svt4cam

Going Cyclocross racing this fall and tried to bodge together something from existing garage stock and after 2 days of this wont work with that I figured to hell with it and bought myself one of these.
Kind of ironic really after my Schwinn Varsity my 1st decent new bike was a Fuji S10S. Now I've gone full circle.

mkeller234

I don't know why everyone apologizes when they buy something modern. I suppose it's mostly in fun. I just don't see anything bad about it... i'd proudly ride something modern if that ever came to be. C&V is just on facet of the cycling universe, why do we want to limit ourselves?

svt4cam

Thank you, Being 52 years old and 6'3' and 195 was disadvantage enough I finally figured. At least the only carbon fiber on it is the fork lol

XLR99

Looks like you still have enough vintage stuff to balance out this egregious transgression. If the guilt overwhelms you and you need to flagellate yourself, you can atone by sending the Fuji to me .
Actually I'm envious, budget won't allow for anything new right now. I'm doing a cross clinic next week, and may try a couple of races this fall.

gomango

Good for you!

Looks like fun.

I'm in the process of trading for a Pinarello cross bike at the moment.

I won't race, but I sure can get muddy down at the river!

JunkYardBike

When are we going to take it up Fiddler's Elbow?

Nice bike, enjoy it!

Bikedued

After a year of working in a bike shop, I've seen way too many BB shell failures to even consider buying modern anymore. Of course that applies mainly to CF frames. Aluminum seems to survive a lot longer IMHO.,,,,BD

3alarmer 

When I first read your thread topic posting, I thought you
were apologizing for participating in a cyclocross event.

I now realize you are saying goodbye to us and trying
to put your worldly affairs in order. Vaya con Dios, amigo.

auchencrow

- And I don't know why some others feel compelled to assuage the consciences of these transgressors, when they should tell them to repent, and divest themselves of their modern monstrosities, or face eternal doom and damnation, to squat in the fiery furnace with Beelzebub with their crab-on forks, and be covered with gigantic brifter-like boils for eternity.

mapleleafs-13 

odd question, why are cyclecross brakes cantilever center pull style. imho, they look really ugly to me, unlike centerpulls on regular road bikes. I take it the brakes are kinda fanned out due to all the mud and dirt and whatnot that you guys go through? So it doesn't build up on something tight like road calipers? or is it cause they give you better stopping power? why are they shaped like that?

Pompiere

Cantilevers are used both for the mud clearance and for stopping power when covered with mud/water. For their simplicity, they just work well. The brake arms being "fanned out" has to do with the geometry. The wider angle gives more leverage on the straddle cable than one with shorter, more vertical arms,so you get more braking power with the same lever pull.

Read what Sheldon wrote here: https://www.sheldonbrown.com/cantilever-geometry.html

svt4cam

Thanks JYB! Rode past fiddlers yesterday on Ridge but continued out and around Mountain Lake instead. Fiddlers was kind of pulling me to the right though.

delicious

Hahaha.

Roll-Monroe-Co

Sigh. At least the top tube is level.

well biked

I'm thinking about doing some cyclocross racing this year. Need to build up or modify a bike if I'm going to do it, though, because I don't have a cross bike. Our shop is sponsoring a cross race this year, and has sponsored cross off and on for a couple of years now, so I ought to participate I suppose.

My business partner just got a new Fuji cross bike today, in fact. He likes cyclocross a lot, has done a lot of racing, and is serious about it. My problem is the running and carrying the bike. I haven't run regularly for about thirteen years, I have a knee that complains loudly when I do. Plus, I'm a mountain biker, I've spent my whole mountain biking life trying my best to stay ON the bike. When I think about that part of cyclocross, the running and jumping over barriers, carrying the bike, etc., I'm less excited about it.

Bikedued

I heard of a few mountain bikers who bunnyhop the CX obstacles instead of running and climbing over them. That would be a distinct advantage I would think. Now mountain biking is another thing of course. I have no qualms about having my stiff beefy aluminum P-1 All Mountain under me when I am off road. The frame looks similar to a Rockhopper 26er, but the stays are at least 3/8" thicker than the RH on the widest dimmension. Overbuilt, I am not ashamed to own it.,,,,BD

It doesn't look like this anymore.... I just painted it solid flat olive green. It now looks like a two wheeled human powered Humvee

well biked

Yes, that happens in some races, and it's not just mountain bikes, folks do that on cross bikes, too. In the races I'd be doing, the guys who set up the courses are sticklers for very high barriers and positioning them on the course where you're often off the bike before you even get to the barrier. Putting them at the far end of a sand pit, etc. Basically, you're going to get off the bike and carry it some, no way around it. And honestly, as much as I don't like that part of it, that's part of cyclocross.

As for mountain bikes, there are a lot of folks that do cross on them. As long as the rules aren't too closely enforced (tire width limits for one), mountain bikes are fine, especially on some courses.

Now, disc brakes are legal, this is the first year for that (although again, the rules haven't always been closely enforced). Cross bikes will see some serious changes soon because of that rule change, IMO. Disc-equipped cross bikes aren't here, in force, yet, but they'll be here soon.

balindamood

I am trying to get the repaired Fondreist together. I need to paint the area where Grayjay re-attached the brake stud. So far I have found/cobbled together:

'94 Shimano 600 8-speed brifters
New Salsa Woodchipers
Nitto dirt drop stem from ???
Ritchey Logic Canti's from '93 Breezer
Deore LX Crank running 42/24 with rock-ring in the outer position from the parts bin.
Shimano 105 SGS rear derailleur from the co-op
Shimano Z front derailleur from Schwinn Sierra
Shimano M824 pedals (SPD on one side, platform on the other) from a '94 Klien (not original)
32 Hole Mavic Reflex tubular rims from the co-op

Things I need to figure out:

130mm 8-speed rear hub in 32 hole. I have some 126mm 600's and 105's (6-speed). I may try to swap the free-hubs and washer them to 130mm.
Alternatively, I have a wheelset off an old Novara XR (cyclocross bike), 7-speed DX hubs (135mm), clincher rims. I would like a 2nd set of wheels, so may have to do some free-hub axle swapping on this too.
I seem to have an entire box of cassettes, but no 8-speeds over 11-24T. Need to try to build one out of the other box of random cogs.

Season starts a week from saturday, with a clinic next wednesday, so I have alot of work to do this weekend.

Italuminium

The only true C&V way to CX is on an ALAN CX bike gawdammit! Just kidding, have fun with your new bike!

svt4cam

[QUOTE=balindamood;13157451]I am trying to get the repaired Fondreist together.

That will be one cool CX bike! That was kinda what I was trying to do with a Cannondale Mountain frame but the 26" wheels were killing me.

svt4cam

If I coulda found a 62cm for reasonable I'd have been all over it.

Bikedued

Sorry I wasn't clear, hehe. I did mean mtbrs on CX bikes were bunnyhopping. As long as your 700's are strong enough?,,,,BD

horribleoldman

what kinda crap bikes are you working on? I see way more broken old bikes then new bikes, and much higher rate of aluminum failure then CF failure.

Bikedued

Well, lately? Madone 5.2, Tarmac SL3? Both in the last month. When I first started there was a TTX with the aluminum shell spinning, and that was a replacement for the same bike which had a lengthwise split in the top tube. The Madone was a warranty replacement
for another slightly older Carbon OCLV Trek. One Aluminum failure, a cracked Felt F85. One steel failure. A cracked dropout on a BADLY abused Navigator.,,,,BD

-holiday76

nice. I did my first cross race on this: