Waiting for stickers

Ordered some decals for the Raleigh project, had some coming from Thailand, they arrived, were the wrong type. So now waiting for the right type to arrive.

The good news is that the wrong versions I can use on another Raleigh project.

Patience is tough.

Belgium booked!

Any good websites on the dates for the Spring Classic races in 2011? Will be there from 4/19-4/26.

Anyone out there have any viewing tips?

i want that: drilliumed Stronglight cranks

They even are set up with Cyclocross gears: 46/34.

Some of those Stronglight's used their own threading for the crank removal which is a pain.

link

Cobbles in April

http://www.flickr.com/photos/donncha/158540367/

I might be in Belgium in April of next year!

Capricorn cyclocross bike

Found this picture of a Capricorn cyclocross bike on the blog bikejerks

And here's a photo album: link

Pretty cool, here’s a link to the Capricorn website, any Minneapolis readers have one?

Wordle

Found this website called Wordle: "Wordle is a toy for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text."

As you can see, Shimano and Ultegra are well used words here on +1lap. Kinda cool.What's interesting is that cyclocross isn't one of the major words, hmmm.......

http://www.wordle.net/

i want that: Belgian handlebar tape

I think this Benotto Belgian tape looks awesome in the package.

But I can't imagine a bike it would actually look cool on.

Anyone?

link

Raleigh spreadsheet

Thought I'd post this build list with prices and sources for the Raleigh Grand Prix I'm working on.

I create a spreadsheet like this every time I build a bike. It helps to know what you spent on something when it comes to selling it. Also, having a break down of the specs is nice. I use Google Docs.

The blue bar means I haven't bought that part yet. You could also make a column for part weights and weigh everything beforehand. I'm not tracking individual part weights for this build, but am keeping a tally of total weight changed.

Handmade Cyclocross Bike: Josh's Marinoni

Hey,  really enjoy your site. Just built up a 2010 custom Marinoni Fango cross bike. Thought I would send you the details and some pics to maybe include in your site. Cheers, Josh.


Frame: Marinoni Fango cyclo-cross, Columbus Nivacrom steel tubing
Fork: Evo carbon cyclo-cross 
Headset: FSA Orbit-MX Orbit-1
Stem: FSA OS-99 3.0 AL 7050 -6 degrees
Handlebars: FSA Wing Pro Compact 44cm
Front brake: Tektro CR720
Rear brake: Tektro CR720
Brake levers: Shimano Ultegra ST-6700
Front derailleur: Shimano Ultegra FD-6700
Rear derailleur: Shimano Ultegra RD-6700
Shift levers: Shimano Ultegra ST-6700
Cassette: Shimano Ultegra CS-6700, 11-25T
Chain: Shimano Ultegra CN-6700
Crankset: Shimano Ultegra FC-6750 compact, 175mm, 34/50T
Bottom bracket: Shimano Ultegra BB-6700
Pedals: Shimano Deore XT 25th Anniversary Edition
Wheelset: Shimano Ultegra 6700 Road Tubeless
Front tyre: Hutchinson Piranha 34 tubeless
Rear tyre: Hutchinson Piranha 34 tubeless
Saddle: Selle Italia SLK SE
Seat post: Cadence PPK
Carbon Bottle cages: n/a
Computer: n/a

Critical measurements
Rider's height: 1.83m (6' 0")
Rider's weight: 75.5kg (166lb)
Saddle height, from BB (c-t): 810mm
Saddle setback: 50mm
Seat tube length, c-t: 560mm
Seat tube length, c-c: 545mm
Tip of saddle nose to C of bars (next to stem): 550mm
Saddle-to-bar drop (vertical): 45mm
Head tube length: 165mm
Top tube length: 560mm

Total bicycle weight: 9.04kg (19.93lb)

flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/11699055@N03/3085283856/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ex_magician/4027923388/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/optimieron/3053916897/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/scurvyknaves/4087990085/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bpotstra/2416964563/

Crank Bros Candy SL's on sale!

Just grabbed a pair of Candy Sl's in blue for $46.20 plus $4 shipping.

Link

Tough to find a pair used at that price. Going to look pretty cool on my blue bike.

Raleigh Restoration

For the doubters/haters out there, check out the tire clearance! These are 700 x 35 tires, but in your defense they actually only measure 30mm wide. But this is CX not mountain bike racing.

Can someone remind me why centerpull brakes aren't more prevalent? They stop really well after putting new pads on and a hell of a lot easier to set up than cantilevers.

Also just ordered:

Still hunting for a pair of bar end shifters, will probably use SunTour's. Need an 8 speed cassette and a chain and a set of mtb pedals and I'll be set.

Getting ready for the season

Great article by CrossJunkie about getting ready for cyclocross. As well as some suggested workouts:

A few times a week, ride off road to work and back, instead of on the road (luckily I have the environment to do this). Need. Upper. Body. Conditioning. Plus the double training dose of Human Growth Hormone, or whatever my own legal and natural product is, won't go amiss.

http://crossjunkie.blogspot.com/2010/08/its-nearly-time.html


I’m planning on heading up to Folsom Lake this weekend, to putz around on some of the trails and fire roads up there, maybe practice some dismounts too.

PDX School of Cross

SSCXWC

Seattle, WA -  August 6, 2010 -- Low Pressure Promotions, LLC and Washington
Unified Single Speeders, LLC (WUSS) are excited to announce that the winner
of the Raleigh Bicycles Single Speed race at StarCrossed p/b Stanley - A
brand of PMI will automatically qualify for the final at the Single Speed
Cyclocross World Championships (SSCXWC). Seattle will be hosting SSCXWC on
October 23rd and 24th with qualifying for the championship held on Saturday,
October 24th.

Zac Daab, co-promoter of StarCrossed, boasted, "We now host the second most
important single speed cyclocross race in the world.  Avoiding the riggers
of the qualifying process for the final at SSCXWC could be quite an
advantage for the winner of StarCrossed (Single Speed)."

A limited number of riders will be given the privilege to race in the
championship race on Sunday, October 24th. Currently over 225 riders are
pre-register for the weekend's festivities so the qualifier is mandatory in
order to secure a spot in the race on Sunday, October 24th.  SSCXWC will be
offering "repechage" opportunities during the many events planned on
Saturday.  Winning the MFG Cyclocross SS race earlier on Sunday will be the
final qualifier.  The winner of StarCrossed Raleigh Bicycles Single Speed
race will avoid the stress and possible humiliation of the qualify process
set forward by WUSS. The winner will also be the new owner of a Raleigh
single speed frame.

For more information on StarCrossed:   www.starcrossedcx.com
For more information on Single Speed Cyclocross Worlds:   www.sscxwc.org

i want that: track dropouts with RD hanger

Saw these on eBay today, now I want to build a CX bike-----could be geared or SS.

link

Dear Velo-Orange,

Velo-Orange has some really interesting parts and can be a great place to find unique new parts for a bike thats being restored.

I've bought a number of parts from them in the past for various builds, and even put their square taper BB on my Cervelo P3 triathlon/time trial bike.

With that said, their prices and products can be ridiculous. Take this centerpull brake for example (image above): link $150 for a pair? This looks identical (as I'm sure it's supposed to) to a Mafac Racer brake. This is all well and good (this isnt a rant on copyright infringement) but $150??

This set of Mafac Racers just sold on eBay for $30 shipped.

These brakes sell all the time on eBay and at your local bike co-op. While Paul components may have started the trend of tweaking a tested design (of another Mafac brake) and tripling the price, at least Paul improved upon the design in a major way allowing for more adjustment.

I understand that having parts made and importing them can be an expensive process, but why recreate parts that are easily accessible and thus not too expensive?

Dura Ace / Open Pro wheelset

A pair of 700c Dura Ace/Open Pro wheels are now mine!

This is possibly one of the best sets of wheels out there. The wheelset is at home in a group ride or a cross course.

Because they are 700c (smaller than the 27" wheels that the Raleigh came with) I'll have more clearance for wider tires. While I think 32mm is a wide enough tire for cyclocross, I'll be doing some MTB duathlons on this thing too so I'm planning on getting either 700x34 or 700x35's.

The best part is I paid $60.