Duke of Kent

XX1, at 18.6lbs. Tubeless is great, but tubulars are truly mind blowing. Like you said, the off-camber grip is what makes the difference. Those tires are a mini-knob design, and they grip like the 2.4" Nobby Nics on my AM bike. Closest thing I can compare them to, in appearance, is a Specialized Renegade or Bontrager 29-1.

mike868y

do it. i've got a couple friends who race those and love them. if i ever break my tarmac thats my plan.

revchuck 

My race bike is a 2012 Allez E5 frame set built up with DA 7800. It certainly isn't holding me back. I've put 3500 miles on it since July.

tetonrider

which tufos are those? i can't quite tell from the photos in either post.

i've got a set of dugast fastbirds currently glued to mine. they adapt to terrain so well without relying on the stiffer sidewall of tubeless. when i ran tubulars on a cross bike at low pressure i go the idea to try it for MTB. truly a staggering difference in ride quality.

i ride them on local trails and i have raced them, but they're definitely pick-and-choose--definitely not for every course. if i lived in an area with shale i wouldn't even own them.

my HT came in at 8kg almost dead even…with power meter. (running 2x10 on my MTBs due to local terrain and current lack of availability for a 1x power meter with appropriate chain line.) i didn't take any ridiculous risks on light parts at the sake of longevity, either. actually, it might weigh just a bit more as i ended my eggbeater experiment and went back to time. the vague feeling when clipped in got old for me; i'm just used to something different.

rode it in MTB nationals, albeit with clinchers. (not the course where it was wise to risk it. a shredded tubular would mean a long, long, long walk.)

nice ride!

Duke of Kent

They are the XC4s. Just picked up a pair of 30mm wide, 30mm deep carbon tubular rims off eBay for $335, shipped, so I might be building up another set here shortly. Should be great for supporting the tire on the nastier bits. Thinking about the 52mm Fast Birds myself.

dobrado

I just started (racing) in October. Hoping to have an actual season with multiple races in 2014! Stock everything, except the saddle.


Also, I don't own a garage, and it's freezing outside.

tetonrider

i've read good things about the xc4s but have not used them myself. if i recall, they're pretty heavy, right?

fast birds are pretty sick. 52mm are pretty true-to-size (on wider, enve rims). not crazy light. i recommend aquaseal on the sidewalls. knobs are fairly thin and hollow, so it's not designed to be super long life, but the ride quality is unmatched (IME).

if you get 'em, source them from europe. huge, huge markup here in the US, coupled with thin availability.

mounting MTB tubulars makes working with cross tires easy and road tubulars seem trivial.

Forza

Totally, I'm going to pick one up specifically for crits this year.

Forza

I better produce this year...

New whip for this season...I'll still race the SL4 too.

Named her Natalia

Frameset / 2014 S-Works Venge Satin Carbon / Red 52cm
Grouppo / Dura-Ace Di2 9070 w/Sprinter Switches
Cranks / Spesh S-Works
Power Meter / Spesh S-Works / Quarq
Stem / Spesh S-Works SL 110mm
Bars / Spesh S-Works Aero-Fly 42cm
Saddle / Toupe Pro
Pedals / Look Keo Blade
Wheels / Racedays will be Dura-Ace c50 Tubulars, shown are debadged Enve 45s
Other stuff / K-Edge Garmin Mount, K-Edge Number Holder, Garmin 510, Zipp cages, will be swapped for something else from the team, pulled them off of the S-Works SL4.

shovelhd

Trontastic!!!

Andy STi

You two are making me drool, stop it! Sew-ups and PM on my MTB, I think I just spent another $3000 in my head!! Nats are in Bend in 2015.

I only did 3 MTB races last year - I need to do more this year.

ovoleg

I wish I could race a Venge lol. If I had that bike I would probably only ride it on clean roads, in good weather, during daylight and never around other people/cars

Forza

Kind of feels that way riding it.

Duke of Kent

AndySTI,

I'm building up my second set on the cheap (as compared to the DT Swiss wheels...). Should cost me <$600.

I miss riding in Bend. Low-grade trails, hauling ass through the high-desert Ponderosa pine forest. That's about as good as it gets right there. I'm in Fort Collins, CO for the moment, heading out to St. George/Hurricane, UT in a couple of days, but my thoughts always come back to Bend.

Forza

Eh, few early races up here in March and that goes right out the window. Bikes look more like they came out of CX race, than road.

hack

I'm fixin' to pick up a new ride for 2014. Do I need one? No. Do I want one? Yes.

Considering:

Leopard DC1 (Local boutique-ish group)
Giant TCR Advanced (on a TCR Composite now)
Felt FC
Scott Foil

Will most likely build up with Force and a Quarq.

Not exactly glamour bikes (with the exception of the Leopard), but plenty stiff for me and not so over the top that I'll feel obligated to baby them.

furiousferret

That Venge is friggin sweet!

shovelhd

2013 Felt Fc with a Quarq Riken.



The Fc is pretty much the same frame as the F2, which is the same geometry as the F1 but with a little less Txxx boucoup-bucks fiber. The F2 has carbon bottom bracket cups (BB30) while the Fc has aluminum. I think that's one place where I'd rather have machined aluminum anyway.

My Fc was a crash replacement for an F5 frame. I don't know how I broke it, but it happened during the trip to Nats in Bend. Felt deemed it impact damage, so not under warranty, but they sold me the Fc frame kit at half price. While the seat, top, and head tube lengths are pretty much the same, the seat tube angle and wheelbase are significantly shorter. It's a completely different bike than the F5. It has taken me months to dial it in to the place I had the F5. It is more of a pro geometry than a weekend racer geometry. Very quick, very light (960g 54cm), super stiff all around yet it rides nicer than the F5. It took some time to get used to how quick the front end is. Not a lot of room for error, but you can push it to the limit. In the NSG 40K where I won the gold, on an out and back course with hairpins at each end, I attacked on the last lap up a grade. Opened a 20 second gap. Coming down the grade I was hammering pretty hard but they were chasing equally hard, and going into the hairpin at the bottom, it looked more like 10 seconds. I slammed it into the off camber hairpin as hard as I could, at the limits of adhesion. By the time I reached the top of the grade again I was g-o-n-e. I probably made up 10 seconds in that turn. You just have to learn to trust it.

The frame is really an electronic frame that has adapters for mechanical. It has the battery bosses on the NDS chainstay, although I use a custom internal battery. The shifter boss does not have barrel adjusters. But it will work with mechanical as that is where I started before going tron.

Good luck with your choices.

hack

Very nice. Did you have the pre-2011 F5 or post 2011 F5?

A local shop has a great deal on the F4 right now and I'm feeling hard pressed to pass it up ($1800). It's got a bit more reach than I'm used to, but it felt ok during a short test ride.

tetonrider

i didn't ride the MTB too much last year--half of my rides were races. handling really suffers!

is that just inside info from the breakaway crew re: bend 2015? i'm sorta psyched to hear it, but sorta not just based on timing. i love any excuse to come to bend and have been lamenting the fact that i'll only get out to oregon once to race this summer (with hood gone and nationals in SLC).

bend's a great venue for marathon nationals -- but usually nationals are around july 4th and the NUE event and cascade are just a couple weeks after. i probably couldn't make 2 trips out separated by one weekend.

come to sun valley this july!

tetonrider

…until you actually rode it, then you'd find yourself driving through the middle of the night to find an excuse to race it! the venge is an addictive bike.

nice rig, forza! specialized-shimano-michelion-black/red color scheme…it's sponsor-correct for mike's team!

shovelhd

I had a 2010 F5 Team Garmin Edition. The F4 is pretty much the same as the F5. A great all around race bike, but not in the same class as the Fc frame.

globecanvas

Very, very nice.

jsutkeepspining

I love mine. It's a blast, and loves to fly. I would post a picture right now, but it's dirty, has training wheels, and has a frame pump on it. All the cat 6s would make fun of me

Forza

Here you go!