Cyclocross - CX Fixed

I just learned that it is against OBRA rules to enter a cross race on a fixed gear bike. WTF? Can you believe this? Is this the same in other states? Anybody have any experience with this? Ever raced on a fixie and gotten busted? Ever raced on a fixie and won?

Our teams' new mission for cross season is to finish every race without pedaling. Not Once.

See what they say about that!

fixed gear? Ouch! Imagine lifting up your bike to get over an obstacle and the crank comes around and drives your pedal into the back of your neck or shoulder.

Come to think of it - how could you dismount quickly other than a rear jump off and grab?

though it would be fun for spectators watching fixies fall over all day!

OMG! somebody call the whambulance! we need a top tube protector and a spoke card stat!

Fixie riders never dismount.
Dismounts are for sissies. JK...

Anyway, seriously, when cross racing began there were no obstacles, and few riders dismounted.
As the equipment and technique improved, so did this aspect of the races.
Experienced fixed gear riders can mount and dismount just as fast as anyone else.
Why do you think more professional bike messengers ride fixies than any other bike?
They take more abuse, hold up longer without maintenance, and are every bit as fast in mixed conditions and terrain as any geared bike.

I think this aspect of the race (the obstacles and run-ups) are no problem for those of us who choose to go fixed.

Next.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2gwN_kDLmA

Guess that answers my run up Q!

hmmm, my friend was a sf messenger for 8 years and disbatched for no.b.s. for some years after. his sentiment was that only hipster losers looking for street cred rode fixies as their "work bike". all other "professional" messengers who made any real money at it rode geared bikes.

Anyway, when cross racing began there were no obstacles and riders rarely, if ever, dismounted.
so, these photos must be examples of modern cyclocross, where people now use fancy dismounts and have cutting-edge technologically advanced obstacles:
http://www.blackbirdsf.org/cx/images/christopheoncx_e.th.jpg
http://www.blackbirdsf.org/cx/images/christopheoncx_a.th.jpg
http://www.blackbirdsf.org/cx/images/christopheoncx_h.th.jpg

thanks to your informative lesson on the history of cyclocross, i can now safely say these images must be fakes, just like the moon landing and the holocaust.

cross with fenders? pansy for sure.

from the pics provided it looks like he never even rides his bike.

Does anyone make cross frames with track dropouts?

Motobecane Fantom Cross Uno is one of many examples.

They may not be fakes, but they certainly aren't pictures of a cross race.

Does anyone make cross frames with track dropouts?

yes i race on a bianchi san jose that has track dropouts.

i havent raced it fixed but I know a few guys that have and even they admit its more of a novelty and are not as competitive on them as they are with a freewheel. I have no problem with them being outlawed in some districts. Without the proper amount of skill its a lot easier to cause big problems on a fixed gear than a bike that can coast.

Does anyone make cross frames with track dropouts?

http://www.vanillabicycles.com/frames/cross/1/

there is no consensus on "when cross racing began." where are you getting this info about how there weren't any obstacles and riders didn't dismount? every story i've heard involves fences, military trenches, and other unbikeable terrain. that's kind of the point.

there are quite a few reasons why some (not most) messengers ride fixed gears as work bikes, and their suitability for cross racing isn't really one. i love riding fixed gears and have been doing so for a long time, but all this one-sided fixievangelism wears pretty thin. i think most experienced riders can appreciate the relative merits of any form of drivetrain.

i did a race fixed last season (my first). mounts, carrying and dismounts weren't that bad, it was the tight off-camber corners that sucked because i had to pedal through in a big gear. i did almost as well as i'd been doing on a single speed, but my body was hurting bad by the end.

i hope you find a race that lets you enter fixed, it's good experience. til then it might be wise to lay off the "just as fast as any geared bike" talk, at least in person at the races. sounds kinda silly til you prove it.

fixed cx is for *******

real men ride http://www.bikeforums.net/ads/strida/anistrida.gif

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2gwN_kDLmA

Guess that answers my run up Q!

whoa, that's serious business. that guy is really good. watch how the wheel and pedals keep spinning and how he holds it away from his body!

Anyway, seriously, when cross racing began there were no obstacles, and few riders dismounted.Ahem. I am guessing that you are unfamiliar with this website:
http://www.blackbirdsf.org/cx/

The photos of the guys with fenders are from a 1921 article by Eugène Christophe in which he states, for example:
The beginner imagines that he must stay on the bike at all costs, under the pretext that he will be faster on the bike than on foot. But he often confuses speed with haste, and while believing to be gaining time, he loses it, because he falls or because he damages his machine. One should also not take the opposite course to what I have described, and run like a cross-country running specialist. A cyclocross racer makes use of cycling and running interchangeably, as its name ["cross-country cyclo-pédestre"] indicates.

The above-mentioned website also includes these excellent photos of pre-war cyclocross racing:
http://www.blackbirdsf.org/cx/images/1930_champparis.th.jpg
http://www.blackbirdsf.org/cx/images/1931_critintl.th.jpg
http://www.blackbirdsf.org/cx/images/1923_champfr.th.jpg
http://www.blackbirdsf.org/cx/images/1926_choisyleroi.th.jpg
http://www.blackbirdsf.org/cx/images/1931_interclubs.th.jpg
http://www.blackbirdsf.org/cx/images/1923_verrieres.th.jpg

fixed gear? Ouch! Imagine lifting up your bike to get over an obstacle and the crank comes around and drives your pedal into the back of your neck or shoulder.
Come to think of it - how could you dismount quickly other than a rear jump off and grab?
though it would be fun for spectators watching fixies fall over all day!I've never raced fixed, but I have practiced dismounts, remounts, and runups on my fixed bike and it's really not that big a deal.

Racing cross without a freewheel is a significant disadvantage and is done to get attention more than anything else.

those guys all look tougher than I'll ever be. I bet they even drank their beer out of cans.

It's not exactly hard or expensive to buy and install a freewheel.

I've never raced fixed, but I have practiced dismounts, remounts, and runups on my fixed bike and it's really not that big a deal.

Racing cross without a freewheel is a significant disadvantage and is done to get attention more than anything else.

+1

I train fixed, and have done some races fixed for fun, but I find a freewheel ideal for cross.

Several companies are making single speed cross bikes now and there is no shortage of small framebuilders that would put track ends on a frame for you. so, it wouldn't be hard to make a fixed gear cross bike.

It is technically against the rules but this is because a 'cross race is a mass start event and that's what the rules say. as long as a bike has brakes beyond the drivetrain, it really isn't going to be that dangerous to anyone other then yourself. And even the added danger to yourself will be pretty minimal if you are an experienced fixed rider. And if you not an experienced fixed rider and you are going to do a cross race on one, let me know. I'd like to watch...

As was discussed on the OBRA forum, during an OBRA race with 80 riders, they would have a tough time picking you out. Just don't stage on the front row.

RC

Bunny hopping barriers on a fixie are a challenge. I can bunny hop up a curb, but not a 41cm barrier on a fixie.

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p260/BillyGoat71/Cyclo-X_2.jpg

ah the old days - http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7453409786764763032&hl=en

Why do you think more professional bike messengers ride fixies than any other bike?
They take more abuse, hold up longer without maintenance, and are every bit as fast in mixed conditions and terrain as any geared bike.

Oh man, they would have a ball with you over in the road forum. "The Messenger Standard."

Yeah riding fixed at a cross race is like wearing a gorilla suit to a wedding. Yes, you'll get a lot of attention, but you're a jackass for hogging what you don't deserve.

Eric Tonkin won the single speed race at Estacada cross crusade on a fixed Kona.

Eric Tonkin won the single speed race at Estacada cross crusade on a fixed Kona.And when I saw him racing Trebon, Wicks, Powers, TJ, etc, at the USGP last year, damn skippy he was riding a geared bike with freewheel.

But he still didn't shave. For that I give him major props. And AFAIK he's the only American with a Flemish cheering section.

psh, fixed gear cyclocross is for pansies. . . now fixed RECUMBENT cyclocross, that's for manly men . . .