Who's ready for cross season to start???

[Drtgirl]

I am both excited and nervous! I just picked up my bike today and took for a short spin before it got dark. It is so much fun to ride! Tomorrow I'm taking a "cyclocross 101" clinic...that is going to be interesting

[Eden]

I've actually borrowed the dinky bike for a little while to see if it will work for me or not.... it definitely would need some modifications, its really tiny. I put a longer stem and my seatpost/saddle on it this afternoon and took an hour long spin. Most of it was on the road, but I put in a bit of playing around in the grass too. It felt pretty darn zippy, feels like it flies up hills, but that could be the really fast spin from the 155 cranks fooling me too...... wish I had a speedo on there this afternoon.
so there's a bunch of pros and cons..
pro - "adult" sized cross bikes are pretty much all to big for me, at least I could modify this one to fit....
con - tiny wheels could be quite a disadvantage, they are 24"ers - that's even smaller than 650's. I'm not even sure that there's much selection in tires or replacement wheels in this size. pro though.... I'm not sure I could manage a cross dismount/mount with 700c wheels - not sure my feet would clear the wheel. It seems like it would be relatively easy with these little wheels.
con - I cannot get my whole arm through the frame - I certainly can pick it up and carry it, but its a bit akward as my elbow hits the BB
We'll see. I'll probably have my coach look at it to see if I'm crazy or not for considering this.

[han-grrl]

I would love to hear about your clinic - was wondering whether something like that existed around here, still digging!!

I am both excited and nervous! I just picked up my bike today and took for a short spin before it got dark. It is so much fun to ride! Tomorrow I'm taking a "cyclocross 101" clinic...that is going to be interesting

[Drtgirl]

I would love to hear about your clinic - was wondering whether something like that existed around here, still digging!!

There is a local company here called Cycle U. They put on clinics, offer coaching services, bike fitting, etc.

The clinic was 2 hours and covered just the basics- dismounts, re-mounts, shouldering, etc. Most of us were first-timers and the setting was very relaxed and supportive.

Maybe you could ask a local team to put on a clinic??

[Eden]

So I'm not the type that usually names bike - cars etc., but I've been calling this the dinky bike or dinky for short and it seems to have stuck. I have decided to buy it - To get a cross bike that *really* fits right I'd have to go custom. Small can be modified, too big not so much. Until I see how much I like doing this, I'm not prepared to spend the $2,500 - $3,000 it would take to go there. The scary thing is that except for the size of the wheels its not too much different from my road bike. Guess that is telling about how short I am.....
(oh - and I found out that there are 24" BMX race wheels so I do have a bit of choice for decent tires and they are cheap to boot - like $15-$20 each cheap)
I've missed Cycle U's cross clinic and there's not another one for a while, but there are drop in clinics at Woodland park - taught by the #1 cross rider in Washington too, so I'm going to give that a try.

[Drtgirl]

So I'm not the type that usually names bike - cars etc., but I've been calling this the dinky bike or dinky for short and it seems to have stuck. I have decided to buy it - To get a cross bike that *really* fits right I'd have to go custom. Small can be modified, too big not so much. Until I see how much I like doing this, I'm not prepared to spend the $2,500 - $3,000 it would take to go there. The scary thing is that except for the size of the wheels its not too much different from my road bike. Guess that is telling about how short I am.....
tires and they are cheap to boot - like $15-$20 each cheap)
I've missed Cycle U's cross clinic and there's not another one for a while, but there are drop in clinics at Woodland park - taught by the #1 cross rider in Washington too, so I'm going to give that a try.

I also went with a smaller bike instead of the larger one.

I know there is a cycle U clinic on Sept 8 and a women's only on the 19th. The Woodland park ones sound great but they're at 7am on weekdays. Doesn't work for me since I start work at 7.

[cwodiva]

Eden,
You are going to have so much fun on that bike! That's great news about the bmx tires.


Ladies,

What kind of wheels/tires are you running? I really want to get a new set and get rid of my crappola old road bike set, but I don't want to spend an armload of money either. Something middle of the road nice, durable (I ride my cross bike a lot on the trails around here since they are not techncial at all, as well as on the road), and fun to race on.


Thanks!

[Eden]

I also went with a smaller bike instead of the larger one.

I know there is a cycle U clinic on Sept 8 and a women's only on the 19th. The Woodland park ones sound great but they're at 7am on weekdays. Doesn't work for me since I start work at 7.

yeah I didn't want to wait until the 19th and 7am is fine for me - I figure the classes should be small too since it is such an odd time. ( I don't see the class on the 8th?)

[Pedal Wench]

Only 5?!?!?!?!? Tell him that you know someone on the forum who has 8 - that will put him in his place, and make you seem much more responsible .

Racing is just BEGINNING in September! I'm back on base training to gear up. I think I'd better get out and do some running though - UGH!

We've hooked another one - WOOHOO!

SheFly

I have 8 too! 9 if you count the cross bike I just borrowed (but have to give back!) I'm taking my first cross clinic this weekend. I saw one race last year and it looked like fun, so I might give it a try. Looks like 9 bikes might not be so bad...

[velogirl]

Ladies,

What kind of wheels/tires are you running? I really want to get a new set and get rid of my crappola old road bike set, but I don't want to spend an armload of money either. Something middle of the road nice, durable (I ride my cross bike a lot on the trails around here since they are not techncial at all, as well as on the road), and fun to race on.


Thanks!

I run Bontrager XXX Lite Carbon Tubular wheels with Tufo Flexus tires for races.

My training wheels are whatever extra 700c wheels I've got sitting in the closet. For training, I prefer a 32 spoke wheel (for strength) with an aero rim.

I see a lot of Mavic Ksyriums out there at the races.

[SheFly]

I see a lot of Mavic Ksyriums out there at the races.

I'm going to be running a set of these on my new 'cross bike this season - mostly because we have a spare set, but also because they are lighter than any of the other wheel sets we have.

After bruising my shoulder last year, I decided I need to lighten the load a little bit this year . Hoping that the new Specialized Tri-Cross frame and carbon parts will do the trick!

SheFly

[Kalidurga]

SheFly, which TriCross model did you get? I'm thinking of trading in my '06 Sport for the 2008 Comp model. I won't be racing, but since you will I'm curious how the bike would do in competition. I'll look forward to seeing your race reports

[SheFly]

I got the TriCross E5 frameset. DH still needs to get it built up for me though. We had bought a Cannondale Optium, but it turned out to be too big. I can't wait to try the new Specialized (it's also lighter than the Cannondale by about 1/2 lb with just the frameset)! I'll keep you posted on how it feels compared to last year's ride (I got a pretty cheap deal on a Flyte last year).

SheFly

[spokewench]

I'm going to be running a set of these on my new 'cross bike this season - mostly because we have a spare set, but also because they are lighter than any of the other wheel sets we have.

After bruising my shoulder last year, I decided I need to lighten the load a little bit this year . Hoping that the new Specialized Tri-Cross frame and carbon parts will do the trick!

SheFly

Re: your bruised shoulder. I've seen a lot of people pad their top tube so it doesn't bruise them so much. Looks kind of funky, but it is cyclocross after all. Just a thought

spoke

[SheFly]

Re: your bruised shoulder. I've seen a lot of people pad their top tube so it doesn't bruise them so much. Looks kind of funky, but it is cyclocross after all. Just a thought

spoke

Lots of people do that, I have seen it to. Of course, that would add weight to my really light bike . I figured out, finally, the proper shouldering technique so that the weight is actually in the crook of my arm vs. completely on my shoulder. It's also amazing the difference a lighter bike makes.

Some of the women on my team, however, are considering 80's style shoulder pads under their jerseys!

SheFly