Sven to race

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/nys-back-in-shape-for-evening-superprestige-race?ns_campaign=news&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=cyclingnews&ns_linkname=0&ns_fee=0

Don't drop a chain, buy one of these

Don’t want to drop a chain?

Check this out these custom chain catchers made by a friend of mine: link

Lightweight Cyclocross Bike: Eric's Cannondale

Got an email from Eric, who's Plus One Lap alumni:

Hi,

You posted my lightweight (and custom) Merlin a back in 2007.

I just got a new 2011 Cannondale SuperX from QuadCycles in Arlington, MA.

Frame: 2011 Cannondale SuperX Hi-MOD Carbon BB30
Fork: 2011 Cannondale SuperX Hi-MOD 1.5–1.125" Tapered Steerer
Wheels: Mavic Ksyrium ES
Tires: Challenge Grifo 32
Crank: FSA SL-K Light BB30 DA-79 Compact 46/36
Bottom Bracket: FSA
Shifters/Brake Levers: Ultegra 6700
Rear Derailleur: Ultegra 6700
Front Derailleur: Ultegra 6700
Chain: Dura Ace 7800
Cassette: Ultegra 6700 11-28
Pedals: Crank Brothers Egg Beater SL
Brakes: FSA SL-K
Brake Pads: SwissStop RX GHP
Bars: Ritchey WCS Logic II
Stem: Ritchey WCS 4Axis
Bar Tape: Deda

It weighs 15-16 lbs.

Vintage Cyclocross video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9_Fs1QtsOY&feature=


via Roadbikereview

Raleigh

Got both "new" brake levers installed last night as well retro-awesome Suntour barcons. Brake cables are the same color now, yea!

Bar tape is a little chunkier than I like, but better than cloth tape as far as comfort goes.

Raleigh: Downtube painted

I wanted to do a full repaint before cross season, but seeing as I need to ride this bike daily, a full repaint is tricky.

The downtube on the Raleigh was heavily rusted, so after work yesterday, I sanded the downtube to bare metal, primed it and sprayed it black. It actually came out really nice (never underestimate a new coat of paint). I’m considering powdercoating, but don’t want to pay $100 to have it done. I have about $250 into the bike as it is now.

Will probably just ride it as is, will build up another bike that I can ride home from work and do the full bike at some point.

Also mounted the “New” pedals last night.

Before:

This weekend's plan:

Swap wheelset with Dura Ace wheels

New SRAM 8 speed 11/28 cassette

Install new SRAM chain
Swap 53 tooth ring with 46 tooth large ring

Install Suntour Bar end shifters

Install Dura Ace non-aero brake levers

All new shift and brake cables/housing

Sand/Polish stripped saddle
Sand/Paint downtube which is rusty

Install Time ATAC pedals

Bryan's Bianchi Cyclocross conversion

Bryan sent me some photos of his Bianchi conversion which started out as a road bike. He powdercoated a Salsa stem to match. For anyone out there considering such a conversion, maybe this will you push you over the edge.

Howdy,

Love your site and your Colnago and Raleigh builds. I thought maybe you'd like to see my bike of a similar nature. It started life as a Bianchi Nuovo Racer with a nice wide flat fork crown that I stripped down, brazed on canti studs and powdercoated. It's got a full build of 9-speed Dura Ace with XT brakes. Don’t worry, I’ve got other wheels, I just liked the looks of these for the photo! It’s a reasonable weight of an honest 21 pounds ready to ride.

It’s not my regular race bike, but does see use in our weekly series. It also has full fenders and a rack colored to match for commuting and some good randonneur style. It’s pretty much a perfect multi-use bike!

Thanks,

Bryan

Frugal Tip: 110 BCD's are your friend

130 BCD cranks are the norm in road bikes. However, finding cyclocross friendly chainrings (44, 46, 48) are not so easy in this size.

If you think $35 for a single chainring is reasonable, stop reading. LEAVE!

Personally, I think $10-$15 is a better price for a ring. You can find 110 BCD rings in the cross friendly size of 44, 46, 48 much easier. Many of these are "BMX" rings which is bonus because they often come in cool anodized colors. Many mountain bike cranks are 110 BCD too.

Cross bikes are supposed to be frankensteins, so go find that old mtb crank at the LBS or bike co-op and pair it with a BMX ring. You'll save some dollars.

Here are a bunch of 46 tooth rings in the 110 BCD pattern: link

Feeling Nostalgic: Nishiki Singlespeed

I miss that old bike. link

Sold it 3 years ago, emailed the owner today out of the blue and she said:

Yes, my husband uses it almost daily (depending on the weather).  He loves it.  He actually rode it to work today.

That makes me feel a little better.

Press release: Garmin and MetriGear

Pretty big news:

First, our apologies for the extended quiet period. For those of you who have been following us over the past year, you know that it's not like us to be so quiet for so long. Well, earlier this week some great news was announced that will hopefully help explain our silence: Garmin® acquires MetriGear, adding cycling power to fitness portfolio.You can access Garmin's press release here. The decision to join the Garmin team was not a difficult one for us. Garmin brings incredible capabilities to the table and ensures that Vector will be delivered to market as we originally conceived: an easy-to-own and accurate power meter with the capability to offer unique insights to cyclists. And while this path is clearly different than our original startup intent of building a company from the ground up, we now know that Vector has the ability to reach cyclists throughout the world in a way that we could never have achieved on our own. There was a moment of pause as we took in the gravity of the decision, but then smiles and whiteboard sessions quickly took over as we began to imagine all of the possibilities and long-term potential with the Vector platform as part of Garmin's fitness portfolio. If you're reading this, chances are you've been supporting us from the sidelines for some time. It would be difficult to overstate our gratitude for your encouragement and enthusiasm. The emails and inquiries are often hilarious (intentionally, we believe!). They get passed around our team and offer great amusement as well as that extra boost of confidence that we sometimes need. Many of you know that this is a pretty complex product. We won't bore you with the details, but suffice it to say that it rivals the most complex stuff we (and some of our technology partners) have ever worked on. One of our favorite coded phrases that we use when we're wrestling with a particularly vexing issue is: "If it was easy...", meaning that if it was, it would have been launched a long time ago by another company, so just get on with it. But Vector is measuring forces as we expect, and when delivered by Garmin, it is going to be a solution that we all want to ride/race/train with and we'll have the confidence that a world-class company stands behind the product. We just arrived back in the Bay Area from Interbike, where we spent a few days in our new employer's booth. We joked that the MetriGear Interbike booth this year was a "micro booth" - a small plastic box that fits nicely in our pocket and displays the multiple versions of improvements that we've made in our sensor system over the past year. Prep for a micro booth is a dream - all we had to do was wait for the glue gun to heat up! The response to a Garmin Vector at Interbike helped confirm that it will fit seamlessly into the Garmin fitness product portfolio. We honestly wouldn't be sharing this news today if you hadn't raised your voice, typed that email, sent that Tweet, and told us that we were working on something that you were interested in checking out. Thank you. While it's too early to talk about the timing of a release for Vector, you can be sure that we are working as hard as ever to deliver with an expanded and amazingly capable group of people. We hope to continue the dialogue and keep you updated along the way. How and in what way, we haven't quite figured out yet. But for now, it's time to get back to work on the Garmin Vector! Thanks again. Formerly, the MetriGear Team, and now proud members of the Garmin Team

MetriGear, Inc. | 500 Laurelwood Road | Suite #12 | Santa Clara | CA | 95054

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.

Reader Rig: 1979 Centurion Super Lemans

Jason saw my posts about the Raleigh cyclocross project, and sent me some info/pics of his Centurion cyclocross bike.

The message here is that for budget conscious riders, a cheap cyclocross bike isnt hard to do. Plus, don't forget cyclocross designed bikes are a rather new concept within the last fifteen years. Prior, guys like Jason and I were taking these old road bikes and retrofitting them to go offroad.

Excerpts from Jason's email: "It's set up for running around town now, but come Sept I'm gonna throw some knobbies on it and use it for my backup race bike. The MAFAC racers are dope, can't really make out what's on your Raleigh, but let's be honest all center pulls are decent enough for cross or commuting."

Jason's Blog: Het Malen

Vintage Cyclocross Poster

Just thought this was cool. link

Raleigh wrenching

Worked on the bike after work today:

It had old rusted cheap cottered cranks previously. What's worse is that I'm sure the previous owner didnt know or take the time to service them, because they wiggled like crazy in the BB. I initially tried tightening the BB cups without taking off the cranks, this didnt solve the problem.

I bought a set of Sugino VP cranks with a 130BCD pattern, and they had a gunmetal color paint over the top of them, not anodized. Using some paint remover, steel wool, scraper, soft rag and some metal polish I sparkled them up pretty well.Will get a 48t big ring when the season gets closer.

Getting off the cottered cranks was a chore, using Sheldon's tutorial was vital. . I ended up breaking off the threaded portion, drilling out the cotter pin, heating everything up with a torch and then driving it out with a punch. Then I removed the other side's BB cup so that I didnt have to remove both cotters.

Installed the old school Stronglight Competition BB that I bought for $2 and everything looks pretty good.

Cannot find a photo of the Sugino VP cranks online in the 130bcd pattern with the gunmetal paint, but they were hideous. Now, I think they look a lot like one of my most favorite cranks the Dura Ace 7400's.

Had the alloy pedals sitting in a box so decided to throw them on, will get some clipless in the near future.

Lastly, snapped a photo of the Wright's leather saddle I got off of eBay for $20 shipped. I'll use this saddle and seatpost for general cruising, but will switch back to the plastic/leather Turbo for cyclocross racing as I'll feel more comfortable abusing that one.

Raleigh Cyclocross

Here are some before pics of the Raleigh Grand Prix. Accumulating parts as we speak, I'm currently riding this bike everyday commuting to work, so cant have any downtime due to rebuilding.

Thus, I'm planning on amassing my parts, polishing what needs to be polished.

btw---have spent $122 thus far.

Pair of custom frames

Hardcore CX racers will always have at least two bikes built up alike so that they can swap bikes midrace and not miss a beat.

A pair of custom cyclocross frames are for sale, with such a purpose in mind.

Pretty cool.

Cyclocross FAQ

The most popular page on this little blog is also one of my first posts: the Cyclocross FAQ

Written in September of 2005, most of the content is still fairly accurate, though on my list is to make revisions.

Check it out and let me know what needs to be added or changed.

"Vintage" Cyclocross bike build

Moved back to Sacramento, got a job 3 miles from my house and thought I'd get a bike that I could ride to work that would double as a cross bike if I decide to do a few races this year.

I want to call it my "vintage cx bike" but "ghetto cx bike" probably explains my budget a little better.

Got it off of Craigslist for $60, needs new tires, and I'll probably paint it too cause I always like that.

It's a 1976 Raleigh Grand Prix. Pictures shortly.

Lightweight Cyclocross Bike: Dustin's Kona

Hi Jeremy,

 

Dig your site...

 

I scored a cheap 2001 Kona Jake the Snake frame a few years back on craigslist, built it up, started racing, and got hooked!  When I bought my 1st new 'cross frame last year, I stuck with Kona - this time the Major Jake.  This year I rebuilt it, and switched to tubulars - can't say enough good things about revolution wheelworks tubulars - great value! I don't have a digital scale, so part weights are estimated from weight weenies and other online sources, but I'm pretty sure she's at or under 17 lbs.

 

Cheers,

 

Dustin

 

Total Weight ~ 7700g

 

Frame = Kona Major Jake 54cm = 1400g

Fork = Easton EC90X = 480g

 

Drivetrain: 

Levers = Dura Ace 7800 = 420g

FD = Dura Ace 7800 = 83g

RD = Dura Ace 7800 = 180g

Cassette = Ultegra 12-27 = 256g

Chain = Ultegra = 280g

Crankset = Dura Ace 7800 39/46 (Truvativ Outer Ring) = 760g

BB = Dura Ace 7800 (weight included in crankset weight)

 

Controls:

Brakes = Avid Shorty 6 with Kool Stop pads = 360g

Saddle = Selle Italia Flight = 240g

Seatpost = Thompson 27.2mm cut to length = 220g

Headset = Chris King = 120g

Bar = Ritchey WCS Classic 42cm = 210g

Stem = Ritchey WCS 90mm = 125g

Pedals = Crank Brothers Eggbeater SL = 266g

 

Wheels:

Wheelset = Revolution Wheelworks REV-25X = 1460

Tires = Vittoria Evo XG 290 = 400g

Skewers = Revolution Wheelworks = 130g

 

Small Parts:

Bar Tape = Bontrager = 40g

Cables/Housing/Ferrules = 190g

Tubular Glue = Vittoria Mastik One = 50g

Generic Front Cable Guide = 30g

Generic Carbon Headset Spacers = 10g