cyclocross bikes?
James Brannan
Anybody know of a good web site explaining the darn things?
Also, can you just modify an older bike and go out and compete
in one as a beginner if you are reasonably strong but not
reasonably financially endowed?
Jbrannan
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my opinions not my employers
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Roger Musson
James Brannan wrote:
Re:Cyclocross bikes
>Anybody know of a good web site explaining the darn things?
>Also, can you just modify an older bike and go out and compete
>in one as a beginner if you are reasonably strong but not
>reasonably financially endowed?
For European type cyclocross the basic frame is very similar to a road
race bike, side by side you will see very little difference. The cross
bike will have a little more frame clearance around the wheels to
prevent clogging with mud and uses cantilever brakes to allow the use
of larger profile tyres and of course more mud clearance. In my last
cross race I used my road bike because the cross bike was broken, I
even used slick 23mm racing tyres (cross tyres fouled the brake
stirrup), since the course was dry I had no problems. Only problem was
that I dulled the finish on the down tube through picking up the bike
with dirty hands :(
The best advice is to race your standard bike with well built wheels,
appropriate tyres, a 42 front ring with 13-26 sprockets should be
okay, look at what other riders are using and if you like riding cross
then consider an upgrade.
You will be surprised what a cross bike can do, don't think that
offroad riding is for mountain bikes only, It's more satisfying on a
road/cross bike (IMHO).
--
Roger Musson
h...@netcomuk.co.uk
Please remove ".nospam" from return email.
Lee Berg
James Brannan wrote:
>
> Anybody know of a good web site explaining the darn things?
> Also, can you just modify an older bike and go out and compete
> in one as a beginner if you are reasonably strong but not
> reasonably financially endowed?
>
Here's a couple:
Try http://www.winresources.com/emplounge/Bp/cross/faq.htm for an intro.
Or http://www.ncnca.org/cyclocross.html or
http://home.pi.net/~nslp/home.html for more links.
--
Lee Berg
Remove "NOSPAM" from Reply To: address to reply
Jobst Brandt
James Brannan writes:
> Anybody know of a good web site explaining the darn things?
> Also, can you just modify an older bike and go out and compete
> in one as a beginner if you are reasonably strong but not
> reasonably financially endowed?
You can but it won't work well. A cyclocross bike has large tire
clearance with a high fork crown, higher than road BB, and long
chainstays and are often equipped with cantilever brakes. This isn't
easily achieved with a modified road frame, especially with the ones
generally offered these days with so little clearance you can't ride a
700-28c tire in them. You'll want to ride fine pitch 700-28 or 32c
knobbies at times and that won't do in a road frame.
Jobst Brandt <jbr...@hpl.hp.com>
Thomas H. Kunich
In article <5jjruu$h...@hplms2.hpl.hp.com>,
Jobst Brandt <jbr...@hpl.hp.com> wrote:
>You can but it won't work well. A cyclocross bike has large tire
>clearance with a high fork crown, higher than road BB, and long
>chainstays and are often equipped with cantilever brakes. This isn't
>easily achieved with a modified road frame, especially with the ones
>generally offered these days with so little clearance you can't ride a
>700-28c tire in them. You'll want to ride fine pitch 700-28 or 32c
>knobbies at times and that won't do in a road frame.
Jobst is correct, as usual, but all of that said, the beginners
classes in cyclocross are dominated by entries on MTB's.
Don't worry about needing a special cyclocross bike because it'll
take you a year of two to learn the game well enough to really
benefit from a REAL(tm) cyclocross bike.
There is a book out on cyclocross that covers most of the modifications
necessary and tells most of the story behind cyclocross. You can
get it though Barnes and Noble.
Peter Mills
>James Brannan writes:
>> Anybody know of a good web site explaining the darn things?
>> Also, can you just modify an older bike and go out and compete
>> in one as a beginner if you are reasonably strong but not
>> reasonably financially endowed?
>You can but it won't work well. A cyclocross bike has large tire
>clearance with a high fork crown, higher than road BB, and long
>chainstays and are often equipped with cantilever brakes. This isn't
>easily achieved with a modified road frame, especially with the ones
>generally offered these days with so little clearance you can't ride a
>700-28c tire in them. You'll want to ride fine pitch 700-28 or 32c
>knobbies at times and that won't do in a road frame.
My experience is that older and/or cheaper road bikes often have clearance
for fatter tires as well as longish chainstays. The fatter tires will also
raise the bottom bracket somewhat. If you're strapped for cash, it might be
the way to go. Many sport bikes in the $300 dollar range from a few years
ago had the clearance for fat tires, longer than average chainstays and were
built with double-butted cro-mo tubing and so had reasonably light frames.
I would suggest searching around for a used frame. For instance, I just
bought a Norco Avanti SL built with Ishiwata EX tubing for $50. Most
of the components are kind of crappy, but you will most likely want to
replace most of them anyway.
Peter Mills