Choosing the Perfect Bike

If there's such a thing as a perfect bike, it will

1. Always have precisely the right gear for the conditions


2. Be supremely easy to ride


3. Get the rider magnificently fit


4. Need no maintenance


5. Never get a puncture


6. Never wear out and be indestructible


7. Be totally comfortable after hours in the saddle


8. Carry everything you could possibly want to carry


9. Weigh absolutely nothing, even fully loaded


10. Be super fast on the road, totally at home on the trail and fantastic fun in the mud


11. Be inexpensive and exclusive

You can see where this is going, I'm sure!

There is, of course, no such thing as the perfect bike. There are, however, some bikes that seem to come amazingly close. So close you'd swear the designers have access to some secret technology unknown to normal mortals.

One such bike is the Specialized Tricross.

Two of these bikes were kitted out as tourers and used by the great LeKnees Pyrenean assault team of 2007. They climbed everything, they went fast, they went offroad, they carried a ton of kit. Hardly anything broke!

I'd buy one tomorrow. In fact, I might, because Evans Cycles are currently offering 10% worth of Specialized spares when you spend £1000 on certain Specialized bikes. The only problem is, the basic Tricross is well under a thousand pounds.

But Evans Cycles have loads more bargains right now, too: