seattle).
Only downside is the elbow pad Velcro, which was really shoddily applied. A careful application of Gorilla Glue to the Velcro, however, and I haven’t had any issues.
All-in-all, I am supremely impressed with the bars, and don’t even feel compelled to lust after something new (which I do for pretty much everything equipment-wise, even if I already have an equivalent).
Happy with mine. I use no risers. They alloy clips that the extensions and pad holders attach to are show some finish degradation. Normal for me, I have TSS - Toxic Sweat Syndrome.
Love this bar. No risers for the pads and extensions mounted underneath.
Pad came off on second ride so used some guerrilla glue to affix the velcro, no problems since.
Trimmed down the brake lever tubes so they were not so long.
Comfortable climbing with hands on the bar, fits like a glove.
I’ve ridden hundreds of miles on it.
Just setting up my new TriRig bars and would like to see how you have your set up. Anyone else that would be great too.
I can probably get a picture or two tomorrow. Anything in particular you want to see?
Note, this is an old p3c with a cable re-route through the top tube mod.
Jack had a pretty good post somewhere about doing that.
I have the same modification done on my SLC and my P2 just a bit different. Was just hoping for a picture of the back set up and what it looks like from the front. How much did you cut off of the hand position and I am assuming you are using the Gamma extensions and it looks like you cut most of the back section off and are only using the 15 degree portion.
Here are a couple shots. I cut the brake tubes back to just before the cable holes on the underside. If you are running the cables through the bars you don’t need those cable holes anyway. If you do the same you will probably need to sand the inside a bit to make sure your brake levers fit right. There was a bit of left over epoxy inside the tubes that had to be sanded down.
Before this bar I rode the Hed bars for a very long time and got used to the short hoods for the brake levers. So, I cut these down to match as best as I could.
I also cut a pretty big chunk off of the gamma extensions. You will see the bend in the bars starts almost a the base bar.
http://i62.tinypic.com/18hlcy.jpg
Thanks for the pictures. How much did you cut off the extension? Not sure I would cut off the extensions where the brakes go but I might check it out.
Probably 6-8 inches. The extensions come really long. They are meant to be cut on either or both ends to make them fit your setup right. I was just replicating an existing setup, so it was pretty straight forward.
If your position is not set you could leave the cables long and extensions longer until you lock in to a comfortable position. It would just be a bit more work of putting everything together more than once.
Thank you for the reply.
My big question is if he is going to produce more??? They are out of stock and I was planning on buying a set this fall.
Unfortunately the website informs us to not contact him about individual product availability as he will not answer those questions on an individual basis. I guess we just wait for the newsletter as instructed.
Jack
My big question is if he is going to produce more??? They are out of stock and I was planning on buying a set this fall.
Unfortunately the website informs us to not contact him about individual product availability as he will not answer those questions on an individual basis. I guess we just wait for the newsletter as instructed.
Jack
Are you freaking kidding me? I bought the TriRig Omegas from Nick about 1.5 years ago and I like them. But I don’t care what he says, if I have a question about a product…you as a consumer…have the right to ask that question. If any website told me that I could not contact the manufacturer and to wait for a newsletter…I would take my money elsewhere.
Nick should however put some information in the store area for each item that is not available with an expected arrival date. I do understand his frustration with a consumer always asking the same question hundreds of times but there are ways to deal with this without saying he will not answer these questions and to wait for a newsletter.
From the website:
“Do not contact us to ask when an out-of-stock item will be re-stocked. We discuss those topics in our Newsletter, but will not answer on an individual basis.”
So if my cable TV went out…I should wait for the cable company to mail me a letter about when it will come back on?
Customers should be able to ask any question they want whenever they want
No but most cable companies do have a message that states “we are currently experiencing technical difficulties in your area and we expect the service to be back up by 6pm tonight”
As mentioned, Nick could go about this in a better fashion with putting in each product section the expected availability. It would reduce the amount of emails for sure.
I agree, a brief note attached to the product page with expected availability would be nice.
I think the, “I’m a single person with a small company” isn’t the best solution. I think small companies are great and have innovative products (tririg, dash, etc) but simple customer service is still important. I will still the buy the alpha aerobars so he has my business, so I guess it makes my argument pointless.
Jack
It is the small company that learns from their mistakes quickly that moves forward. I hope when Nick reads these comments that he takes my advice. It will help reduce emails.