What I have always loved about Mountain Biking is the immersion into the woods; the sense of solitude that comes in the wilderness that is lost entirely in the convenience and hustle of the cities I’ve always lived in. What I always hated about Mountain Biking is that my mountain bike never feels enough like my road bike.
I was but a budding Velominatus when I discovered Cyclocross, and from the start it seemed like an incredible sport that offered all kinds of opportunity. My dad came home from a trip to Europe with an aluminum ALAN under his arm and from that moment on I was hooked on the idea of a road bike that could go off and have fun in the dirt. At the time, CX bikes were a rarity in the US market; the closest thing I’d seen to a CX bike at that time were John Tomac’s bitchin’ drop bar mountain bikes and the frankenstein Bontrager MTB that a buddy converted into some sort of zombie with a touring bike’s fork and 700c front wheel mounted on the rig and a 26 inch rear wheel with a weird skinny tire.
Nevertheless, my limited budget historically poured into the road bikes where my heart has always been rooted and a CX bike always seemed to fall just into the s-1 range of Rule #12 compliance; whether s in this case happened to be my pursuit of the sensation of rhythm, harmony, and flight to be found only on smooth tarmac or, currently, the chair of the Budget and Planning Committee – on which I hold an influential but non-controlling vote.
But Fate, the Velominati Community, and @Cyclops’ lifelong dream to learn to braze a bike frame changed all that one day last January when a box appeared on my doorstep containing a custom-made steel Cyclocross frame. The dust was blown off the brain cogs which get remarkably little use these days, and Il Progetto for my CX bike started in earnest. Marko took up the role of Graveur Sensei and PNW CX Legend Josh Liberles of Veloforma took up the role of CX Sensei. Parts were shuffled from bike to bike, various components were aggregated from odd corners to fill in the gaps and make substitutions where necessary, and slowly but surely the Nederaap came to life.
My old Dura Ace 7700 nine-speed group-san was immediately selected as the ideal mud-clearing drivetrain; somehow Campagnolo seems much better suited to the civility offered by the road (even in Rule #9 conditions) than the neanderthal environment of Cyclocross. In the Velominatus Budgetatus conditions we find ourselves in, this meant the Record 10 group was moved from the TSX to the rain bike, and the TSX the current target of Progetto Old-School and has donned downtube shifters and lies in wait for some period-appropriate brakes. Old wheels were repurposed from the commuter bike (which now temporarily lies in wait of new bits and pieces) and a secret project for new racing wheels for the CX-V waits to bear fruit. (Some of you who are paying attention may already be onto the source of these wheels.)
All this was done with the knowledge that @Cyclops, however obsessive-compulsive, built this frame in a spare bedroom and my expectations were set accordingly. This would be be a rideable frame that held a huge amount of sentimental value and would be fun to take out to the local races and inelegantly beat people with and say things like, “Yeah, this bike was built by a crazy person. And I beat you with it. And I suck at Cyclocross. Feeling good about that?”
But last week, as the last part for the build arrived (a pair of top-mount brake levers which I understand will cost me massive Look Pro points which I hope to make up for with Not Crashing As Often As I Otherwise Would points) I put the thing together and took it for a spin.
First pedal stroke, hey this feels OK. Next pedal stroke, yeah, this is not bad at all. A few hundred meters later, I realized I felt like I was riding one of my bikes. I half expected the frame to fall apart first with the introduction of my hefty arse and second with the unleashing of my considerable artillery, but this bike doesn’t just ride like a home-made bike, it rides like a real professional, great bike. Emboldened, I collected my kit and headed out to the local park to play around and see how it faired on its native terrain.
Riding it down to the park and the singletrack that is strewn throughout it, I was compelled to determine if it could survive some manner of trauma. Armed with my incompetence as a Cyclocrosser, I had no alternative but to crash-test the frame by bunny-hopping a curb at about 45kph. My plan worked flawlessly; I jumped at an oblique angle, went a little short, landed the back wheel sideways on the curb and became the lead character in my own stop-action animation film as I dumped hip-first into the cement sidewalk like a sack of potatoes. Ancillary observation: I’m amazed at how resilient the V-Kit is, this being my first crash in it.
Test completed and satisfied that the frame was unharmed despite crashing hard enough to require some serious wheel-truing upon my return home, I headed into the singletrack with the confidence that the frame was both smarter and stronger that I am. You can’t put a price on that kind of knowledge.
As for the top-mount levers which I’m sure to be berated for, I’ll make you a deal. As long as I’m too inexperienced to know better and as long as you can’t crush Katie Compton, I’ll happily disregard your advice. As soon as one of those two factors changes, I’m all ears. And for those of you planning the “Cyclocross is about minimalism” argument, I expect you to post photos of your single speed CX rig to support your case; anyone making this claim and riding a rig with gears will be disregarded wholesale as a poseur.
Footnote:
This frame was built as a first attempt at what @Cyclops plans to become his own frame-building company. At the time of building, the company lacked a brand, but he has since settled on Deacon Bikes and he will be opening his doors to business for the 2013 season. Thanks @Cyclops, this thing is amazingly awesome.
[dmalbum path=”/velominati.com/content/Photo Galleries/frank@velominati.com/CX-V/”/]
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View Comments
@Buck Rogers
@Buck Rogers
A 46-36 chainring is a popular choice for CX - YMMV.
As for the top-mount levers - I've been told there are a group of riders that can make effective use of them but for most of us...it's just extra weight. The only time I'm on the tops in a race is on a long (for CX) non-technical climb.
So let's break down the top-mount usage. We're all agreed that we're not on the tops in anything technical so that limits their use to coming into a set of barriers. You check your speed coming in (easily done from the hoods, it's what you're doing around every corner already), unclip your right foot and swing it behind the back dangling behind your still clipped left foot, right hand comes off its hood and onto the top tube 2/3 down, unclip left foot, pick bike up and go - with your left hand still resting comfortably on it's hood and still perfectly capable of braking should the need arise - but you should have already scrubbed all the speed you didn't want coming in, right?!? Joey need to be OK.
I get the desire - practicing in the park, maybe tooling around on the tops, getting off your bike at speed and then back on - you feel like you could use some control and brakes are all about control. But if you don't install them you won't miss them.
@Buck Rogers
Honestly, if your Poprad has discs I would just stick with those. If you want better wheels, get some new ones. Now that disc brakes are legal in CX I see no reason not to run them if you've got them. You've got much more clearance for muddy courses as well as better stopping power. Canits may win for tradition's sake, but for performance disc is the way to go in my opinion.
@Buck Rogers, @VeloVita
There also may be some issue with hub widths switching between the two; the CX standard has not been fully determined so you may have 135mm axle width on your bike if they went with the MTB standard and not the road standard.
Josh told me after it was too late that the Ritchey CX forks suck and that they'd be all chattery. With the Mini-V's its under control, but just barely. Get a different fork for sure if you're replacing the one you have.
As for chain sets, I'm riding my road double 53/39 and I'll stick with the 39 for sure as it is only slightly bigger than a 38, but I'll go 46 on the front as I find myself in the big ring crossed a lot as I change from a fast grass section to a steep climb; the 46 would be much more forgiving for that and I think the 46x12 would be big enough for most cases.
But I know almost nothing.
@brianc
The point on cx chainrings, to be clear, is not very much about actual teeth, especially if you have a 9 or 10spd cassette w/ broad gear range (I like 11-28, but I am still trying to climb well for my weight). The key is the narrow gap between chainrings , so 48/38, 46/36, 46/38, whatever- it is to minimize shifting difficulty in the muck in a short race.If u do your best sheldon brown, actual chainring teeth not as important as cassette teeth for range. some people go 1x10 instead of 2x10 to "eliminate the possibility" of front dropping chain by using chaincatcher and no derailleur. 1x10 types usually use a 38-40 up front- have to remember that a cx course frequently will have pavement as well as flat double track; you want a gear to take advantage of that.
the poprad/fisher presidio frameset family is some awesome american made steel frames for cx, have fun!
@buckrogers
does your fork have the posts for cantis? if not you may very well be able to trade your current fork to someone attempting to do same thing, or yeah, just buy a new or lightly used one. check out the canti vs mini-V discussions if you want even more to obsess over. Just be prepared for the huge degradation in braking power as you abandon disc for canti. Also, if u do go canti, look to see if you can find a front adapter to eliminate chatter. Mini-V do not require this.
@VeloVita
Yeah, but I have a really good pair of CX wheels that I bought for ParisRoubaix and now really want to run them for CX exclusively. I am planning on building a new road set of wheels for my road bike this winter. So I want to dump my money into a new set of road wheels and tuen my tubular HEDs into CX only wheels as I do way more road than CX.
But I totally see your point as well. But, if at all possible, I will switch out my Lemond brakes to canti or mini-V brakes (whatever they are!).
Thanks for all the replies!
BTW Frank, do you have a total weight on the bike as it sits?
@Buck Rogers
If'n it's a disk frame, are there even brake bosses on the rear triangle for cantis? You could replace the front fork if it doesn't have bosses but if the rear doesn't your only potential option would be to have a framebuilder type braze some on. Don't know if that's feasible or more economical than another wheelset.
@Nate
I checked and the frame has a hole in it for rear cantilever, or standard, brakes on the frame. The front fork does not have any though. Looks like I will need a new fork to make the conversion.
@Nate
@Buck Rogers
The Poprad discs I'm familiar all came with what I believe to be Wound Up CX forks without canti bosses and the from the extensive research I've just completed (Google image search), the Poprad disc frame doesn't have canti bosses - so basically, you're fucked if you want to run cantis or mini-vs. You 'could' buy a new fork and then have bosses brazed onto your frame, but at that point you'd really be better off buying a new frame if you're set on running the tubular set up you've got. Also @frank is right, your Poprad may use 135mm rear spacing for those disc brake equipped wheels, but you'd have to measure - I do think I recall that they were 130mm though. I still think a new frame is a better option.