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Jerry's Specialized Sirrus Expert custom touring bike

 

 


 Custom 2003 Specialized Sirrus Expert
Frame-A1 Premium Aluminum, fully double-butted and heat-treated, with fender and rack braze-ons
Forte Ergo Pro handlebar 40 cm
Cateye Mity 3 computer
Serfas Comfort gel saddle
Shimano 105 STI shifter/brake levers
Linear pull brakes with QBP Travel Agents
Shimano Deore front derailleur
Shimano Deore LX rear derailleur
Shimano 11-32, 9 speed cassette
Specialized 175 cranks, chainrings 52, 42, 30
Shimano HG-72 chain
Nashbar ATB NS-EP2-K spd type pedals
Alex AT-400, 700c rims, 28 front, 32 rear
Front tire: Continental Ultra 2000 700 x 28c
Rear tire: Continental Ultra 2000 700 x 28c
Planet Bike shorty fenders
Ascent Horizon Rear Rack
Bell Halogen Headlight, 4 AA cell, 2.4 watts
Emerson Roadside Emergency 18 LED tail light
Topeak seat bag
Axion handlebar bag (when touring)
Jandd Mini-Mountain panniers (when touring)
Nashbar Trunk (when touring)
Shipped from factory weight: 24 lbs.
MSRP: $849 (2002)

Specialized

     It's been over three years since I purchased my Specialized Sirrus Expert (October, 2002). Since that time I've ridden over 9,000 miles, 4,500 of them on the Sirrus. Since it's purchase I've made considerable changes to the showroom version of the bike, some at the time of delivery and some over time.

      I wanted a lower set of gears and swapped the 11-25 cassette for an 11-30 eight speed cassette at the time of purchase. The cassette change necessitated a rear derailleur change and the bike shop swapped me straight across for a Deore LX long cage rear derailleur. 

    Once in my hands, I added a Blackburn rack and changed my stock seat for a Serfas Comfort gel. I changed the stock cage pedals for some Nashbar Campus pedals with an SPD cleat on one side and a platform on the other. A Mity 3 computer, Planet Bike shorty fenders and an inexpensive Bell lighting system finished out the bike for touring.

    When we were ready for our first tour I added a Nashbar trunk and a pair of Jandd Mini Mountain panniers along with a canvas handlebar bag held to the bike by attaching it over the ends of the brake handles.

     The tours of North Carolina's Outer Banks and southern England were with the bike as configured above. I had some problems with the wheels and their getting out of alignment but believe I've since solved the problem by increasing the tension on all the spokes on both wheels. At 1800 miles, while in England, the Blackburn rack broke and I replaced it with a SK rack I found in a local shop in New Romney. I've since installed that rack on my tandem and have put an Ascent rack on the Sirrus.

     Since purchasing the Sirrus I acquired three other bikes and lost 50 pounds. All of the other bikes have touring style bars. I found that with my weight loss, I didn't mind the more aggressive riding style that touring bars encouraged and found that I rode slightly faster with the lower body position. Another problem with riding bikes with two different style handlebars was that I would forget which bike I was riding when reaching for the brakes and sometimes just squeeze handlebars when intending to stop. 

     I decided to switch the bars and shifters over to touring bars and 105, nine speed, STI shifters. The conversion took a day and included the necessity of adding Travel Agents on the linear brakes so that enough cable could be pulled to stop the bike. I also changed the rear cassette to an 11-32 nine speed, a cassette that originally came on my tandem.

     I commute daily with the bike as configured. It's now "dialed in." When riding, it's like sitting in my armchair with the exception that the scenery is constantly changing.

Touring bars, STI shifters

Touring mode

Shimano Deore LX rear derailleaur , Travel Agent

Campus pedal, clip side showing, teeth filed off, since changed to a standard SPD type pedal

Wheels, spokes, loads and Clydesdales

One of my concerns regarding the bike as from the manufacturer was the strength of the wheels and number of spokes per wheel. I'm not a lightweight, weighing in at close to 210 pounds (Hey, I'm working on it!). All of the touring experts claim that someone my weight needs at least 36 spoke wheels, possibly 40 spoke wheels. The Sirrus Expert comes with a 28 spoke radial front wheel and a 32, cross three, rear wheel. Sure enough, soon after riding the bike, the wheels went out of true. I fussed with them for the first 2000 miles until we stayed with Mike and Susan on our tour of England. Mike checked the rear wheel and told me the spokes were way too loose. He dramatically increased the tension on the rear wheel and I did the same in the front two hundred miles later. I have not had a single problem since that time and have put on another 2500 miles.

Repair/Major Maintenance

  800 miles - Wheels trued, found one loose spoke front wheel, could have been that way from factory
1000 miles - Wheels trued, same spoke found loose, nipple or spoke threads bad, both need to be replaced
1400 miles - Front wheel trued after spoke replaced
1800 miles - Blackburn rack broke, replaced with KF rear rack
1950 miles - Rear wheel trued by someone who knew what they were doing, said tensions were way too slack on spokes
2200 miles - MTB handlebar system changed in favor of touring handlebars and 105 STI shifters. Rear cassette changed from 8 speed 11-30 to 9 speed 11-32. New Shimano HG-72 chain.
2200 miles - KF rack mounted on tandem, replaced with Ascent rear rack. 
2200 miles - Spokes in entire front wheel tightened after finding two loose spokes.
3100 miles - Changed rear tire to a Conti 2000 after cord was showing on Specialized Armadillo. The Armadillo had one flat in 3000 miles!
4325 miles - Changed the front tire to a Conti 2000 after the cord was showing on the Specialized Armadillo. About eight flats in over 4,000 miles.
4450 miles - Changed Campus pedals to Nashbar ATB NS-EP2-K standard SPD type pedal for ease of entry since I ride longer distances between stops when commuting.