Cyclocross

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Strawburger
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Re: Cyclocross

Postby Strawburger » Thu Nov 10, 2011 9:45 am

love that bike!
n=10 (2013 & 2004 roads,2010 track,2x 2009 foldups,1990 hybrid,1992 trainer,2007 rental,1970's step through,1980's zeus)

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toolonglegs
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Re: Cyclocross

Postby toolonglegs » Fri Nov 11, 2011 7:33 pm

Cheers strawburger!.
Had my 3rd ride yesterday and I am now loving it...changed the 38 for my original 34 and am happy.Could possibly change the 46 for a 44...but I will wait and see on that.
Went to my local dirt bowl again to do laps...need to keep the weight much further back on corners compared to a mtb to lessen the chances of front end wipe out.Back wheel slides are much easier to control!.But you need to pay attention to the slight off cambers much more than when on the mtb...epsecially as the ground is pretty mucky and damp.
Settled for 38-40 psi on the rear and 36 on the front for now...only had one tyre burp so far and only lost a couple of psi.
Hoping for my first race today...but family outings are getting in the way!.
Found this video too...was searching for clips on rescent races in Lyon and found this old one in the old part of Lyon :shock: .
http://www.ina.fr/sport/cyclisme/video/ ... se.fr.html

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DaveOZ
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Re: Cyclocross

Postby DaveOZ » Fri Nov 11, 2011 7:37 pm

Nice vid. Men were full of HTFU in those days.

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Re: Cyclocross

Postby Nobody » Fri Nov 11, 2011 8:50 pm

I wonder if stairs were part of the course these days as in the video, if CXers would just ride down the stairs.

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toolonglegs
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Re: Cyclocross

Postby toolonglegs » Sun Nov 20, 2011 3:55 am

Race 1 done and dusted...what a blast!.
Rocked up,signed on...toasty weather...10 degrees C meant normal summer knicks,gloves and shirt.Did a warm up lap and had a little burp with my rear tire.Did another practice lap and had a much bigger burp...had to use a bit of CO2 to get back.Was tossing up whether to put a tube in but ended up starting with 44-45 in the rear and 39-40 in the front.
Started down the back, good turn out of 40 or more for the senior race.The course was fun...bit too much climbing for me at the moment.Lots of tricky off camber stuff.Could ride everything apart from two ditch jumps and the 2nd section of stairs...could ride the side of the first section.
Realized pretty quickly that my brakes are not great...had to ride in the drops in a couple of sections to get them to work.Had to also be careful not to load up the tires to much in certain sections...still finished the race,but with about 25 in the front and 35 in the rear.Honestly don't think it is worth risking again with out tubes...can now see the huge benifits of tubular.
Anyway got lapped by the leader and about 10 others...they were flying.I was not :lol: .Anyway had a blast and will stick with it...really is a lot of fun and not too long at all.
Had a small bottle in my back pocket (300ml) but in the end even though I had a mouthful I didn't really need it.
Need to practice runs more!...need to get wider tires as well!.
Until next week!.

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silentbutdeadly
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Re: Cyclocross

Postby silentbutdeadly » Mon Nov 21, 2011 8:46 am

Well done. I did my first MTB race over the weekend too and had a ball even though I scared myself stupid...even tickled a tree... :?

But the other thing I did over the weekend was throw some money at a cyclocross frame (Scott CX) from c r c...so now I could really be in the grief!! Though the prospect of building a crosstrailcommuter was too enticing a prospect to pass up.
Ours is not to reason why...merely to point and giggle

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toolonglegs
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Cyclocross

Postby toolonglegs » Mon Nov 21, 2011 4:50 pm

Cheers sbd...I am still sore 36 hours after!...results are up.
36th out of 47 overall and 13th out 15 for my age.
Boy I need to do some work!.
Have fun with you cx bike!...I played around with my brakes a bit yesterday but they are still not great...ok in the drops but not so good on the hoods. Will have a go at building up the inside of the rim this week to try and stop the tyre burping otherwise I will run tubes.
Hopefully this weekend will be flatter!...but it might be wet!!!

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Re: Cyclocross

Postby Nobody » Mon Nov 21, 2011 8:09 pm

toolonglegs wrote:13th out 15 for my age.
Boy I need to do some work!.
Looks like a lot of people are taking it seriously. I take it there is only one grade? Anyone using MTBs? Are they regulating tyre width?
toolonglegs wrote:I played around with my brakes a bit yesterday but they are still not great...ok in the drops but not so good on the hoods.
Maybe a disc brake conversion for the front if you want to get more serious. Plenty of CX disc forks out there.

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silentbutdeadly
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Re: Cyclocross

Postby silentbutdeadly » Tue Nov 22, 2011 8:43 am

toolonglegs wrote:Cheers sbd...I am still sore 36 hours after!...results are up.
36th out of 47 overall and 13th out 15 for my age.
Boy I need to do some work!.
Have fun with you cx bike!...I played around with my brakes a bit yesterday but they are still not great...ok in the drops but not so good on the hoods.
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Toolong...

If your brakes are still setup like this then I'd look to making the canti link cable shorter. Pull the shoes into the cantilevers, lift their angle and shorten that link cable. I had cantis on my first MTB and I found myself doing a similar trick to overcome the cable stretch and the resultant loss of power when your hands aren't in a powerful position.

Another alternative is to switch to a specialist CX linear pull brake like the TRP CX9 or the CX 8.3. This way you get outer cable coverage all the way to the brakes and more to lever against.
Ours is not to reason why...merely to point and giggle

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toolonglegs
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Re: Cyclocross

Postby toolonglegs » Tue Nov 22, 2011 7:53 pm

Nobody wrote:
toolonglegs wrote:13th out 15 for my age.
Boy I need to do some work!.
Looks like a lot of people are taking it seriously. I take it there is only one grade? Anyone using MTBs? Are they regulating tyre width?
toolonglegs wrote:I played around with my brakes a bit yesterday but they are still not great...ok in the drops but not so good on the hoods.
Maybe a disc brake conversion for the front if you want to get more serious. Plenty of CX disc forks out there.
Yeah there were 70 in our race...the 20 juniors started a minute behind. MTB's are allowed as long as they don't have bar ends.So there is no problems with wider tyres at my level. Maybe at the bigger FFC races they are checked as I don't think you can ride MTB's at FFC events.Saying that there were not that many mtb's there.
Discs maybe next season... think there will be a better level of bikes next year with discs...most of this years models with discs are low end.But with the change in the UCI rules there will be more and more.
I will sell my frame after this season if I turn into a CX fanatic and get something else next year...maybe.No warranty on Lapierre in competition is an issue!.

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toolonglegs
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Re: Cyclocross

Postby toolonglegs » Tue Nov 22, 2011 8:00 pm

silentbutdeadly wrote: Toolong...
If your brakes are still setup like this then I'd look to making the canti link cable shorter. Pull the shoes into the cantilevers, lift their angle and shorten that link cable. I had cantis on my first MTB and I found myself doing a similar trick to overcome the cable stretch and the resultant loss of power when your hands aren't in a powerful position.

Another alternative is to switch to a specialist CX linear pull brake like the TRP CX9 or the CX 8.3. This way you get outer cable coverage all the way to the brakes and more to lever against.
Cheers for the advice.I will stick with these brakes fr now (spent to many euros already!).
I had a play this morning...realized I hadn't replaced the front cable outer when I built the bike...so that smoothed this out a lot.Also cable tied the outer so it enters the stem clamp better as there was a fair bit of friction there.
Fitted a new cable and shortened up the cross cable...will give it a go today.

Also last night I pulled the front tyre off and built the channel up a bit with tape and another rim tape. Refitted the Stans CX strip and then reshaped it a bit with a knife in situe so that it was well clear of the lip all the way round.Was much tighter to fit and also could nearly get it started with just a floor pump.But ended up finishing up the CO2 can I used in practice on Saturday.
Will give it a try today at 34psi and give it a hammering on pinch climbs and off camber and see if I can burp it...fingers crossed as I really don't want to run tubes!.

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trailgumby
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Re: Cyclocross

Postby trailgumby » Tue Nov 22, 2011 9:02 pm

34 psi seems pretty low for such a narrow tyre... thats what i run at the rear of my 5" travel dually with a 2.1" UST Racing Ralph on smooth clean hardpack. What pressure do the guys running tubulars use?

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Re: Cyclocross

Postby trailgumby » Tue Nov 22, 2011 9:09 pm

Re the brakes, I'd be looking to set them up so that at the point of engagement with the brake track the cable is at 90deg to the line from cable connection to the pivot.

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toolonglegs
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Re: Cyclocross

Postby toolonglegs » Tue Nov 22, 2011 9:13 pm

Hey Gumby....down to 28 psi for the lighter guys with tubulars.But I have read of guys running that low with tubeless as well.I 34-36 would be good for the front for me in mucky conditions...remember these are not well formed single tracks we ride on.The a grassy off camber slopes ridding probably for the first time on the day of the race :oops: .
But I am going low today so I can see how it holds up...need to know if it has improved any from Saturday with my modifications.

The brakes move a hell of a lot with a very small amount of lever movement...they probably sit close to 90 degrees when engaged.They work really well in the drops but just don't get enough pressure when on the hoods which is where I want to ride.

ANyway going to watch another episode of Kpow in behind the barriers and go for a ride :D .

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Re: Cyclocross

Postby Mugglechops » Wed Nov 23, 2011 6:11 pm

I would never get away with those pressures on mine.

If I don't have at least 50psi with tubes I end up hitting the rim and risking a pinch flat.

I will be going to 28mm road tyres in the new year as I just bought a 29er HT.

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Re: Cyclocross

Postby toolonglegs » Wed Nov 23, 2011 8:26 pm

I wouldn't hesitate to ride tubeless in non race situations...if I can get away with 34 psi at 100kgs (plus 9.1kg bike!) you would have no worries.I feel the rim often on stones and roots and it never burps in those instances. Yesterday I ran 34 in the front and it felt good,but I did have a tiny burp when I was doing front end wheelies testing my brakes. So obviously my modifications haven't stopped the burping but maybe they make less impact now....who knows!.
I might order a set of Hutchison Bulldogs as they are tubeless specific and 34mm wide...try them out anyway.
Brakes are definitely better now...but I get a fair bit of shudder under hard braking on the front (only when it is dry)...I can see why some makes have moved the outer cable support to the lower end of the fork instead of the stem.I have a hole like a normal roadie mount at the back of my fork...will investigate whether it is possible to go right through and maybe rig up a cable mount there.
Anyway roll on Saturday :D .

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Re: Cyclocross

Postby Mugglechops » Wed Nov 23, 2011 9:15 pm

You are 20kgs lighter than me :D

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toolonglegs
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Re: Cyclocross

Postby toolonglegs » Wed Nov 23, 2011 11:29 pm

Oh ok :lol: .
Hey why not, but if you don't have traction or pinch flat problems though I wouldn't be bothering. I was struggling with traction on Saturday and it was nearly dry ... wait till the rain and snow arrive :D .

Side note...just watched all the Behind the Barriers vids over a few days...if you didn't like CX before you will after watching them :D .
http://www.behindthebarriers.com/ ...start at Season 1 video one.

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Re: Cyclocross

Postby toolonglegs » Fri Nov 25, 2011 2:10 am

Today I went and got a couple more tyres... Challenge griffo 32's and some Michelin square slime tubes...heavy set up compared to the tubeless, but once the wheels are coated in mud it doesn't make much difference!.
Fitted up a front on a Kysrium wheel...no burbs :lol: ...ran 38 psi no problems (they are rated 40-75psi), think I will do the same with the rear as I purposefully burped my rear pretty easily today.
Need to get some better bar tape as well...my normal roadie stuff looks pretty but is too slippy!.
Need to get some hotter embrocation creme as well...and some self heating sachets!...temps are dropping.

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Re: Cyclocross

Postby toolonglegs » Sun Nov 27, 2011 4:00 am

All my little mods made a huge difference today.
My brakes worked beautifully.
Tubed tires took a couple of big hits on roots with no issues...ran 38 front and 40 rear. The course was dry but still it was nice to not worry about burps.I also ran a heavier rear wheel which seemed a lot stiffer. The only draw back is this set up is probably a couple of 100 grams heavier.
Crap load of climbing...hardly got out of the 34!...gear changes got worse as race went along which was a pain.
Third wrap of bar tape made HUGE difference in comfort and handling...although it only just makes it round the bar bend at the top...no problems though as I never ride on the tops.
Was 5C today but short knicks and gloves were fine...embrocation rocks!.
Still finished 1 lap down..but when there are AG2R team cars in the car park I suppose that is not too bad :lol: ...no idea where I got though... hopefully better than last time!.

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Re: Cyclocross

Postby Nobody » Sun Nov 27, 2011 8:40 am

toolonglegs wrote:...gear changes got worse as race went along which was a pain.
Have you got full length outers? I'm guessing if you're observant of 100 grams, that you haven't.

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Cyclocross

Postby toolonglegs » Sun Nov 27, 2011 6:20 pm

Nobody wrote:
toolonglegs wrote:...gear changes got worse as race went along which was a pain.
Have you got full length outers? I'm guessing if you're observant of 100 grams, that you haven't.
we are not talking 100 grams...we are talking a few hundred grams and end...probably 200 up front and 500 on the rear. Enough that it was easily noticeable on lifting the bike. But if it was mucky you will probably pick up a kilo or so of mud in race, much of that on your wheels so I am not too worried. Next year maybe different.
But I do run a Nokon cable on the rear so the inner is fully enclosed.
I seem to have issues with the smaller ring as there isn't as much chain tension. But with out the 34 on yesterday I probably wouldn't have been able to do the loose pinch climb... Riding was much quicker than running.

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Re: Cyclocross

Postby Strawburger » Sun Nov 27, 2011 7:55 pm

toolonglegs wrote: Still finished 1 lap down..but when there are AG2R team cars in the car park I suppose that is not too bad :lol:
Wow! And i thought having Genesys Wealth Advisers Team in the carpark was good!
toolonglegs wrote:Tubed tires took a couple of big hits on roots with no issues...ran 38 front and 40 rear.......
........Third wrap of bar tape made HUGE difference in comfort and handling...although it only just makes it round the bar bend at the top...no problems though as I never ride on the tops.
Firstly, how do you get away with such low pressures on the dirt/mud as a big lad? Not coming from a MTB background i am amazed, combined with the 3 layers of bar tape :shock: the bumps and low pressures must mess up the wheels if you need 3 layers.
n=10 (2013 & 2004 roads,2010 track,2x 2009 foldups,1990 hybrid,1992 trainer,2007 rental,1970's step through,1980's zeus)

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toolonglegs
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Re: Cyclocross

Postby toolonglegs » Sun Nov 27, 2011 10:17 pm

The bar tape isn't really for comfort...the original tape wasn't very grippy and my hands slipped around.Also with the big diameter now I get a better grip and find it easier to move from the hoods to the drops and back in tricky situations.
The low pressures are fine on dirt / mud ... if it was just dirt / mud I would be quite comfortable dropping to 34 / 36 psi front and rear or even lower.The lower the pressure the better the traction.Hence tubulars are so popular in cyclocross as they offer better puncture resistance as they don't have a rim lip to pinch flat on.They also have lower rolling resistance hence they get used down to 26-28psi if the course is really slippy. On tubed tyres I think the actual tread pattern makes a bigger difference in traction as you need more bite at the higher pressures. But for me as there are roots and rocks involved you need the higher pressures ... but you also need to learn the course very quickly so you know where the roots ad rocks are... a bit difficult at this time of year as there are so many leaves on the ground.
On my first warm up lap yesterday I was like Say What! ...this course is a nightmare!. Especially if someone wasn't very good technically just in front of you.But by the 2nd or 3rd lap in you start learning the lines and everyone spreads out.
I realized how seriously people take it yesterday... there were spare bikes everywhere on the course and spare wheels been carried by half the spectators ... I didn't even take a spare tube :oops: . But next week I may take my mtb as a spare bike and spare wheels. Yesterdays course was more mtb than CX in my opinion. Bring on the flatish course!.

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Re: Cyclocross

Postby __PG__ » Mon Aug 27, 2012 8:00 pm

Well I turned up to watch the Dirty Deeds cyclocross race in Brunswick, Melbourne yesterday. A mate of mine was racing A-grade.

It's looks like awesome fun. The crowd is great, the vibe was great and no-one is taking themselves too seriously (there were guys racing in super hero outfits and koala costumes).

I asked my son if he wanted to race and he entered the kids category (he's 6). He got stuck in the mud during the practise session but he didn't give up and wanted to go again so he managed to do one full lap of the adults course (with only a little bit of assistance). Parents were allowed to help little kids during their race..especially as it took my son about one minute to get him and his bike over the hurdles unassisted.

He had a great time...and now I'm thinking about getting a cheap frame and components doing some racing myself :oops: The dismounting scares the hell out of me though! :lol:
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