CX bike vs 29er

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queequeg
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Re: CX bike vs 29er

Postby queequeg » Tue Jan 10, 2012 12:44 pm

Pulled the tyres off my 29er rims. Found the puncture in the tube. It was so small that I could only find it with the tube pretty well inflated.
Rim tape on the wheels was totally stuffed. Bike shop had used tape too narrow, so the tyre bead had ripped it apart. No doubt why the tube got punctured.

Lesson: running tubeless or not, probably best to use the Stans tape on the rims so that the well in the rim is not made flat by the heavy cloth tape, and use the soapy water installation method.
'11 Lynskey Cooper CX, '00 Hillbrick Steel Racing (Total Rebuild '10), '16 Cervelo R5, '18 Mason BokekTi

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DaveOZ
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Re: CX bike vs 29er

Postby DaveOZ » Wed Jan 18, 2012 9:09 pm

Carbon flat bar, SRAM X9 shifters and Avid brake levers fitted tonight. All fairly easy and the ride position feels good. I'll see how it performs on tomorrow's commute and all going well I'll take it to the trails on the weekend.

So I now have a lightweight titanium CX/MTB with Stans ZTR rims and 35mm CX tyres. :D

Photos tomorrow.
Last edited by DaveOZ on Thu Jan 19, 2012 9:29 am, edited 1 time in total.

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DaveOZ
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Re: CX bike vs 29er

Postby DaveOZ » Thu Jan 19, 2012 9:03 am

Transformation complete.

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Mulger bill
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Re: CX bike vs 29er

Postby Mulger bill » Thu Jan 19, 2012 10:12 pm

Looks the goods Dave, but if I can be a little picky, methinks the cable outers at the front look a tad long.

Shaun
...whatever the road rules, self-preservation is the absolute priority for a cyclist when mixing it with motorised traffic.
London Boy 29/12/2011

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DaveOZ
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Re: CX bike vs 29er

Postby DaveOZ » Fri Jan 20, 2012 7:11 am

Yeah the cables are a tad untidy but I left the lengths in case I wanted to change back to the drops. After a few rides I think this is unlikely. At some point I will trim the outers and tidy it up.

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Mugglechops
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Re: CX bike vs 29er

Postby Mugglechops » Fri Jan 20, 2012 6:41 pm

Good job Dave. When are you heading down this way to try it out :D

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DaveOZ
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Re: CX bike vs 29er

Postby DaveOZ » Fri Jan 20, 2012 7:29 pm

Was hoping to get out this weekend but I just got back from a 100k ride and I'm stuffed. See what happens tomorrow. :mrgreen:

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sblack
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Re: CX bike vs 29er

Postby sblack » Fri Jan 20, 2012 10:11 pm

Looks good Dave. Looking forward to hearing how it goes on the trails.
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trailgumby
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Re: CX bike vs 29er

Postby trailgumby » Fri Jan 20, 2012 11:17 pm

Mmmm... noice 8)

Forks is made from... :?:

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DaveOZ
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Re: CX bike vs 29er

Postby DaveOZ » Sat Jan 21, 2012 6:17 am

CrMo. Might get some carbon ones one day.

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DaveOZ
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Re: CX bike vs 29er

Postby DaveOZ » Sun Jan 22, 2012 3:19 pm

Well this is now as close as I can get to the perfect bike for what I want. 67km today with 25 of them off road and I had a ball.

http://app.strava.com/rides/3514964

The bike is fast on the road, much nicer to ride than the 29er I borrowed last time. I had the tyre pressure set at 80psi and it felt great. A couple of time I missed the drops but I managed to get comfortable and practiced bending my arms and dropping down. The flat bars are great for climbing too.

When I hit the dirt I stopped and let some air out of the tyres. This made a real difference on the loose rocks and sand yet the bike was still fast on the hard packed clay.

At no point did I wish for suspension. I grew up racing BMX 30 years ago and my only ever MTB was full rigid so I am used to using the arms and legs as suspension.

The bike is very light for an off roader and I never ran out of gears for climbing, even had one section (AT) 14% with loose rocks which I managed fine, traction was good too. The bike was very easy to control and noticeably more agile than the 29er. I suspect that less baggy tyres would help the 29er for these trails.

I stopped when I hit the road and pumped the tyre back up and headed for home.

I really love this combination of riding because I live so close to some beautiful national park trails.

So I can now hose the bike off and happily ride it to work tomorrow. :mrgreen:

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Most of the track are easy like this so no need for suspension.
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Twin Falls
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Phil
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Re: CX bike vs 29er

Postby Phil » Fri Jan 27, 2012 11:29 am

Thats a very pretty part of the world you live in Dave.

Bike looks great.
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