Early summer is an odd time to release a cyclocross bike, given that the racing season is about six months away in the Northern Hemisphere — although it's in full swing in Australia right now. Still, Trek has just launched the 2020 version of its Crockett CX bike.
While the frame sees a few minor updates, the biggest news here is the first appearance of the T47 threaded bottom bracket in a bike produced by a mainstream brand.
The rumour mill had been busy with reports that Trek had plans to replace the press fit BBs in its bikes with the threaded T47 standard, and it seems they were right.
Launched back in 2015, the T47 BB standard was a collaboration between Chris King and Argonaut Cycles, and was designed to cure the creeks associated with PF30 BBs.
T47 combines a bottom bracket shell with the same internal diameter as a PF30 but relies on 47x1mm threads to hold the cups in place rather than a press fit.
Trek is replacing the PF86 bottom brackets seen in the previous version of the Crockett by filling the oversized 86mm shell with a Praxis T47 BB. Beyond eliminating creaking, this change also improves crankset compatibility.
Now for the rest of the bike
Available in an alloy frame only, the latest Crockett gets Trek's heavily hydroformed 300 Series Alpha aluminium tubing, including the Invisible Weld Technology, which is said to create a lighter yet stronger weld.
Trek has also abandoned the Stranglehold sliding dropout, meaning the Crockett will no longer be ideal for singlespeeders.
The upside, though, is that without the extra hardware the claimed frame is now only 1,325g painted in a size 56, and Trek says the Crockett 5 complete bike tips the scale at 8.87kg in the same size.
The new Crockett takes up to a 38c tyre, comes with an IsoSpeed front end, and keeps shift cables and brake hoses out of the elements using the brand's Control Freak internal cable routing.
The 2020 Crockett sees the same ‘Cross Race Geometry’ as the Boone with a 72-degree head angle, 74-degree seat angle, 425mm chainstays and stack and reach figures of 563mm and 383mm in a size 54cm. Though it’s a racer at heart, the frame still gets hidden fender mounts and two sets of bottle bosses.
Available now in some fantastic colourways, the Crockett 4 comes with Apex 1x11 build and costs £1,300 / $1,679.99 / AU$2,799.99 while the Crockett 5 sees a Rival 1x11 groupset and costs £1,750 / $2,399.99 .
Depending on where you live, Trek is also offering a frameset that includes the carbon fork for $1,069.99.
