Cyclocross 1965

This is an awesome website for vintage bikes, but take a look at this 1965 cyclocross race machine.

LINK

Lighten up: Bolt on skewers

So, funds are low? Economy in the toilet? Grab a set of bolt on skewers to drop some weight off your rig. Riding around they are very secure, probably more so than quick releases. Also, unless you have a set of spare wheels in the pit, it doesnt really matter anyway----race them.

Steel shaft bolt ons are cheap. And only weigh 66 grams (about half the weight of Dura Ace skewers) pictured above.

And titanium shafted ones are around 45 grams (for twice the price).

Lastly, search the + 1 lap archives. Cheap weight tips are a plenty.

VeloResto

Because Plus One Lap is all things cyclocross, I began another blog called Velo Resto. There I'll post what I'm currently up to regarding restoring and refurbishing bicycles that aren't CX related.

http://veloresto.blogspot.com/

Lightweight Cyclocross Bike: Ali's Ridley

Ali sent in his Ridley which he calls "light-ish". Ali, any cross bike under 16 pounds is just plain light in my book even if it is small. Nice rig.

"I just switched my drive train to Sram Rival from Ultegra/DA mix, the bikes weight dropped to 15.82. Almost .5 of a pound, it was somewhere over 16lbs with the Shimano. 34c mud tire setup brings weight to 15.85lbs.

Frame- Ridley X-Fire 48cm
Fork- X-fire
Wheels- Easton EC-90 Aero carbon tubulars
Tires-Challenge Grifo XS 32c/optionalGrifo32/Fango34
Sealant- Stan's
Cranks- Easton EC-90/ 42 RotorRing, Carbon chain gaurd sandwich (FSA)
BB- Easton ceramic bearings
Bar- Easton EC-90 SLX Equipe
Stem- Easton EA-90 90mm
Seatpost- Easton EA-70
Pedals- Crank Brothers Candy 4-ti
Brakes- 4ZA Canti/ Jagwire cross canti post/FSA carbon pads
Shifters- Sram Force/ left shifter gutted
Front Der.- NA- single ring setup
Rear Der.- Sram force
Chain- Sram 10spd hollow pin (red level?)
Saddle- SLR"

Homemade Tensioner

I made this chain tensioner awhile back. It worked great on smooth roads but not so hot on rough trails (maybe it needed a design tweak?) The reason I just didnt shorten the chain was I liked to switch cogs based on race terrain and conditions.

Took some flat aluminum, drilled some holes as shown below. Then stole a derailleurs wheel and screwed that onto the plate. The trick is to bend the plate the right amount.