CycloCross (CX) bikes

[alencore]

@redster.....nice cyclocross bikes you have there.

yan din pinapangarap kong bike as it truly suits my riding style.
parang bagito ang dating para sa kin kapag naka FS mt bike tapos sa road lang nagbabike hehe. mas intellegent well inform rider ang dating kapag rigid
ang bike with hybrid wheels for all terrain riding hehe kaya cyclocross or an
mtb with hybrid/nimbus tires and a drop handle bar for a change would really be my
new bike set-up for my upcoming long rides in-road and off-road.

[cathya]

@redster - what canti brakes do you use and where can you buy them here? how do they compare to disc brakes especially in wet or muddy conditions? would you recommend road disc brakes like the avids? they look more reliable but i presume they are also much heavier.

[redster]

Thank you for the bike complements. The first bike is an IF Planet cross I got back in 1996, I sold it when work wasn't happening. I replaced it a Cannondale cyclocross bike which I wrecked in 4 months. Then I got my current cross bike the Moots Psycho Cross. I just put on the parts from my wrecked C'dale, rival group and FSA cranks and Easton bar,stem, seatpost. The brakes are TRP CR950. Traditional brakes for CX bikes are cantilever bakes.

Cantilever vs disc brakes,hmmm. Most use cantilever because it's easy to find and light. Braking performance I think it's not a disadvantage. New UCI ruling now allow disc brakes which a lot think is the future. BB7 road disc from Avid are the only brakes I know that will work with normal road brake lever/sifter combo. Who knows, maybe SRAM and Shimano starts making them road shifters with hydraulic cylinders to accommodate the new UCI ruling for disc brakes. Another problem pose for disc brakes is the wheels. Right now there's no 130 mm spacing disc hubs, only mtb standard 135mm disc hub. So for you to run disc brakes on your CX bike you need to have the frame custom made for you with a 135mm spacing for the hubs. I would say 99% of the CX frames produced out there are made road standard 130mm hub spacing Surly Cross Check ( I built one for a friend two days ago ) are spaced 132.5 mm so you can use road 133mm or 135mm. But again it doesn't have disc mounting tabs. Some manufacturers this year already have disc mounts on their frames with canti bosses too but I don't know if they are 133 or 135 mm spacing. I you want to run disc brakes with Avid BB7 road have a frame made to 135mm so you can have wheels made with mtb hubs. There's a VERY GOOD frame builder in Cainta Rizal named Abe whom I think can help anyone thinking about building a cyclocross bike. There's not a lot of CX bikes available in the philippines to buy. But there are a few frame builders who can build a frame for you. SUpport our local frame builder artisans, there's not a lot of them in our country.

Any more questions with cyclocross equipment and racing feel free to ask me. Been racing cross since 1996 and been a professional bike mechanic 15yrs.

[redster]

I forgot to answer the braking performance and weight issues. Yes, it would be a little bit more heavier. But with the right selection of parts, you can make the bike light still.

Maintenance: Both brakes once set up is not much more maintenance than the other. All you need to adjust is the pad contact as it wears and eventually replacement of worn pads. For cantilever use cartridge style brake pads. Why? After setting it up properly when the pads are worn, all you ned to do is pop off the worn pads. Then slide in the new brake pads, no need to take off the whole brake pads.

Performance: My opinion is that the cantilever is pretty good for CX and doesn't loose any performance out to the disc brakes. If you account that you have narrower tires I can still lock up my brakes with canti brakes. Imagine having disc brakes which are more powerful you can lock up the wheels , no problem. But you have to account that braking is also about the tires gripping to slow you down or stop. Now, CX tires are narrower and doesn't have the same contact patch as an mtb tire. You can over power the CX tires grip faster with a disc brakes. Now' I am not saying that a CX bike with disc brakes are unridable due to this. But it's certainly overkill. Like everything else, you can adjust your riding to accommodate the gobs of power the disc brakes has. In the wet with canitilevers , brake pads do wear out faster and may suffer a little bit of power loss. If you use the correct brake pads , the disadvantage is almost non. Cyclocross races doesn't have much sustained braking like on mtb races ( meaning long descents) Disc would be an advantage over a long descent wear wise. On a muddy coarse, canti brakes can clog up with mud, disc don't. If you some how bend your disc rotor severely, your walking home. If you slightly get your wheel bend you can still ride your canti equiped cx bike by just releasing your straddle cable.

[alencore]

very nice infos sir redster!

as for me I'll stick to my hybrid mtb...why?
after watching some cyclocross races at youtube seems
most of the guys hold on to the upper part of the drop bar for more control
when the course get's too technical due to mud or loose sandy patches
so therefore I think the drop bar ain't really good or suited for off road
maneuvering? though they just dismount if it's too technical anyhow.
care to explain or give more infos a little on that aspect sir redster since you're more experienced on this matter?

[redster]

Drop bars are mandated by the UCI so it's the rules. In the past some had run flat bars, not sure if it's still allowed. Myself I prefer drop bars as it gives me the most riding positions. When it gets really bumpy, myself I am on the drops. Why? It's less likely that your hands get's bumped off on the drops tan on the hood. I've seen it happen both on road and cross races. You hit an unsuspecting bump and it's jolt is enough to let go of your grip. Also when there are long stretches of flat smooth dirt or pavement section you wanna be hammering on the drops. It gives you the most power on that position.

When it get to technical like sand or mud, it's best to run. I've seen it on races that riders who stays riding slowly at the technical sections are getting passed by people opted to run. Again you pick where you run and where you think you can ride faster than running. If you have no traffic and can ride faster on the tech sections , then do it. But if someone bails and get in your way then dismount and run.

For you Alencore, it's ok to stick with your hybrid mtb. If you are going to race CX regularly your gonna find out that your at a disadvantage. You'll find that the lighter bike with a bigger triangle( not like mtb) is better for the running/ portaging sections. A lot of courses you have to portage the bike up a long steep hill, which carrying your bike on your shoulder is a must to be able to run fast. The nature of CX racing also is you have to accelerate as soon as you hop back on the bike or after a slow u turn. The lighter 700C wheels with narrow 32-35 mm tires are lighter and will accelerate faster than a heavy 26" knobby wheel. Also since bigger wheels rolls smoother on the rough ( hence 29'r now for mtb ) Remember that if you follow the rules of cyclocross the tire width is limited to 33mm this year by the UCI/. But if your not racing or racing UCI sanctioned events you can run whatever you have and have fun with it.

[mrbigger]

share ko lang, some crazy cyclocross race... nice pictures, hehehe!

http://forums.photographyreview.com/...ad.php?t=68954

[alencore]

nice! much tnx for the valuable infos sir redster!

i think my respect for the road bike has grown a lot more.
I'll use it definitely for road only hehe.
hay naku kung may pera lang tlga i'll buy both road bike and a
super fun cyclocross bike.


@mr.bigger...hehe parang kayo yun ah!

[maranello]

anyone know saan makakabili ng CX tires dito sa pinas (700x35)?

[rgpalasu]

Originally Posted by maranello

anyone know saan makakabili ng CX tires dito sa pinas (700x35)?

sir sa cartimar merong 35c sa hilera ng paulinas. nasa 1.5k. foldable na. but if you prefer ung mga wider tire, go to paulinas, meron sila dun na 40c. P400 lng ata (maxxis) pero di foldable tire.

[maranello]

Thank you, Sir. Can I still use the inner tube for 700x23-25 or i need a bigger tube if I want to use 700x35 tires?

[redster]

You can but you run a risk of flatting more. Go the next size up like 700 x 28-35 and you'l be golden.

[kaniboy]

Saw a Medium Sized Giant TCX Cyclocross bike earlier today at Lifecycle Pasong Tamo. It has two brake levers pala, on on the usual road postion on the drop bars and one on the near the middle of the bars parang MTB.

Made me think about trying one out It looks like it will be perfect for the Road Conditions here in the Philippines


I think this was the Bike..
http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-us/....1/7315/44077/

[mong39]

saan po makakabili ng cx fork dito sa pinas. nalibot ko na ang quiapo at cartimar wala pa rin akong makita.

[axzel]

Mong,

Pwede yata yung rigid fork na mosso? May gumamit dati sa PR. Hanapin mo sa Bike Gallery

Tanong?

Meron pa bang nabibili na Cantilever brake dito sa Pinas?

[mong39]

@lakay axzel
saw that on hearsay's post in PR. he used to ride on disc brakes and he's using a MTB fork. you might have a problem looking for cx specific cantilever mount fork here. but using a disc brake is my other option since my frame will be made by Ave Maldea, i can put both cantilever and disc brake boss on my frame. the only problem is the fork

there are lots of cantilever brake here. try looking at shops in cartimar. most of the shops in quiapo already phased out their cantilever brake because they are overwhelmed by v-brakes. i saw a carbon cantilever in roosevelt bike shop in frisco.

[emmangulaman]

how about the price of this rig? which is cheaper to set up? a road bike or a cyclo cross bike?


and i know this is somehow a silly question but can you ride a CX bike on paved roads?

[mong39]

@emmangulaman

the price of CX and roadbike are almost the same.

in case of riding cx bike on paved road. it's just like riding an MTB w/ dropbars on a paved road.

[dencio]

Recently got a Cannondale CAADX, and shortly joined my first Cross Race--masakit sa katawan.

Just like a mtbike race, it was max effort from the beginning. But I found that my bike's gearing is insufficient. I am running 46/36 in front, and 12-27 at the back. I would need a 34 chainring in front, since I found myself carrying my bike on the uphill sections--and I have no running background.

It was a relatively short race--40 minutes, but it was a hard 40 minutes. I finished, and I will leave it at that. I won't say what place, since it isn't worth mentioning.

[dencio]

Dear Mods,

Pwedeng mag-request na palitan ang thread title to "cyclocross thread" para magkaron ng official thread for cyclocross? O mas maganda kayang magsimula na lng ako ng bagong thread?

Salamat po.