2010 Trek Preview: Gary Fisher Cronus
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The first all-carbon road bike for Fisher was a surprising treat. For the athlete who wants to pack a ton of stuff into one bike, the Cronus is killer; it’s got a built-in set of bosses for fender racks, making it an all-season racer/commuter. It’s lightweight OCLV carbon. And it’s a bit tall in the headtube, making for less need of spacers.
But it’s also a true racer—the Kelly Benefits road team is using the Cronus to great effect. The biggest engineering marvel is in the front end. Fisher focused on steering column with Fischer Control Column, creating a wider stance fork and proprietary wider, high-flange front hub on the spec’d Bontrager wheels. Fisher claims a 27 percent reduction in front-end deflection experienced when cornering, and climbing. Gary Fisher product manager Travis Ott said the downtube on the Cronus is of the largest diameter that the Trek Corporation has ever done.
We had a chance to ride the Cronus (with none other than Gary Fisher himself) and have to report that the front end is indeed stiffer. Granted, it’s hard to test front end stiffness amid gentle Wisconsin cornfield backroads, but it seems stiffer than even the Madone.