Building 1st Cross Bike

[MikeO]

I have purchased my first cyclocross frame, a Cramerotti Roveretto, and am currently assembling components. Since it is winter here in Idaho, I will probably move the Campy Record stuff from my road bike over to it and ride it on my trainer, but I will try to purchase parts as the winter drags on. I MTB and road bike quite a lot and race both. I weigh 180 pounds and consider my self an aggressive rider.I had a Chorus bottom bracket installed on the Cramerotti and have a Chorus crank, 39/53. I see all the posts about gearing and this seems high, but I was thinking about putting a 13/29 cassette on it. Does this seem like a reasonable idea to all you pros out there? Also I was going to put Chorus or Centaur components on since I already have some. What is your experience with this set up? Any recommendations for hubs and wheel set ups?
Thanks for any help.

[CrossProvidence]

MikeO,
The components sound really nice. I dont know about racing in idaho, but I dont think you'll ever have much of an opportunity to use a 53 chainring in a cross race. A 48 will serve as a better option. If you're a powerful rider you can probably do most races staying in the big chainring. I currently use a 42 single front chainring and have had two sprint finishes on a flat grassy straight and I have not needed more teeth. I have a 12-27 in the back. I won one of the sprints and lost the other because I was trying to catch up to one of those darn bunnyhoppers! As for wheel setup: Light and strong. I weigh 145 and I cracked my rolf vector pro tubulars this year. I've used spingergy rev x in the past but they are heavy. I currenty like my spox tubulars with gommitalia 30mm.
cb

[MikeO]

Thanks, I should have mentioned that for the most part this Spring and early Summer I will be doing most of my riding on dirt roads. I talked with a friend of mine who set up his cross bike last winter using Shimano and he is using a 38/44 I think on the front. Does Campagnolo even make a 48 or smaller large chainring for the Chorus group.
Thanks

[CrossProvidence]

TA makes a 135mm chainring for Campy in 46 and 48 teeth. I just checked cyclocrossworld.com and they sell them on their site.

[MikeO]

Thanks. I checked out their page and sure enough, they have the chainrins. I have slowly been accumulating components from ebay and friends the last week. All I need to shop for is a set of durable, light wheels. Someone recommended Mavic Cosmos. My bike shop has been closed for two weeks while they have been on vacation. He gets back on Tuesday and I can start putting this bike together. We do have ten inches of snow on the ground now, so that might slow down the crossbike riding.

[velocipedio]

I have Centaur 9sp on my cross bike. The components are tough and perform very well in bad conditions. I particularly like being able to set the chainline trim when the chain gets all cruddy. I think you'd be asking for trouble if you went 10sp, though. I can see that tight cluster turning to bog very quickly.

I also have a TA 48t chainring on the front. It's beautiful! I find that it shifts perfectly and it's a lot shinier than the Centaur chainring, even after a season-long campaign.

[MikeO]

I have decided to go with 9 speed. I have have a Chorus front deralliur and ergo levers (9 speed). I have a Chorus 10 speed crank, but it should be fine for 9 speed with some chainring changes. I am still shopping for a rear derailliur, maybe Centaur or Chorus, depending on what I find. It does seem like the Centaur rear derailliur can handle larger rear cassettes with out having to use a medium cage.

[velocipedio]

I have a 26t on my cassette. My Reasonling is that, if i come to a hill where I need more than 39x26, I'm probably better-off running it.