Trigon XQC-01 Cyclocross

Getting a cyclocross bike dirty, albeit one with a technologically advanced carbon frame, is no big deal so there’s no real guilt in using it for a variety of training purposes, and for that reason it seems to encourage you to get out no matter how awful the weather is. Then once out, even when just on road tyres, it tempts you up onto curbs, down muddy bridleways and generally off-tarmac at every opportunity. Big air seems to come naturally from any speed bump or other appropriate rise in the road. It makes any ride great fun.

Set up to match my usual road position, the Trigon XQC-01 with road wheels and tyres made for a great training bike for the Spring up in Northumberland

The Trigon frame is full carbon and is almost identical to the excellent road race version, the Trigon RQC-29, sharing their C8 composite carbon. Of course Trigon made a name for themselves as an OEM supplier, manufacturing for many of the more established brands and as such really know how to build a good frame. Many of the frame’s features seem identical to the RQC-29’s, with the same shape to the downtube, headtube, chainstays and seattube.

The main difference is the top tube which lacks the curve of the road bike and is of much flatter section to afford easier carrying when racing over obstacles and to help maintain a clean line for the on top of the top tube mounted cables. Building up the bike was very straightforward with the main issues being around getting those cables routed correctly, but a bit of planning and plenty of trial and error saw me through.

Out on the road this translates to a frame that seems easily as stiff as its road going sibling, with no noticeable flex. It provides assured road performance with no sense of being held back in anyway. Off-road that stiffness makes for a very positive ride with no sense of the bike ever getting ‘bogged down’; it just pushes forward with every pedal stroke. The frame stiffness can be felt if you take a big hit but hasn’t really manifested itself as an issue over rough terrain.

The BB30 set-up certainly helps overall bottom bracket stiffness, with the excellent carbon, SRAM Force chainset and the Trigon’s beefy bottom bracket cluster providing excellent lateral resistance and energy transfer. More than that though, I personally love the ankle clearance that a BB30 chainset provides; for that reason alone BB30 makes so much sense. Following Campagnolo’s recent concession to BB30, I wish Shimano would take note of it for this reason alone.

Trigon XQC-01 has a BB30 bottom bracket which the SRAM Force carbon chainset makes the most of, providing excellent stiffness with great ankle clearance when pedalling

Of course the frame has some added ‘off-road’ features including really flattened section seatstays, intended to impart a bit of extra comfort over the lumps and bumps. I can’t say I have noticed any extra comfort particularly but it does serve to remind you what this bike is really designed for, and yet its road manners makes me think that having such a versatile cyclocross bike as your second bike makes so much sense. OK so this particular carbon framed example may be a bit too much for a commuter bike with that flash frame, but you can easily buy to suit your specific requirements.

With a slightly shorter top tube and slacker head tube, the handling of the Trigon frame is a little more relaxed up front than the usual road race bike but not to the extent that it feels out of sorts on the sharp bends that litter Northumberland’s tight country lanes or when weaving through London traffic. The massive head tube and the equally huge fork provide positive direction changes and good resistance to stopping forces.

Off-road the bike is stable at speed but still corners impressively on both grassy paddock and around damp, muddy woodland tracks. It also takes jumps without complaint and inspires a lot of confidence in the rider, even if your cyclocross experience is limited.

 
 
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