I've discovered cross by virtue of moving to where trails are 5 minutes from my door. But my Ridley is a little porky at 9kg.

The frame is one bought on Cyclescheme so cannot be sold, the rest of it is fair game although I think there is little room to manoeuvre.

Spec is pretty simple.

Ridley 2011 X-Bow frame & alloy steerer carbon fork
Record 11 running gear with Campag cantis & Extralite E-Bones ISIS cranks on FSA ISIS BB.
FIR SC170 rims on Record hubs with DT Comps & brass nips
Tufo 28mm Clincher Tubs
Deda Zero 100 Bars & Stem
Fizik Arione CX Carbon saddle on Time Carbon Post

The cranks, while light at 358g are limited to lead weight bottom brackets that wear out too quickly. So they will be replaced by a pair of Extralite E-Bones QRC cranks that I already have.

I've identified that the fork is a major culprit weighing in at almost 700g! I'm looking at the Kinesis Pure CX but have a dilemma. The Kinesis fork is 405mm from crown to dropout, but the existing fork is 396mm. How much will this affect the handling? At the moment it is 73.5 STA & 72 HTA.

Tyre choice is the other are I've identified for weight loss. I ride in an area where even in mid summer there can be mud so need a tyre that clears mud well.

Bontrager Jones cxr tires are light at (verified) 310g each.

F&F buddy. Crossbow is the bottom of Ridley's range so you're looking at a 1600 gram frame at a bare minimum. Time to spend $$ on some carbon or a lighter aluminum frame.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Frame can't be changed as it was bought on a government tax loan type scheme. Have to keep it for another 2 years!

Forks, tyres & cranks should net about 600g or so (250+200+150) I reckon. Everything else is either top end already (Record 11) or would be too fragile for general use, if changed (wheels & cockpit).

Guess I'll have to suck it up!

On tyres, you might look at the 28mm Ultremos, though as you say it depends a bit on your roads. I've found the 25mm Ultremos fast comfortable and one puncture so far (c.1000km commuting through central london and the odd Windsor run).

TBH I had a bit of an aversion to them as I don't like the decals but I'm impressed.

Although bought on Cyclescheme, the only regular tarmac this sees is the 5 minutes to the trail & crossing roads. So I'm looking at knobblies only. Commuting is pretty much exclusively on fixed with Gatorskin Hardshell 25s until spring.

That's an interesting commute - or at least a tax efficient one

its not efficient as it used to be

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Good place to take photos

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