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Kinesis Tripster ATR V2 frameset

British brand's titanium adventure bike brought bang up to date

Back in November we covered the launch of the Tripster ATR V2 frame, and its launch heralded the arrival of a bang-on-trend adventure bike that boasted the luxury ride characteristics of titanium, with tweaks over the original version to make it more usable in everyday adventure scenarios.

That meant the introduction of new, custom-shaped tubing designed to increase stiffness while also adding greater practicality. The toptube was flattened and tapered to allow easy shoulder carrying – a lesson learned from racy cyclo-cross bikes – while the increased gauge in the downtube helped improve the power transfer.

It’s not just about how you carry the bike, however, but also about how the bike carries you, and all your equipment. Kinesis say the Tripster frameset is designed to allow tube bags to fit more securely, which is clearly going to be advantageous when the road gets particularly gnarly on your bike-packing trip.

The tweaks to the frame didn’t stop there, though, with the rear triangle reprofiled to fit the now commonplace flat-mount disc brake standard, while a new dual rear dropout system gives riders the choice of running the 12x142mm thru-axles that come as standard, or a traditional 9x135mm quick release.

RCUK 100 2017 - Kinesis Tripster ATR V2 frameset

Of course, the Tripster is sold as a frame, so flexibility is a real positive and there’s a choice of two forks to customise the front end and the ride you experience.

The first of these is the ATR Disc fork, which is the more road-specific of the two, featuring a carbon construction. Don’t think it’s suddenly all about road racing, though – it’s built with clearance for 45mm-wide 700c rubber, or even 47mm wide 650b hoops, while there are mudguard eyelets installed too.

RCUK 100 2017 - Kinesis Tripster ATR V2 frameset
RCUK 100 2017 - Kinesis Tripster ATR V2 frameset
RCUK 100 2017 - Kinesis Tripster ATR V2 frameset

Kinesis Tripster ATR V2

The second fork is a cyclocross-specific TRP, allowing you to move your Tripster frameset towards a more off-road flavor. This one’s tapered with a 47mm rake to extend the wheelbase slightly, softening up the responses and making the chassis easier to handle on rough terrain, while you can opt for 12 or 15mm thru-axles. At the same time, it offers 40mm of tyre clearance so there’s plenty for racers or adventurers.

Kinesis also introduced cable, hydraulic hose and Di2-compatible internal routing with the updated frameset; the idea being to improve shifting reliability, while keeping the cables free of grit and mud. And, in a nice touch, a third bottle cage mount has been included under the downtube – which makes it a true all-day, all-terrain adventuring platform.

[monetizer101 search=’Kinesis Tripster ATR V2′ price=’1850′]

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