14.87# CX bike

[blacksheep]

Here is my race bike for the past cyclocross season. In the pic it is at 15.4# but with my m2racer hs, lighting cranks and a tufo front tubular wheel it is 14.87#

Its more of a frankenbike of all the light parts I had lying around but I'd ride/race this over a drop bar 'typical' cross bike anyday.

OK what the heck is it?! Originally it was a 2003 gary fisher 29er frame, medium, that I stripped and repainted using Black Sheep masks ( I custom paint as side work, and had left over masks from a real Black Sheep frame i own)..if I remember the repainted frame was 3.2#
The fork is a custom ti from XACD, made for 29 mtb tires with a dropout crown length of 470mm, steerer cut to a little over 6", it weighs about 550g. I am much more used to 29er frames and sizing and raced this bike over a regular cx frame I have. I dont use 2 rings up front and prefer flat bars so its basically a 1x9 mtn bike with cross tires. 36 chainring x 11-23, and unless I'm in a really fast sprint I have enough gear. This bike was comfortable and easy to race.

I have weighed all individual parts but forget exact numbers...some weights are a little off, but should be close..

headset: m2racer 41g (no top cap or star nut)
stem: ritchey wcs 120mm, ti bolts 140ish g
carbon hs spacer 5mm
bar: easton ec90 flat 99g
brakelevers: Real X levers 112g
grips: foam 12g
shifter: sram rocket ?g front only
cables/housing: aztec powerlines (pain to setup)
seatpost: Maxm 31.6mm carbon ti bolt 230g
saddle: selle italia slp carbon 118g original plastic like model
brakes: Avid tri-align with al. and ti hardware 127g with pads
ti brake studs
seatpost collar: hand machined out oem with ti bolt 18g
cranks: lightning cycles 444g with bb and spider
chainring: spot 36t 55g
chain: sram hollowpin 255g
3rd eye chainwatcher, under 20g, didnt drop chain once
rear der.: dura ace tuned with al bolts 190 or less g?
cassette: cycle dynamics 11-23 ti and half da top ti cogs...125ish g
rear wheel: custom american classic road hub, Fir isidis tubular rim, butted spokes al nips...tufo elite lps tire 32mm
front wheel: for ww sake a cane creek aerohead team (ti spokes tubular) with tufo elite lps tire BUT i dint race that wheel because tufos are terrible front tires on technical courses so otherwise a spinergy spox with a 55g tube and panaracer crossblaster(315g)
pedals speedplay frog ti
skewers: ti bolt on
fork: xaxd custom 550g

I think thats all. It could definitely be lighter with carbon wheels or lighter brakes. Otherwise its 100% rideable and durable. The final weight was taken using a digital fish scale.

[Eric W.]

BS,

that`s a cool ride. Quite individualistic. How does this fork hold up? On XACD´s www I could not take a closer look at the welds ... Is it comfy enough? And how does it perform compared to say a Alpha Q CX if you ever tried that? How much did that custom model cost?

Best, Eric

BTW which tubes are you using?

[Samu Ilonen]

Even if cutted under 50cm, mtb bar in not alloved in many CC.races.

And using mtb frame is stupid idea. Have you ever thought why cross bikes doesn't have slope frames....they are difficult to carry when running.

Just for others for thinking doing same...and just my few €'s.

[Boonen]

Samu is right, in Europe this is not allowed in a cross race.
It's a nice bike but isn't it just an mtb with 28" wheels?
I can't see how this would be faster than a real crossbike.

[Racing Aardvark]

Samu is right, in Europe this is not allowed in a cross race.
It's a nice bike but isn't it just an mtb with 28" wheels?
I can't see how this would be faster than a real crossbike.

Depends on the course. Here in the US it IS allowed (though not in UCI races), and some courses are a bit too MTBy.

I am the only one who thinks it might be worth adding a few grams of tubie glue to that rear wheel?

[blacksheep]

some responses:

Eric W.---The XACD fork cost 169 usd+ shipping and bank fees which were offset by purchasing other items. They are very easy and fast to work with. The fork is very flexy over bumps or when braking, which actually feels pretty good(well comfortable) but if you watch it while riding it would surprise you. I had a carbon fork(al steerer) before which was very stiff in comparison and not any more advantageous in my opinion. I originally got the fork as a 29er fork but now dont want to ride it hard offroad. Its not that the construction is poor, simply that no matter how well it was welded the physics of maintaining strength over the length of the fork blades is really too much for its design to handle for serious mtbing. The shorter 26" models dont have problems. The rear tire was a tufo tubular that I rolled and ran the last lap of a race on.

Samu.... did you look at the picture? I posted that to show the bike SHOULDERED during a race...sure its a little more difficult to get there but I rarely shoulder even a conventional frame...I find shouldering often inefficient and you'll find that to be the case in various situations even for pros. You should more carefully select your words.

Boonen....For ME it is faster. As racing aardvark pointed out US cx courses are often very technical and rough more like mtb courses. This setup allows me to brake harder, descend faster and cut through technical sections better. I was training on cx race loops I made with my 29 mtbs and when I setup and tried the course on a regular cx bike I was slower and less confident. The biggest difference is excellent braking and stability when hammering out of the saddle.

The bike was setup to see what it could do. The frame is not perfect for cx, the bb is a little low and I could use more main traingle room BUT I really like having flat bars, vbrakes and a long toptube.

Guess I coulda used more glue! The grams woulda be worth it for a placing in that race.

[Samu Ilonen]

BTW, I have raced cross with Cannondale mtb. It sucked hard agains real cross bike. Specially when running steep and long hill. Very hard to get to shoulder and you hit elbow in down tube every time. Brake cables always around fingers beacuse they are on down tube. Small frame and big man...but I loved those hydraulic disk...no brakes hitting you back and reliable braking in wet.

Yeah, Finnich cross tracks are mainly same as XC-track due to club sizes that organice those races....I would love race tracks build in central parks but not possible in here...

Now I have broken left lowest rib and running with bike hurt like hell. (I'm right hander...rib was broken by Time pedal in mass crash starting area in XC-race.) And it's permanately. Or it need to be removed with surgery.

[Boonen]

I have never been in the US, but I head the racing is very different there?
A lot of the racing in Holland and Belgium has mud and stairs and other sections where you have to get of the bike, but if the course is more like a mtb course and you don't have to get of the bike to often, I guess a flatbar would be just as fast as a traditional crossbike (depending on who rides it )

[willf03]

The bar you are comfortable riding really depends on your riding ability, and background...it appears to me that blacksheep has a background in MTBing, so naturally he will feel more comfortable on a flat bar; coming from a MTB background myself I can empathize with his reasoning. However, I feel that a drop bar is faster in all (cyclocross) conditions if you devote time to getting comfortable on your cross bike.
I also agree with Samu Ilonen about compact geometry CCX bikes--even Giant, arguably the biggest proponent of Compact Geometry bikes, makes their CCX bike with at least a "semi-compact" geometry. In all situations compact geometry is a hindrance to essential CCX techniques. That said, I comment bs on his resourcefulness...just wouldn't encourage other riders to look at 29er frames as a viable alternative to traditional CCX frames.

[ndbike]

Just in case some of you don't remember or don't know, in 1998 or '97, I'm not exactly sure, when CX worlds where in Munich, Germany a certain Thomas F (can't spell last name) finished on the podium using a CX bike with a flat bar. This certain Thomas has won numerous CX races and MTB races and you all know who he is. As a cyclocross racer in the Eastern US, I can somewhat understand the idea of using a bike like this but I've always been faster on a traditional CX bike. Even though I rarely shoulder my bike, I'd never buy a CX frame with sloping geometry. My 2 cents.