[chappers]

anyone done any? - will likely be riding the NW league this winter. know any good bike suggestions?

[Skinny Pete]

Did a couple of seasons of it about 15 years ago!  Good fun and highly painful!

No specific knowledge on current bikes, other than there are lots of bikes marketed as cyclo-cross bikes that aren't.  True racing cross bikes are basically criterium bikes with clearances for knobblies i.e. light, fast handling and designed for riding flat out for an hour.  I've got one of the other type, a Surly Cross-Check, that I ride to work on.  These are really touring bikes and while it's a lovely bike, I wouldn't really fancy racing on it - too heavy and slow (me and the bike!).  Fine if you want a knock-about bike and do the odd race for a bit of fun, but limiting if you want to race seriously.

Learn how to dismount/remount smoothly - the top guys are awesome at this and gain seconds every time.  Presume they still have pit areas at races where you can change bikes?  Makes a massive difference in really muddy conditions.

Also, if you haven't before, go and watch a few - the intensity is something else, particularly some of the sprints off the start line to be first into a singletrack section!  No one will notice if you tag along with those reccying the course in the hour before the race.

Hope that wasn't teaching you to suck eggs...

[chappers]

thanks, any info is good, you told me loads i dont know already!

looks like im going to go for a planet-x uncle john, it has ultegera/105 for the same price as a kenisis crosslight with tiagra. seems a no brainer to me...

[soapy]

also consider the columbus x-wing rebadged by paul milnes in bradford; frame price midway between the PX and Kinesis

[chappers]

thanks...trouble with that one for me is the lack of bottle/mud guard/rack mounts - if i want to winter train on it too i will need those bits. im sure it is an amazing full on race bike.

[Skinny Pete]

Excellent stuff, making me all nostalgic...  You can't beat a bit of mid-winter pain.  Happy memories of defrosting shoelaces in buckets of water before being able to untie them!  Presume NW league includes places like Woodbank Park in Stockport and the South Park Cross in Macclesfield - I remember this one as a cracker, on Boxing Day I think?

Neighbour of mine has an Uncle John (the Planet X one, not just his fathers brother...) and raves about it.  He's entered the 3-peaks cross in Sept(?) and has been busy finding the most unsuitable rocky tracks to ride it down.

Other possibly useful info if you don't know already - races are nearly always something like 1hr + 1 lap, rather than a pre-determined number of laps. As soon as the winner finishes, lapped riders don't complete the distance but go down in the results as +1 Lap, + 2 Laps etc.  Means if conditions are really heavy it doesn't slow things right down.

[chappers]

thanks again pete! three peaks looks like agony, maybe 2011! im going to go with a mate to watch this year (he is an event photographer so can drive me about to the best spots!)

[chappers]

just put a voucher request for £999 on cyclescheme.co.uk, looks like im going to get the ultegera finished uncle john...want to sell two of my other bikes now including track bike and winter trainer to justify it!

[webbo]

i have a mate who has done the 3 peaks 25+ times its probably less brutal than a normal cyclocross.i think i did it in my first year of proper cycling on a road bike with nobbly tires.

[galpinos]

Chappers,

Is there any "come and have a go" style cyclocross races in the NW? I'm quite keen to have a go but unwilling to spend the money on a bike if I decide I don't like pain all that much. I'm manchester based.

I'm guessing cyclocross bikes make decent (though not amazing) road bike/commuter bikes? I'm fed up of commuting on the mountain bike and am trying to get the cycletowork scheme up and running at my company.

[webbo]

most cyclocross races i.e. local leagues are turn up and enter.they might even let you ride on a mountain bike.

[chappers]

well...from what i understand, you can turn up at any NW race and pay on the line. (£3 extra if you dont have a BC license). and you can ride on a mtb bike if you choose. Check the BC website, there are loads of races in the NW, and a league of around 15 races.

I dont see why a Cyclocross bike wouldnt be the perfect commuter/winter trainer/light tourer too - you just need two pair of wheels (unless you can be faffed changing tyres all the time). I have deliberately looked for one that has additional rack and guard mounts for this reason. I am starting to question my initial decision 2 years ago to buy a winter trainer, a CX bike would have been a better choice imho. 

in my exp today, cyclescheme.co.uk has become better, much easier to understand, and a simple process to use. It is the company/payroll who can stand in the way, lucky that tameside mbc are switched on.

Ill keep you informed how it all goes and what the bike is like when it arrives.

[galpinos]

Cheers for responding Chappers. I might just be turning up on my montain bike and giving it a go.

You're right about Payroll, we trying to get it done through cyclescheme but the HR and Finance departments are kicking back. We already have variuos slary sacrifice schemes for pensions, child care vouchers and the like but they still seem to want to make it difficult. It'll be a couple of months at least till we get the go ahead.

I'll have a look at the BC website. I've found out there a cycle club in Chorlton, where I live, that have some keen cyclocross members so I might pop along and ask them about it.

Looking forward to the bike review!

[tlr]

Just had this video through on an email; truly hardcore. I think I'll stick to poncing around proper roads on my road bike.

!

[cofe]

brilliant. makes even me look like a soft lass.

[mrconners]

  Fooking brilliant footage.

Frad Salmon who owns The Bike Factory in whaley Bridge used to be a bit of a hardcore cyclocrosser, maybe if your passing pop in and have a chat, he's a bit bonkers but a mine of information.

[Percy B]

This guy - http://rouleurmagazine.wordpress.com/2010/09/29/northern-exposure/

Agreed. A well known and highly respected nutter!

[mrconners]

He was talking about having done it when I went in to pick some bits up. Rob (the manager) just rolled his eyes. I think he gets used to the weirdness.


In fact Fred did some peak cyclosportive thing a couple of years ago with virtually no training and came top 15. He's a fucking beast.

[chappers]

a review then, not so much of the bike but of cyclocross itself.

i bought a planet x uncle john, i have had mixed experiences with it...the set up was terrible, i had to get the tool box out just to get the big ring when it arrived, this "cyclocross bike" didnt come with an option of cyclocross tyres, the handle bar options were terrible and had to be swapped on arrival, the bb seized after the first race...but...it was by far the best deal available, £1000 for ultegera! it copes well in mud, it is very tough, comfy and doesn't weigh too much.

to cyclocross: i LOVE this sport, i have found a part of my cycling club (manchester wheelers) that i didn't know existed before, and it has been a great experience, i feel part of a team - which i think is rare in cycling clubs.

races last for 1 hour, plus 1 lap, it is a brutal, all out affair, ive never tested it, but im sure my heart rate has never dropped below 80% of max whilst racing.
so far this season i have done 6 races, on a total mix of terrain, agonising steep tarmac climbs, flat quick grass, back numbing runs up steps, thick mud, short sharp steep climbs, bogs that require plowing through, deep sand that leads your front wheel on its own course.
mud gets everywhere, in your eyes and...worst of all is the 35minute mark when the muddy, sand filled water soaks through your shorts and starts to grate at your "crack".
But all this suffering is what makes this so great, its what makes the cup of tea and cake in a cold rainy st helens car park taste so great.




i can only suggest that your get involved too, plenty of people are there on mountain bikes.