Ridley Crosswind - Ultegra 6700 - Cyclocross Bike Fit

Well, here is the latest and greatest photos right before I went on vacation. From my cell phone camera...not the best quality, but you get the idea.

The new Ultegra 6700 shift levers are the bomb! After about two weeks of riding them I wish I had the dough for the Dura-Ace versions. They a smooth, shift great, feel great and work very very well. The new TRP brakes certainly are a nice addition to the bike this year. These brakes are the Magnesium versions and are super stiff and feel different than the Spooky brakes I had for the last few years. I still need some brake pad adjustments on the front wheel, since I am experiencing some shudder here and there.
I also added some new Jagwire cables which have a kevlar jacket and seem to be helping the quality of braking and shifting. I went with a different bash / chainguard this year and loving it so far. I was thinking I could even get rid of the jump-stop if I did double bashguards.

The bike with my practice wheelset (DuraAce 7800 hubs and Mavic Open pro rims) weighs right about 17.5 lbs. I would imagine with my carbon tubie race wheels and griffo's I might be just about 16 lbs. (7.25kg).

I had my bike fit this past Sunday, on the way home from our vacation. There were some and large and small tweaks, but the bike feels better already than last year. Once I get my engine back up to freeway speeds, I am sure the bike fit will have been a worthwhile detour on the way home.

I can't say enough about the Ridley bike. It is just so fun and fast. It is a real cross race bike. I certainly will be selling this frame and fork after this season and going Ridley Carbon for 2010.

Cyclocross 2009 Goodies - Embrocation

Some Cross Goodies here:

• The new XX SRAM Cassette's look really sweet. Interesting design, I am sure they shed mud fairly well too. If they make a 12/27 or a 11-25 version, I would have one for the cross bike or the mountain bike. The last two years, I have been running a 12/27 Ultegra on my mountain bike with great success.

• I like the TRP Euro X white Magnisium Cross brakes. They have lots of adjustments compared to my current Spooky brakes. Plus they look fat as hell.

• The new white Griffo tires seem like a great option for dry fast grassy courses. I did however, see Tim Johnson using them last year in some races with success. They are marketing them for snowy/icy courses as well.

• The Challenge Fango is not so new, but still a sweet mud tire for cross. The rubber and sidewall in these tires are above board and are a quality tire. I am not sure what the fall weather will bring this year, but I might have to purchase some of these as a mud option. Last year I put a Michelin Mud 2 tire on the back, which seemed to work fairly well. The sidewall and ride is not as good as the Challenge tires.

• The Shifter photo, is from the new Shimano Ultegra 6700 group. I think theses brifters would work well for cross, keeping the cables out of the way and hidden, especially during shouldering the bike and removing a scant possibility of someone falling on you and damaging the front cables. I know I know, I am reaching, but hey, they ARE pretty dang cool - 445 g. for the pair I have read - release date is Aug 3 for US dealers, but I am seeing them on ebah already!

• Who doesn't need Embrocation for the fall, summer and winter months. If you have not tried using any, I suggest you borrow a scoop from someone first before diving in with a full bottle/can/jar. The other tip: put your bibs on FIRST, don't touch your junk, your cash and prizes, your downtown bonanza or your situation, your face, or anything other than your legs. This stuff will put your skin on fire depending on what level you purchase. I used some stuff most of the cross and winter season I bought at the USGP Louisville last year. It was great, not too hot and not too much fire. I hope to order some of this all natural - custom made stuff from Mad Alchemy soon. They had some coffee scented stuff that was a medium temp, but are sold out right now. Coffee, embrocation and cross, does it get any better? Qoleum makes some good stuff I hear as well. Also, even sometimes after three or four hours this stuff can still re-activate. Like um yeah, in the shower. Your pours open up and you get out bam, your legs are on fire.
  

• So, lastly, some sick looking white Time ATAC pedals. These are not the lightest in weight of the series of these pedals, I think around 338g. But still sweet looking for cross and a white bike. I would guess at the medium price point, they figure more people would order these than the 320 dollar models above.