Trek Crockett 5 Disc Review

Any one who has read one of my blog entries or talked to me in person will know just how much I love the sport of cycling and of all the different aspects of the sport my absolute favorite has to be Cyclocross. I have been following the sport since the 1990's and got my first Cyclocross bike in 2002. Back then the major players in the bike industry did not bring a Cyclocross model to the country so the only way you could get one was by importing one yourself from the USA or Europe. Needless to say, you never got to see too many cross bikes out and about back then. 

Fast forward around a decade and almost all of the major bike industry players have a cross bike to offer the Australian consumer, a lot of them offering 3 or 4 models. The Cyclocross bike is a perfect bike for a lot of people. You can use it for racing Cyclocross, commuting, touring, bike track riding, rail trails, light duty mountain bike trails and you can put a set of road tyres on and use it for your favorite road ride as well. I have used my cross bikes for all of these and more. 

For 2014 Trek have expanded their range of cross bikes, in 2013 they signed a number of big named Cyclocross riders to their "Trek Cyclocross Collective" team. Probably the biggest name of these was Katie Compton, 2013 World Cup overall winner. Katie is well known for being a very meticulous rider, wanting her bikes to perform flawlessly and has worked with Trek to help them develop this new range of cross bikes for 2014. The bike that Katie rode last year was a prototype of the Crockett that is now available to us mere mortals. The geometry of this new platform is completely different from previous years cross bikes and should lead to a bike that handles the rigors of Cyclocross even better than the Cronus and Ion from last year.

Trek Crockett 5 Disc 

I was lucky enough to receive one of the first Crockett's available in Australia, good timing too, I got it the week before the National Cyclocross Championships and the final round of the Dirty Deeds Cyclocross series. A weekend of cross racing to break in a brand new bike, sounded good to me. 

Nice clean lines with no brake at the top of the fork.

I got to take the bike out for a quick spin before the first race, not nearly long enough but it gave me an idea of what to expect. The geometry of this new model is more in line with the Trek road bikes than their current range of cross bikes. This leads to a quick handling bike that is still stable through the corners and at speed. Standing up and stomping on the pedals results in an immediate response at the wheel, very efficient and stiff without having an overly harsh ride quality. The new frame is made of Trek's Alpha 200 series aluminium, their top of the line alloy material. 

I love a nice new shiny cassette. 

The alloy frame no doubt contributes to the stiff and efficient ride quality. The frame is also set up to run the gear and brake cables internally to keep them out of the mud and help reduce wear to the cables caused by being exposed to the elements. The carbon fiber fork is the same as the fork they designed for their Domane road bike. This IsoSpeed fork has been designed to offer good vertical compliance for the bumps but still be stiff laterally for steering precision. The backwards facing drop outs mean that the fork will handle like a straight blade fork but with the comfort of a raked fork. This along with Trek's patented E2 tapered steerer system makes for a stiff and yet comfortable ride. The frame also comes equipped with the Trek 3S integrated chain keeper which stops the chain from bouncing off the crank set to the inside, handy considering the rigors of cross racing.

The parts attached to this frame are reasonably modest but I think are a good choice for cross racing. Cyclocross is notoriously hard on components and having cheaper parts means that when the inevitable breakage does happen it isn't too much of an impact on your wallet to get the part replaced. This also means that the bike has a recommended retail of only $1,999.00, not too bad as a way to try out Cyclocross.  The bike has mostly Shimano 105 parts with an FSA 36/46 Cyclocross specific crank set spinning in a press fit BB86.5 bottom bracket. Avid BB5 mechanical disc brakes, post mount, with 160mm rotors handle the stopping duty. The wheels are an in house Bontrager set with 135mm rear hub spacing and are tubeless tyre compatible. 

The package comes together nicely; the new geometry and stiff frame works in conjunction with the Cyclocross specific build to make for one very impressive Cyclocross race bike. The handling of this bike is rock solid, with lower US style bottom bracket height and a longer top tube you end up being in a long and low riding position that really helps to put the power down and maintain stable handling. The disc brakes help with confidence in that they will start braking straight away when you apply them, not having to get rid of a layer of water and mud off of the brake surface before you get any friction. The 36/46 chain ring combination matched to a 12/30 cassette makes for a very usable gear range for its intended purpose.  I found myself staying in the big ring for longer and also using more of the cassette while in the big ring which allowed for a straighter chain line, this is great for helping to reduce wear. 

The handing of this bike is going to suit a more aggressive rider who has the ability to push the bike to its limits, when you get to those limits though it feels very secure and stable. The aggressive geometry allows for a very quick handling bike, very responsive to input from the rider. This can be both a good thing and a bad thing depending on your skill level. If your inputs are the right type of inputs then you will get great results, if those inputs are wrong though the results might not be so pleasing. Quick changes of direction, a staple of cyclocross racing, are perfectly handled by the Crockett. High speed corners are another place this bike shines, you would normally expect a fast handing bike to be less stable at speed but, like Trek's road bikes, this is simply not the case. They manage to bring the best of both worlds together for a ride quality that is hard to understand until you have ridden one.

I have got to say that I am impressed with the new Crockett cross bike, fantastic bike for the money. Having Trek's proprietary technology designed into a cyclocross frame has definitely helped create a bike that is perfectly suited to it's intended use. Given the price point of under two thousand dollars the weight of the bike is quite reasonable and if you spent some money on upgrading the wheels you could bring the weight down quite a bit. You could pretty easily take half a kilogram off the weight of the bike right there. As a first timers cyclocross bike you really couldn't ask for a better package, good quality parts without being overly expensive, built in versatility with the hidden fender mounts, good consistent braking in wet or dry conditions and the famous Trek handling has carried over as well. Well done again Trek, very pleased.

- Brad.