2018 Specialized Crosstrail
 

i purchased a specialized crosstrail 2018 hydro-dbrake. so far like that bike but it does seem a bit slow. What are some good beginner upgrades that I could put on this bike? Anyone have any experience with these bikes?

Appears to be a nice bike. How long have you been riding? None of my bikes are as fast as I'd like them to be, but I know that if I want them to be faster I have to work on me...... Lol

Good chance the bike with the 2 x 11 is a better bike than your crosstrail .. But with that said as I switch bikes on any given day one may feel a little faster one day over the other. Can't explain why .... It's part of the n+1 you'll read about or experience at some point ....

The best improvement you can do to make that bike faster is to tune up the engine.

Leg squats.

Indoor trainer or exercise bike with much higher tension than you get on a real bike.

Run up and down flights of stairs.

And my personal favorite....just ride more.

Making your legs stronger is the single best way to improve the speed of a bike. Cheapest, too.

Honestly it would cost more than the purchase price of the bike to make it significantly faster mechanically. You can squeeze a little extra speed out of it with slicker tires (I assure you are running the Trigger Sports). Get something with less tread and it will make a noticeable difference, but it's not going to win you any races. You can do that upgrade cheap. Everything else costs more like better wheels and such.

The bike is built for reliable durable riding in a variety of conditions. It's just not built for speed.

There is nothing wrong with the bike. I have a 2017 Crosstrail and I love it. It's a great commuter bike. I can pile a ton of stuff on it and it'll still ride along gracefully. But it's not fast. If I want speed I need my gravel bike with an entirely different set up.

What kind of riding do you do? Might be as simple as putting on better tires, and inflating them properly!
Since I ride my older Crosstrail on almost always paved surfaces, Schwalbe Marathon Supremes, at 92 PSI transforms the bike.

Lol...It's not the bike. It's the motor.

I used to have one of those bikes. Had no problem hanging with the roadies on 18-20mph average pace rides.