'96 Bontrager CX rebuild

[funkma...@hotmail.com]

I bought this Pre-Trek Beauty in about 2000 when I decided to get back into racing after a short hiatus to build career and family.

While the ride of this bike was a fantastic stable feel and response, it was a bit heavy, and as the years of CX racing in New England evolved to match the evolution of CX bikes, I switched to a Fort CX which was better suited to the course designs - more maneuverable and quicker response.

So this hung in my basement for a while, until recently when the Missus asked about getting a gravel bike. "I have just the thing for you", I told her.

The new build is SRAM Force/Apex, with red TRP canti's and Bontrager CX wheels (post Trek), Vittoria Rubino 30 gravel tires, and Wellgo pedals with toe straps because she prefers sneakers.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ut2Ptrk6dhJf6WR2nKT6r0JvLA31ULrh/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ubOYOuOBWMGfnP3-uDKLNb-tSaUmaLq8/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uZvNS-pSrOZPzgyR3F2v4gPNev4pbzB7/view?usp=sharing

I took it out for a mostly paved jaunt to shake it out. It rides as smooth, stable, comfortable, and responsive as I remember, and even took it for a bit of a school bus draft at ~35 mph.

She'll be taking it on some rail trails this year.

The first build was Campy Chorus (recently retired from a Merlin build) with an Ultegra single 38 crank, SRP cantis, and Rolf Vector Pro wheels.

Racing the rig ~2009

at Shedd Park in Lowell MA:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KmsY98jsF5jmMGg2UIhWHRRcEbywe5HY/view?usp=sharing

AppleCross in Hampton NH
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uaCJzHNoPOtbQ1auaQrqy7RpGGy0ex1q/view?usp=sharing

[Lou Holtman]

Have fun with it.

Lou

[Roger Meriman]

Looks cracking and always good to keep older bikes going!

Roger Merriman

[Frank Krygowski]

Nice. It's a good fit for your wife? My wife and I can't ride even close
to the same frame size.

--
- Frank Krygowski

[Tom Kunich]

Does that look like the bike of a guy who claimed to be a racer? Or a guy that is over 5'4" tall? I don't care what size he is or what way he rides but misrepresenting himself is bullshit and gets tiresome. Compare that to my normal ride: https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=891068818704535&set=pcb.891069548704462 And the quill stem was dropped another 2"

[Lou Holtman]

It is set up for his wife.

Lou

[Tom Kunich]

Firstly he says that he bought that when he wanted to get back into racing. So it is his size. And it has that damned unicrown fork on it that was always a POS. Bontrager's forte was MTB's. I knew Keith very well first from Repack and then when he started building bikes and his machinist was a good friend of mine. (Jensen Hastings). The problem with the unicrown fork was the bottom of the steering tube was always jagged and the older 36 spoke wheels had much less spoke tension and would flex up and down a lot. This would allow the tire to strike that steering tube and wear the outside of the tire off. Which is why the better bikes used smooth steering crowns top and bottom.

Do you want a picture of the bikes set up for my wife or kids? She and the kids rode cost to coast two and a half times. Remember Beaty saying that I was lying because their starting point was 10 miles from the mouth of the Columbia River? The youngest daughter got a 3rd in the Jr. Nationals. The middle daughter was 17 then and got an 18th in a much larger field. My wife has a Colnago Master Piu and a Mercian both of which are set up for racing. Though she broke her ankle and the damage doesn't allow her to ride anymore. But she went out with the group anyway a couple of years ago and dropped everyone, though was in a lot of pain for the next couple of days,. Would I have ever set up a bike for her that looked like that Bontrager? Do you think that Keith would make me or her a bike that looked like that? When he sold his business he gave me a lot of stuff like a couple of frames and this huge bag of cycling caps. I gave them away like crazy but I still think I have more than a hundred left. All of the frames were too small for me or Ann so I sold them.

[Catrike Rider]

On Sat, 25 Feb 2023 11:28:50 -0800 (PST), Tom Kunich
<cycl...@gmail.com> wrote:

>On Saturday, February 25, 2023 at 6:25:37?AM UTC-8, Lou Holtman wrote:

Don't you remember me suggesting that Junior had a Napoleon Complex?

[Tom Kunich]

All of his comments make that clear.

[Frank Krygowski]

On 2/25/2023 3:23 PM, Tom Kunich wrote:
>
> Do you want a picture of the bikes set up for my wife or kids?

Sure, let's see them.

--
- Frank Krygowski

[funkma...@hotmail.com]

Lou, we should all know by now attempting to have any sort of rational conversation with kunich is a lost cause.

[funkma...@hotmail.com]

Don't you remember me stating you're a narcissistic asshole? Besides that, the bike it a 54cm CtC. A 54 is slightly too small for me but nothing that can't be compensated in the cockpit. For this shakeout ride I just jacked up the seatpost, The stem should be longer for me but riding for those three hours on the hoods wasn't much different that riding a properly set-up bike with a flat bar.

As usual, both you and kunich real your gross incompetence.

[funkma...@hotmail.com]

On Saturday, February 25, 2023 at 3:23:26 PM UTC-5, Tom Kunich wrote:
>
>
> Firstly he says that he bought that when he wanted to get back into racing. So it is his size. And it has that damned unicrown fork on it that was always a POS. Bontrager's forte was MTB's.

Lol...Sorry skippy, it's a Steelman fork - one of the best ever made, and was sold as OE on that bike. I'm sure you've never hear of it since all you ever buy is cheap chinese knockoff shit.

> I knew Keith very well first from Repack and then when he started building bikes and his machinist was a good friend of mine. (Jensen Hastings).

Bullshit - you never met Keith Bontrager.

> Do you want a picture of the bikes set up for my wife or kids? She and the kids rode cost to coast two and a half times.

lol...how does one ride coast to coast half a time?

> Remember Beaty saying that I was lying because their starting point was 10 miles from the mouth of the Columbia River?

He was right.

> The youngest daughter got a 3rd in the Jr. Nationals. The middle daughter was 17 then and got an 18th in a much larger field. My wife has a Colnago Master Piu and a Mercian both of which are set up for racing. Though she broke her ankle and the damage doesn't allow her to ride anymore. But she went out with the group anyway a couple of years ago and dropped everyone, though was in a lot of pain for the next couple of days,. Would I have ever set up a bike for her that looked like that Bontrager?

My wife isn't racing, asshat. It's set up for comfort. Her position on it is actually pretty close to textbook. Would it ever be possible for you to post in this forum without being a complete idiot?

> Do you think that Keith would make me or her a bike that looked like that?

Are you suggesting it isn't a Bontrager?

> When he sold his business he gave me a lot of stuff like a couple of frames and this huge bag of cycling caps. I gave them away like crazy but I still think I have more than a hundred left. All of the frames were too small for me or Ann so I sold them.

lol....sure he did, And you also helped discover the AIDS virus.

shut the fuck up tommy.

[funkma...@hotmail.com]

She should be riding a 52/53. This is an effective 54 (slightly sloping top tube) so it's not that far out. There's probably only about 40mm of exposed seatpost for her. I jacked up the seat post for my ride, but for her it's set a good 100mm lower. I would need about a 100mm stem on that frame to fit me (somewhat visible in the two racing pictures I posted along with the ~30mm headset spacers).

>
> --
> - Frank Krygowski

[Roger Meriman]

I thought for CX racing that a slightly smaller frame was favoured or had
been note I’ve never raced!

My first Gravel bike, was a CX bike though clearly never intended as such!
Which I tend to favour slightly larger frames for.

Roger Merriman

[funkma...@hotmail.com]

That was the thought back when this frame was built, which is why I saw this frame and snatched it up. I generally ride a 56, this is an effective 54 (sloping top tube). I did have to add a number of spacers under the stem when I was racing it. Also back then the CX geometry was much more slack and had a longer wheelbase, one reason this bike rides so comfortable and stable. My current CX race rig is more like my road bikes but a shorter stem to keep my weight towards the rear.

[funkma...@hotmail.com]

Are you watching KBK today? Coverage just started here, halfway into the race :(

[Catrike Rider]

On Sun, 26 Feb 2023 03:38:11 -0800 (PST), "funkma...@hotmail.com"
<funkma...@hotmail.com> wrote:

judging from the bike size and your pictures, I'd guess you to be a
long-legged 5'6" and 155 lbs

[funkma...@hotmail.com]

Nope, 5'9", ~140-145 when racing-fit, 32" inseam.
This is me in the black/pink/green kit at the '21 master regional crit https://zenfolio.page.link/Z2Dr4.
This is me at a training crit in june of '22 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UvP920KzNfVTfmsG9rR50P5XBCe84tKB/view?usp=sharing

[Lou Holtman]

I’m watching the race now 51 km to go.

Lou

[Tom Kunich]

Slightly smaller. I ride a 60 and a CX proper size for me is a 58 In the size that Flunky rides it would be 1 cm smaller. The thing that bothered me was his claim to wanting to get back into racing and then showing a picture of a bike set up entirely wrong for racing. No big deal but he has been claiming that he was a racer. And you don't "get back into racing" with CX which is all hell and gone harder than any other form of bike racing. Road racing gives you the chance to use a team to protect you, Downhill is all hell and gone more dangerous but not as hard. Trials offers a level of precision. But cyclocross requires a level of physicality that you've done all of your life. Cross country MTB racing is similar but CX racing is ALL OUT from the bell. It isn't "racing" if you're pulled on the first lap. Purely as a bike, it isn't bad though welded steel would have been better than brazed lugs. It appears to be in quite good shape for a bike that old.

[Lou Holtman]

Tiesj Benoot! Great team effort.

Lou

[Frank Krygowski]

Got it. Bikes are adjustable.

My first "good bike" (which a friend traded to me when I had very little
extra money) was perhaps an inch smaller than my ideal size.
Nonetheless, it served me well for countless recreational rides, a
couple long tours, even a couple road races and still does
utility/shopping work.

--
- Frank Krygowski

[funkma...@hotmail.com]

Yup, I generally ride a 56, the bontrager is a "medium", 1cm isn't anything that can't be compensated for in the cockpit.

> The thing that bothered me was his claim to wanting to get back into racing and then showing a picture of a bike set up entirely wrong for racing.

I didn't show a picture that was set up for racing, you braindead twit, It's set up for my wife as a gravel cruiser - I just jacked up the seat so I could take it for a test ride.

> No big deal but he has been claiming that he was a racer.

And I've repeatedly linked Strava results - claims proven.

> And you don't "get back into racing" with CX

Says who? Why isn't is possible for someone to get back into racing by racing CX? Besides that, I had been road racing that whole previous spring and summer. Even if I hadn't, why would it be a problem? Just because you're too weak and incompetent doesn't mean no one else can.

> which is all hell and gone harder than any other form of bike racing. It isn't "racing" if you're pulled on the first lap.

Gee, I guess it's good thing I've never been pulled on the first lap. I guess that's something you've had experience at, or you likely would have kept racing.

> Purely as a bike, it isn't bad though welded steel would have been better than brazed lugs. It appears to be in quite good shape for a bike that old.

Brazed lugs aren't race-worthy? Besides - Mr Bontrager expert - this is in fact a welded steel frame. Here are better pictures - not my bike but identical - https://www.pinkbike.com/buysell/2983880/ - completely lugless construction, save reinforcing gussetts at the BB stays and the downtube/head tube.

[funkma...@hotmail.com]

Right! He got the jump at the right time.

[Roger Meriman]

My last two bikes have been 58cm the SS before that was a 56cm and fun if
bordering on twitchy!

But off road wanted more stability! Particularly with being somewhat under
biked at times!

>> My first Gravel bike, was a CX bike though clearly never intended as such!
>> Which I tend to favour slightly larger frames for.
>>
>> Roger Merriman
>

Roger Merriman

[Catrike Rider]

On Sun, 26 Feb 2023 06:39:17 -0800 (PST), "funkma...@hotmail.com"
<funkma...@hotmail.com> wrote:

<LOL> Here you are posting pictures of your skinny little self. It's
no wonder you got so upset over my pictures.

[Tom Kunich]

Obviously a pencil necked midget.

[funkma...@hotmail.com]

And guess what? I don't need to ride with a gun to feel safe!

> It's
> no wonder you got so upset over my pictures.

I didn't post them to brag about how big bad and strong I am like you did, scared little hypocritical kitty.

[Catrike Rider]

On Mon, 27 Feb 2023 03:16:46 -0800 (PST), "funkma...@hotmail.com"
<funkma...@hotmail.com> wrote:

<shrug> Your choice...

>> It's
>> no wonder you got so upset over my pictures.
>
>I didn't post them to brag about how big bad and strong I am like you did, scared little hypocritical kitty.

Actually, if you remember, I posted them to demonstrate to Krygowki
that 230 lbs is not necessarily overweight, as he'd insinuated.

[Roger Meriman]

So you respond to body shaming by body shaming?

I’m probably close that my self though pounds I tend not to use but stones
and KG

Roger Merriman

[funkma...@hotmail.com]

On Monday, February 27, 2023 at 7:42:35 AM UTC-5, Roger Meriman wrote:

> Catrike Rider <sol...@drafting.not> wrote:
>
> >>> <LOL> Here you are posting pictures of your skinny little self.
> >>
> >> And guess what? I don't need to ride with a gun to feel safe!
> >
> > <shrug> Your choice...
> >
> >>> It's
> >>> no wonder you got so upset over my pictures.
> >>
> >> I didn't post them to brag about how big bad and strong I am like you
> >> did, scared little hypocritical kitty.
> >
> > Actually, if you remember, I posted them to demonstrate to Krygowki
> > that 230 lbs is not necessarily overweight, as he'd insinuated.
> >
> So you respond to body shaming by body shaming?

Of course he does. We already know he's a bigot, ridiculing others for not being as big and bad as him is pretty typical for a narcissist. He's just tossing the obligatory hypocrisy in to soothe his fragile ego.

[Catrike Rider]

On Mon, 27 Feb 2023 12:42:32 GMT, Roger Meriman <ro...@sarlet.com>
wrote:

Actually, I responded to Krygowski's body shaming by disproving it.

My body shaming above, was a responce to Junior's (funkmasterxx's)
misrepresentations of my motive for posting a picture

[Catrike Rider]

On Mon, 27 Feb 2023 05:37:52 -0800 (PST), "funkma...@hotmail.com"
<funkma...@hotmail.com> wrote:

<MORE GRIN>

[Tom Kunich]

Don't forget that Krygowski responded to my reporting my weight as being thin. This was repeated by both Slocumb and Flunky. And yet I was exactly at the medically recommended weight. So let's just say that it certainly wasn't catrike who started attempted body shaming.

[Tom Kunich]

Flunky posted pictures showing himself to be a pencil necked geek.

[Lou Holtman]

How old are you? Six?

Lou

[funkma...@hotmail.com]

Sayng someone is "thin" isn't body-shaming

> This was repeated by both Slocumb and Flunky.

That's a blatant lie. I won't expect you to apologize, since you're too much of a coward to respond to me directly.

[Tom Kunich]

I know that you would prefer that I don't respond to the attempted insults from the feckless five and in a way you're probably right but I will return like for like. Such as Slocumb telling us that he was a crew chief of a bomber and then saying that a technician wouldn't go with an aircraft if problems couldn't be resolved before take-off. No crew chief no matter how stupid would know that to be untrue. And a B50 was nothing more than a B29 with different engines and my B52D bombing system was the same as a B50. So he was either not a crew chief or purposely lying since this was a practice from WWII. Liebermann has never ridden bicycles beyond to the corner store and he can't do that with a piss bag on his knee. What would cause him to comment on a 31% grade in San Francisco that he hasn't even driven up? Flunky finally proves that he did race after his ongoing pretense that he is a fearsome person. Great that he raced but I could squash that fearsome person with just my thumb. What was with that crap that he was going to "return to racing CX"? The bike was totally inadequate and physically he doesn't even have the proper body type. As I said, being pulled on the first lap isn't racing. The very fact that he doesn't even know what that means shows that he never raced CX. At least Krygowski limits his claims about riding to something that could be possible.

[Frank Krygowski]

On Monday, February 27, 2023 at 10:32:21 AM UTC-5, Tom Kunich wrote:
>

> Don't forget that Krygowski responded to my reporting my weight as being thin.

?? When? Cite, please.

And are you saying I used "thin" as a derogatory word? That seems odd. For most
people, it's treated as a compliment.

- Frank Krygowski

[Lou Holtman]

It started as a perfectly OK bike related thread and you first repond was of a six year old.

Lou

[Tom Kunich]

Well you are certainly entitled to your opinion but I intend to return like for like.

[Jeff Liebermann]

On Mon, 27 Feb 2023 08:55:23 -0800 (PST), Tom Kunich
<cycl...@gmail.com> wrote:

>What would cause him to comment on a 31% grade in San Francisco
>that he hasn't even driven up?

You could have just asked me. I think it's a fair assumption that you
searched Google for the slope of Filbert St. The search would have
shown a 31.5% slope. Yet, you wrote 31%. Why would you provide an
incorrect slope? I see several possibilities:
1. You habitually provide wrong information due to some manner of
mental condition.
2. You habitually and intentionally provide wrong information due to
some manner of character flaw.
3. Your short term memory has become so short that you can't remember
a three digit number in the time it takes to read it on the screen, to
the time you type it into your computer.

I don't know which it might be, but I suspect a combination of all the
aforementioned. These might also explain your amazing facts,
contrived events, wrong numbers, and a lack of citations (except for
TownHall) and substantiations.

Is it really necessary to ride up a hill to know its slope, when a
survey or topo map is probably MORE accurate? Try measuring the slope
of any hill to within a fraction of a degree. Since the hill is not a
constant slope, how and where do you measure. While you're pondering
the method, be sure to include how the measurement can be performed
driving or riding up the hill.

--
Jeff Liebermann je...@cruzio.com
PO Box 272 http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Ben Lomond CA 95005-0272
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

[Jeff Liebermann]

On Mon, 27 Feb 2023 09:46:36 -0800 (PST), Tom Kunich
<cycl...@gmail.com> wrote:

>Well you are certainly entitled to your opinion but I
>intend to return like for like.

It would be helpful if you posted your retorts in the proper thread.
My comments on hill slope were in the thread titled "Gearing" and not
in this thread titled "'96 Bontrager CX rebuild". Your posting to the
wrong thread seems to be a side effect of your attempts to not reply
directly to anyone you find disagreeable.

[funkma...@hotmail.com]

On Monday, February 27, 2023 at 11:55:24 AM UTC-5, Tom Kunich wrote:
> Flunky finally proves that he did race

"finally"? lol....I've only been posting racing results in here for years....

> after his ongoing pretense that he is a fearsome person.

I'm "fearsome"? lol...please provide any evidence that I've ever claimed to be "fearsome"....lol

> Great that he raced but I could squash that fearsome person with just my thumb.

Hey! more tommy the tough guy! HAH!!!

> What was with that crap that he was going to "return to racing CX"?

Why was it crap?

> The bike was totally inadequate

How so? Tell us in detail what was wrong with the bike that made it "totally inadequate" (now watch - if he actually has the balls to respond, he'll comment that the pictures' I showed after I set it up for my wife this past winter was how I was racing it 15 years ago lol)

> and physically he doesn't even have the proper body type.

?!?!?!?!...So because tommy thinks I have the "wrong" body type to race CX, there's no way I could ever have raced CX. I guess we shouldn't be surprised since tommy lives in a world of alternate physics where dents in bike tubes magically heal themselves simply by riding them. But hey, Let's take a look at the top ten in this years world championships, shall we?

Mathieu van der Poel Weight: 165 Height: 6'
Wout van Aert Weight: 170 Height: 6'3"
Eli Iserbyt Weight: 122 Height: 5'5"
VAN DER HAAR Weight: 127 Height: 5'7"
Michael Vanthourenhout Weight: 136 Height: 5'7"
VANDEPUTTE Niels Weight: 160 Height: 6
SWEECK Laurens Weight: 156 Height: 5'11"
MASON Cameron n/a
VENTURINI Clement Weight:132 Height: 5'5"

And let's not forget last years world champ Tom Pidcock, a bulky 130 at 5'7"

So we have the smallest rider Eli at 122# and 5'5", up to Wout at 170 and 6'3"

Gee, I guess me being 5'9" and 145 puts me _completely_ outside the demographic.....

> As I said, being pulled on the first lap isn't racing. The very fact that he doesn't even know what that means shows that he never raced CX.

Well, skippy, let me explain to you how CX racing works, since you're completely clueless at it..They don't pull people on the first lap. The pull people that have _been_ lapped. I realize that may be a difficult concept for you to grasp, but I'll let you think on it for a bit. FWIW, the last time I got pulled was about 25 years ago, when I was trying CX for the first time on my old rigid MTB. In the mean time, here's some more evidence of me _not_ racing for you to digest.....

https://www.strava.com/activities/2692255957
https://www.strava.com/activities/1890841670
https://www.strava.com/activities/5944744272
https://www.strava.com/activities/5949742373
https://www.strava.com/activities/6094227641
https://www.strava.com/activities/6187247258
https://www.strava.com/activities/1846063025
https://www.strava.com/activities/6054081267

Shut the fuck up tommy

[Frank Krygowski]

On 2/27/2023 2:10 PM, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
>
>
> Is it really necessary to ride up a hill to know its slope, when a
> survey or topo map is probably MORE accurate? Try measuring the slope
> of any hill to within a fraction of a degree. Since the hill is not a
> constant slope, how and where do you measure. While you're pondering
> the method, be sure to include how the measurement can be performed
> driving or riding up the hill.

FWIW, I installed a simple inclinometer on the driver's door of our car.
I first did that back when I (with others' help) was working on bike
maps of our area. It's kind of fun to glance at it once in a while.

--
- Frank Krygowski

[Ted Heise]

I may have mentioned this here before, but at one point I had a
100 cm level and I'd measure the grade (with an additional ruler
at one end at intervals while walking up the hill. Put together
(with some distance also measured as I walked) would give a fair
profile of the hill. Needless to say it was too much trouble and
I only measured out a few hills.

I also tried mounting a bubble inclinometer on my top tube, but it
was impossible to read while riding. Today my Edge 830 reports
out the grade as I ride, but it's wildly inaccurate--largely due
to hysteresis on the barometer, I think.

--
Ted Heise <the...@panix.com> West Lafayette, IN, USA

[Roger Meriman]

To be honest, in my time found working various different jobs that middle
aged men the most childish and gossiping.

Vs young women who really aren’t even if might be some what amusing due to
my age and their lack of!

Nor do they talk about men! Shoes yes!

Roger Merriman

[funkma...@hotmail.com]

On Monday, February 27, 2023 at 4:58:58 PM UTC-5, Roger Meriman wrote:
>
> >
> To be honest, in my time found working various different jobs that middle
> aged men the most childish and gossiping.

And some revert yet further to sand-box bullying like "I could squash that fearsome person with just my thumb"

[Frank Krygowski]

Family members tend to give me bicycling gifts for Christmas and
birthdays. Because of that, I've got inclinometers on a couple bikes.

Back in the day, Jobst used to say those can't work due to the surging
as one pedals, but I find they work reasonably well. I probably don't
"surge" as much as he did.

--
- Frank Krygowski

[Ted Heise]

On Mon, 27 Feb 2023 21:31:37 -0500,

Okay, that made me laugh.

He was quite a character. Recently someone posted a link on
Facebook to an old article (by Tom Ritchey?) recounting some of
the old rides with Jobst. It was fascinating.

[Tom Kunich]

Jobst was a good rider and would invariably lead rides and was very careless with the safety of new riders. Because I said that on the .rides groups that he should be more careful with newbies he became angry and petulant. He published the address of my mother and claimed it was mine. But even worse, people who couldn't have ridden with Jobst on a bet drove by my mothers house and threw garbage and crap onto her porch and front yard. I wonder if they supposed that they could get in the good graces of King Brandt by doing that. Not likely since Jobst held a lot of contempt for those who couldn't keep up with him. My mother called the police and they took copies of my statements and Jobst's postings. Jobst became very quiet after that so I suppose the police contacted him and probably at H-P. Because of that I stopped riding with him and the group of very snobbish people.

I joined two other clubs and although they were a lot slower there was four people that used to go on fast rides. One of them might have died, two of the others moved into the central valley on retirement and the fourth contracted some sort of polio-like disease that totally paralyzed him. He recovered and tried to ride fast again and couldn't so I think he has given up riding. I may not have helped any by going on one of his fast rides with a bunch of fast guys from our local club. There was a woman along that had no business on a ride like that so I rode drag to keep an eye on her. The ride turned up a local 17% climb and she took off up that as hard as she could and she was young. I almost had to yell at her to slow down and pedal in a lower gear. But she was straining as hard as she could. Then the top 100 yards reduces to 13% and since it was easier she sped up I got her to slow down but she have already ruined herself and there was no way she could have completed the rest of the ride since there was a 20% section coming. It wasn't long but it was that steep and with almost a blind U-turn with possible traffic from both directions and SLOW DOWN DANGEROUS TURNS signs. But at the top I discovered that my friend said that he would babysit her back home since now she could hardly move and knew it. The rest of the group had ridden off so I tried to catch up with them. I just caught them at the 20% section and told them that I would lead them back. This pushed two of them out of shape since they believed themselves to be faster than me. So they took off. This was from the top of the road and I was a LOT faster than these guys downhill in those days and easily passed them up. I regrouped at the bottom and led them back but again dropped them. Now these guys were FASTER than me if they hadn't been play racing and wearing themselves out. So they didn't take the published course. I and another fast rider waited for them a long time but they had taken a shorter route, I finally surmised as much and rode to the start. I haven't seen my friend on another ride and I think that he now goes to the gym because he used to be an absolute rocket ship and can't take being just average now.

I forget the brand of bike Jobst was riding but he was only an inch or two taller than me and rode this god almighty 67cm bike. I was riding a 62 cm Peugeot PX-10. This is a que for Flunky and Liebermann and Krygowski to tell us everything about Jobst since obviously since I'm the only one here that actually rode with him they know more about it.

[Tom Kunich]

On Saturday, February 25, 2023 at 11:40:24 AM UTC-8, Lou Holtman wrote:
> On Saturday, February 25, 2023 at 8:28:51 PM UTC+1, Tom Kunich wrote:
> > On Saturday, February 25, 2023 at 6:25:37 AM UTC-8, Lou Holtman wrote:

> > > On Saturday, February 25, 2023 at 3:02:03 PM UTC+1, funkma...@hotmail.com wrote:
> > > > I bought this Pre-Trek Beauty in about 2000 when I decided to get back into racing after a short hiatus to build career and family.
> > > >
> > > > While the ride of this bike was a fantastic stable feel and response, it was a bit heavy, and as the years of CX racing in New England evolved to match the evolution of CX bikes, I switched to a Fort CX which was better suited to the course designs - more maneuverable and quicker response.
> > > >
> > > > So this hung in my basement for a while, until recently when the Missus asked about getting a gravel bike. "I have just the thing for you", I told her.
> > > >
> > > > The new build is SRAM Force/Apex, with red TRP canti's and Bontrager CX wheels (post Trek), Vittoria Rubino 30 gravel tires, and Wellgo pedals with toe straps because she prefers sneakers.
> > > >
> > > > https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ut2Ptrk6dhJf6WR2nKT6r0JvLA31ULrh/view?usp=sharing
> > > >
> > > > https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ubOYOuOBWMGfnP3-uDKLNb-tSaUmaLq8/view?usp=sharing
> > > >
> > > > https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uZvNS-pSrOZPzgyR3F2v4gPNev4pbzB7/view?usp=sharing
> > > >
> > > > I took it out for a mostly paved jaunt to shake it out. It rides as smooth, stable, comfortable, and responsive as I remember, and even took it for a bit of a school bus draft at ~35 mph.
> > > >
> > > > She'll be taking it on some rail trails this year.
> > > >
> > > > The first build was Campy Chorus (recently retired from a Merlin build) with an Ultegra single 38 crank, SRP cantis, and Rolf Vector Pro wheels.
> > > >
> > > > Racing the rig ~2009
> > > >
> > > > at Shedd Park in Lowell MA:
> > > > https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KmsY98jsF5jmMGg2UIhWHRRcEbywe5HY/view?usp=sharing
> > > >
> > > > AppleCross in Hampton NH
> > > > https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uaCJzHNoPOtbQ1auaQrqy7RpGGy0ex1q/view?usp=sharing
> > > Have fun with it.
> > Does that look like the bike of a guy who claimed to be a racer? Or a guy that is over 5'4" tall? I don't care what size he is or what way he rides but misrepresenting himself is bullshit and gets tiresome. Compare that to my normal ride: https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=891068818704535&set=pcb.891069548704462 And the quill stem was dropped another 2"

> It is set up for his wife.
>
> Lou
Yes, but he infers that it is an older bike of his own. The other pictures also show him riding 50 or 52 cm bikes, He's not the person he pretends to be in his postings.

As for comments elsewhere - I knew Keith Bontrager and when he was closing shop after selling out to Trek, he gave me a sack full of cycling caps. I still have most of them here. So people needn't think that they're explaining anything to me about Brent or Keith. And that fork on that bike is a unicrown fork. While I don't remember Brent making any of those horrible things, perhaps he did. On a hard bump the wheel can deform on rebound and cut the tire. I have seen it happen several times.

It is fine that Flunky raced. I'm sure he never did any good but that is also what all but the top 3 of a field do, so that sort or racing is for the fun of it.

[funkma...@hotmail.com]

No, shitferbrains, none of the pictures I've posted show me riding a 52 or 53. Every road and CX bike I've ever owned are either 'medium' or 56 CM. The Bontrager CX is a "medium". The pictures I've posted here are all 56 CM bikes.

> He's not the person he pretends to be in his postings.

And what do I "pretend" to be?

> As for comments elsewhere - I knew Keith Bontrager and when he was closing shop after selling out to Trek, he gave me a sack full of cycling caps. I still have most of them here. So people needn't think that they're explaining anything to me about Brent or Keith.

No one was, except for the fact that you don't really have clue about what bikes they built.

> And that fork on that bike is a unicrown fork. While I don't remember Brent making any of those horrible things, perhaps he did.

It's a Steelman fork, an upgrade option that was available on Bontrager CX bikes. Here are a few other examples, every one of them has the Steelman fork, as noted in a few of the listings:

https://www.mtbr.com/threads/my-bontrager-cx-is-finally-done.249222/
https://velomoo.blogspot.com/2009/01/bontrager-cyclocross.html
http://www.cyclofiend.com/cx/2006/cx008-jeromyhewitt0406.html
"hand built Bontrager CX Frame by Keith Bontrager w/ steelman fork"
https://farm5.static.flickr.com/4053/4601179223_79f62ec9aa_o.jpg
https://www.pinkbike.com/buysell/2983880/
"This sale includes the original straight leg Steelman fork"
https://www.pinkbike.com/buysell/3058034/
"The straight blade fork was a rare option for this generation"

> On a hard bump the wheel can deform on rebound and cut the tire. I have seen it happen several times.

Sure, that's why Gunnar cycles writes "Nothing beats the strength of the unicrown design"
https://gunnarbikes.com/site/bikes/forks/

And I'm sure that's why Tom Ritchey puts his name on a unicrown steel fork - because they're noodly pieces of shit that fail catastrophically:
https://ritcheylogic.com/bike/forks/wcs-steel-adventure-fork

If you've seen them break from impact, it's a cheap fork, it isn't because the unicrown is inherently weak. But then, you're the moron who thinks a dent can be ridden out of a top tube with road vibrations.

As usual, you have no fucking clue what you're talking about.

> It is fine that Flunky raced. I'm sure he never did any good but that is also what all but the top 3 of a field do, so that sort or racing is for the fun of it.

I've never claimed to be a great racer, never bragged about my results. I race for the fun of it.