new cyclocross season

[C a s r a n]

Some one in another topic asked me to take some pictures of todays cyclocross here in my home town Aalter. It was the first big cross of the new season.


Let's start with what the Rabobank boys ride with, Colnago's.

World Champion Sven Nys arrived one of the first. He has a special white painted bike; he's sitting on the stairs of his camper, his wife in front of him; the man in the blue jersey is the belgian x-cross national coach De Bie.



The bike, Shimano Dura-Ace equipped. Koolstop brake pads.



Teammate Sven Vanthourenhout arrives. The world champion decides to have a chat and discuss "how to win this race!". The black bike in the front is Vanthourenhouts.



All Rabo riders have these bikes. 3 other from Sven Nys. The ride FIR Antara and Speedlite rims (stickers removed) with Dura-Ace hubs. Dugast tubulars, off course.



Another view. The stems weren't Cinelli ones!! There was tape rond the stems (and on Vanthourenhouts bikes a Cinelli sticker abóve the tape). When I was in the mechanics zone during the cross, I asked Rabo's mechanic about this, saying these aren't Cinelli's: he only smiled and wouldn't say more.



Being the son of a world champion means you have to wear the clothes daddy doesn't need any more?

[Timo]

Great pics Casran. Thank you for sharing them!

Any clue what type of tubulars are on the bike in pic 4, the one behind the Dugast equipped one (also the bike Nys is sitting on on pic 2) ?

Also, what's the rubber seal on the front break cable on Nys' "rainbow" colored bike?

[C a s r a n]

1. Great pics Casran. Thank you for sharing them!

2. Any clue what type of tubulars are on the bike in pic 4, the one behind the Dugast equipped one (also the bike Nys is sitting on on pic 2) ?

3. Also, what's the rubber seal on the front break cable on Nys' "rainbow" colored bike?

1. My pleasure. I'll post several more pics... it takes some time.

2. Also Dugast one, I checked. Another type (diameter) I suppose. It's the one he races with (see pic)
Nys won the race btw, second Albert, third Heule.

3. That a very x-cross specific question. Since I'm not an expert (I'm 100% a road racer), hope some one else can answer this.

[C a s r a n]

Let's go on... Ridley bikes now.

My team mate Jan Soetens is not world champion, so less bike porn... however, a special paintscheme on his bikes because he is the belgian U23 champion! (he can't wear his tricolore jersey because this is a pro race) He uses Gommitalia tubulars.





He rode a good early season race finishing 6th:




Jan Soetens bikes (r) and the one of Dieter Vanthourenhout (l), another youtfull belgian rider beating Soetens in the sprint for 5th place:




Here's Niels Albert warming up. He is a very talented young rider and the only one capable of following Sven Nys until the last lap (it was a very fast dry circuit) finishing 2nd. He rides a Ridley X-Night (full carbon frame):



All Ridley (4ZA) equipment. Even a carbon ring to hold the chain where it belongs (don't know the name of that thing in english). Antara wheels.

[520 Dan]

that chain guide is sweet. More Pics! More Pics!

[Timo]

Interesting. Nothing Campagnolo equipped?

[Racing Aardvark]

Casran, thanks for the nice pics! Good and clear too!

My guess on the rubber gasket is simply to keep mud out of his cable housing. Never seen that before, but that's the only logical explantion I can think of.

Ya know, I got to fondle some Dugast cross tires recently. Pure lust, but I couldn't imagine using them here in Colorado, not with our sharp nasty rocks

This cross season will be the hardest one for me (since I can barely ride let alone race). I'm coaching this weekend and it should be entertaining to see how my knee holds up.

[simon]

casran, thank you for the pics. many people think cyclocross is old material that you can't use on road anymore...
1. you can get dugast tubulars with pink sidewalls(they're more resistant to cuts, they were made for the monopoli worlds 2003)
2. the rubber thing on the cable is in my opinion a gore ride on cable, wich is more mud resistant(bikes are cleaned with high pressure, and you don't want to change cables every week)
3. i think those look like deda stems?maybe the cinelli front plate fits the deda, because the plate looks like an original cinelli.)
no campagnolo bikes?
my new cyclocross bikes are equipped with campagnolo record ultra, weighted them yesterday, the one with tune/zipp wheels is 6,9 kg(so still 100 grams too much)
have a pic but don't get to post it here(can someone explain?)

[C a s r a n]

I don't believe I've seen any interesting bikes with Campagnolo stuff...


Furthermore: Cervélo, ridden by American x-cross champion Jonathan Page. He had a very special paint jobe. Alpha Q fork. FSA Team Issue cranks.

[C a s r a n]

Spanish rider David Seco Amundarain rode this Kuips bike. Note the Hed wheels. He had carbon cabble housing as well.

[Timo]

Pics of your mount would be very interesting Simon! Mine are Campagnolo equipped as well (see the "my new bike" thread) but Chorus. Several people advised me not to use Record because they claimed the carbonfibre in the front and rear derailleurs would be to vulnerable.

[Knut]

Yep, that's the rubber seal from Gore Ride-On cables. Wise choice for cross IMHO. If you look at the cables on the toptube of the bike in the last picture of the original post you can clearly see the plastic liner covering the cable. Also, look at the rear brake in the same picture for another rubber seal.

I use these cables on my mountainbike, for front- and rear derailleur, works very well. Unfortunately Gore has stopped manufacturing these so supply is drying up...

Nice pictures and interesting look into the cross world BTW!

[simon]

here is one of my bikes

[Timo]

Beautiful Simon! I see you use the non Ergo Campa handle just like I do.

Here are pics and specs of my bikes...

http://weightweenies.starbike.com/forum ... php?t=8721

[simon]

timo
i didn't put the record stuff on the bike to be long lasting...
first of all i'm a ww, they're lighter. the ergopowers are said to shift better because the cable friction in the lever is lower. the look is nicer, too.
last year i had nearly the same bike with chorus, and you have to progress somehow(hope to be faster this year as well).
i think your bikes look very classy with this all black setup. i thought why are there different parts?i would not want my bikes to be different(look at vanthourenhout's bikes, one has a dura ace seatpost, the others have colnago, i don't like this.)if i would use these bikes for racing, i would first get the bikes exactly the same and then i would start to make them lighter. but as i understood you don't race, so having slightly different positions is not that big problem.