Black Catrike 700

I got very lucky and happened to stumble upon a 2013 Catrike 700 for sale on BentriderOnline for an incredibly low price. This 700 was nicely equipped with an FSA SLK carbon fiber triple crank set, Sram XX rear derailleur and an extra set of wheels. I immediately messaged the seller committing to buy the 700. Fortunately, the seller lives about an hour’s drive away so I was able to complete the deal and bring the 700 home the next day.

This is the 5th 700 I’ve owned so I know exactly how to dial it in to suit me. I started by disassembling it, cleaning it and evaluating what parts to replace. This 700 was in very good shape. The chain was a bit worn and the rear bar end shifter had a broken spring. These are easy fixes. (I keep plenty of those SRAM springs on hand since they seem to break pretty regularly.) I also removed a lot of pieces to simplify the trike – things like extra bottle cages, mirror posts and wrist rests. The silver Catrike logo stickers were a bit worn so I used my vinyl cutter to make a new set. I went with red stickers to contrast with the black frame. I also replaced the seat mesh with a first generation seat mesh. While the later seats have more pockets, they also weigh about a pound more and have a seam across the seat that I notice while riding.

Here are the first photos of the trike after the above refresh…