You might be right Spring. If I have to, I will swap my Rotor Cinqo to the CX bike. I'll try the Polar first but don't have big expectations.

That's awesome. I'd like to build a newer S-Works myself.
Tell us more about the 996 Turbo....
I'm a Porsche guy too.

CC's 996 is sick. Humongous brakes, gobs of power and the growl of the devil out of the exhaust.
I've never driven in his 996, but my co-workers 997 Carrera is a dream to drive. I can only imagine how CC's 996 feels. I'm sure it corners like a sum*****.

Looks like PCCB calipers, but slotted rotors?
Yes, 911's are indeed known for going, stopping, and turning pretty well.

Stage 4 996TT (650 hp) race prepped, motons, GT2/GT3 Cup suspension, Stop Tech brakes, Aim data acquisition, cage, etc. Not much fun on the street.


Shipment #2.

With that setup you'll have no excuse not to win.

Fork me.. that is some serious hardware..

Oh believe me ... I can find excuses.

Best thing about cross - Can't buy speed.

Great Carlos, sure wish you would have told me that about a week ago. Anyone want a brand new xc bike real cheap?

You mean to say it isn't about the bike? Really???

Wait somethings different.. I got it, It doesn't start with a "C", you defecting??

huh?

Kinber, they don't make them. Looked at Ridleys, too high standover for me since I plan to use it mostly as a road winter/rain/ice bike so I wanted a geometry more similar to road bikes. Specialized fit the bill.

Carolos, I'm teasing. Everyone knows it's always about the bike. At least that's what the salesman told me.

In reality, you can definitely by speed in TT's, some in road, and less in CX, but still some ... I'm hoping. I need all the advantages I can get.

I thought your TT bike WAS your off-road bike already......

No worries. Had my satire detector off for a minute.

What does make a difference in cross is tire pressure and choice of tires. This is worth more attention than any other equipment aspect - IMO.

Agreed, I have the new Vittoria Cross Evo XG tires (32mm) in clinchers inbound for my training wheels. If my knee holds up to running, I'll order the same for racing in tubulars to go on my 404's. I know it's not ideal using the 404's for cross but I'm below 160 lbs now and the 404's should be able to handle it. Sound good?

The Vittorias should be a good tire choice. Good allrounder for all courses.

I'm gluing up some tubulars for the first time this year. Standard box section rims to ultegra hubs.

404s - depends on whether you can afford to replace them or not. Cross can give a lot of abuse, but the chicrosscup courses are pretty mild.

Unless you're saving signifiicant weight I'd be reluctant to run carbon rims. Aero isn't a factor and it's moot whether they cut better through sand or not. Dunno about cornering. Glueing to carbon is said to be trickier as well. Just my thoughts.

I'll know more about tubulars in a couple of weeks when I've got the glue jobs done and tested.

What I noticed from last years cross is how well your mind can deal with the pain and how big your balls are bombing down the muddy, slippery hill. Bike be damned... I had to push up that 18lbs mofo up the hill more than once

Cross frigging hurts... way more than a crit race.

18 pounds? How'd you get a bike so light?

CC- Let me know how those TRP adjustable pads work. I'm about to get a set for my frog leggs (which are aluminum rip-offs of your brakes).

Pretty much my whole cross bike is CF. The Pedal Force frame is pretty light to start out with. Only the wheels are really the heavy part.

Shipment #3.










Test ride coming tonight!

Here is a quick snap of the nearly finished product.

i was curious about the pod on the chainstay, but I guess that's the polar power thingie. I read that it measures power by checking the vibration of the chain. Makes sense, since you enter in the length/weight of the chain it's a simple physics calculation. But does this assume a clean chain? what happens when the vibration is damped by mud or grit? or the weight of the chain+mud changes?

--edit- yes, I'm a nerd. I found one of their patents, 6,199,021. they're using Force = 4 * mass of suspended chain * length * frequency^2, where the measured aspect is frequency, and mass/length are assumed to be constant.

I think the change in frequency due to dirt is negligible. When it's caked with mud ... we'll see. The unit works well for overall power and longer term calculations, it's not very good at transients like short term sprints.

I'm digging the cable stop for the front brake. Where did you get it? I need one just like it. And, how easy are the TRP pads to adjust? Mine should be here early next week...

My new ride is about 80% done. With campy 10 speed, a shimano powertap and absolutely no carbon (except for a fork that I'm not exactly sold on), mine will be considerably more ghetto (and heavy) than yours.

Are those the Forte/Titan wheels?