What gearing are you running with the CX-1?

I thought long and hard about one of these but went for a shand in the end as it fitted what i wanted a little better. But ive never seen a bad review of one of these

but went for a shand in the end

But its not Ti ! (Look very nice though) 😉

‘But its not Ti !’

Thats one of the reasons i didint go for it lol

@matts: 40 up front 11-32 out back. Feels fine for most things, but I do run out of high gears on the descents. I might try 42 & 11-36

I had 42 and 11-36 for a long while and it was great for on/off road. Very rarely needed higher gears. Only went to a double because of longer road rides. May go back.

I think I’d struggle with a max gear of 100 inch. That’s between a 50/14. and 13.

Would probably be OK for CX.

All in, what do these things generally weigh? (I know you’re not supposed to talk about these things, but humour me, go on)

Happened to weigh mine today actually, as a mate has leant me one of those proper bike scales things. Came in at 9.38kg with pedals. Currently got the Kinesis crossmax wheels with 28mm open paves on there. Expecting a delivery of my new Hunt x Mason wheels so once I’ve got those on with some 25mm contis I think I’ll be nicely under 9kg. Not bad for a “winter” bike. That’s with 105 (5800).

What are these like compared to more standard cyclocross bikes offroad? Are they still as harsh on your wrists for people who are used to suspension forks?

I rode mine off road today for the first time. Very pleased with the tyres although the pressure needs tweaking. Didn’t feel beaten up although the bars need to go.

Didn’t feel beaten up although the bars need to go

Could I humbly recommend the Salsa Woodchipper CG

Thanks jobro, others have been recommending the Cow Bells. A bit spoiled as 2 mtb’s have carbon bars but was shocked to see the price of carbon roadie bars! Not rushing into anything, a few more rides will help me decide.

Edit: just looking at the Salsa website, those Woodchippers certainly look different!

Ive got cowbells on and i really like them tho its early days. Not much flare but just enough and quite a shallow drop

Thanks jobro, others have been recommending the Cow Bells

Bar choice will depend on the ratio of offroad/road riding you do I would suggest. Cowbell would be for more road riding less off roading IMHO

For me its 75% off road and the woodchipper fits that bill.

I’ve got some 380mm cowbells 2 for sale… £38 posted.

Got Bell Laps and Cowbells on a 29er and the Tripster and always found them really good off road, especially on descent. Better for me than Midges were..

I’ve got Cowbells on mine. They’re a CX bar, so basically a road setup with more control in the drops due to the extra flare.

If you ride mostly off-road, then Woodchippers may be a good option.

Does anyone know if the Kinesis wheels are compatible with a Sram 10-42 cassette? Thanks.

Doesn’t look like it – see here :

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/sram-and-xtr-11-speed-mix-and-match

you can get a shimano XT 11-36 cassette on and use it with 10 shimano brifters – with an XTR shadow 9 speed rd.

Susie, Did you get any joy demoing one ?

Andy, no I didn’t. I ordered one from Freeborn because their website said they had stock. I kept the order with them as I didn’t want to miss out on the next shipment, but rang and emailed other shops to see if anyone had any. Lovevelo didn’t have one in stock and I didn’t think it was on to try their demo bike when I was buying the frame from elsewhere. I’m pretty sure the 54cm will be ok for me.

I can’t wait. My partner has just become the owner of a Vaya Ti and is raving about how great that kind of bike is.

I’ve cancelled my Kenesis wheels as I wanted to be able to run a sram 10-42 cassette, but now i’m not sure if everything is compatible. Does anyone know if the following are compatible?

Sram CX1 crankset
Sram 10-42 cassette
Sram force 1 long cage rear mech
Sram force 1 ergodynamic levers

The wheels i’ve ordered come with an XD driver.

Thanks.

Not sure of answering your question, Susie, but I’ve just this evening done similar to Turner Guy’s suggestion on mine…
I’m off on a 5 day gravel / lanes tour in just over a week, so have swapped the 28mm Duranos for an trusty set of 37mm Conti Travel Contacts on the CX wheels and stuck an 11-36 XT 10spd cassette on the back, matching 10spd chain and an XT 9spd rear mech. Based on extensive tests* it all seems hunky dory, so I’ll stick a decent loop in at the weekend to shake it down properly and then whack the bags on and try it properly before I head off on my adventures…

*a quick nip up the road and back in my flip flops.

I was going to do that, but 2 x 10 with a super compact 30/46, but decided this week that I really want 1 x 11. I thought all sram stuff was interchangeable, but thought I’d better check before ordering, but now i’m not so sure.

Just fitted a Praxis 11-40 cassette to mine, the XTR B-Tension screw needed dialled all the way in and the top two alloy sprockets were a really tight fit on the CK free hub which is a good thing as they’ll be no movement under torque.

28 tooth front and 40 tooth rear gives me a 19″ low gear so it should make the hills easier.

Very nice bit of kit, well machined and shifting is every bit as good as the XT 11-36 i removed, 14g lighter than XT so that will make all the difference 😉

Stick some suspension forks on and you could call it a mountain bike… 😉

DrP

Long overdue update on mine… It’ll hit 7,000 miles next week during another lanes / gravel tour and I’ve slightly revised the spec…

Off to Snowdonia on a 350ish mile 5 day circular trip, door to door from east Cheshire – Liverpool, Llandudno, Coed y Brenin, Oswestry and back home. There are no huge miles in it each day, but a fair bit of climbing for a couple of them as I’m going straight through Snowdonia. I’ve used as many Sustrans routes as possible again – if you’re a grit.cx subscriber you’ll find my piece on last year’s little escapade in issue 4, I think. It’s a great formula to follow and brings so much traffic-free or low traffic riding to the party.

So – current spec:
New XT 9 speed rear mech, 10spd 12-36 XT cassette and matching chain paired with the original Ultegra compact chainset and 10spd shifters. I’ve had the latest Kinesis CX Disc wheels on it for yonks, but just swapped my trusty Durano tyres for the 37mm Cont Travel Contacts for the trip. The TRP Spyres are as good as they’ve ever been and the Bluemels guards work well too. I really rate the fancy-dan Time carbon/ti pedals – especially since I picked up some nice Giro touring type shoes that mean I can wear them off the bike as well as on. Ritchey finishing kit, Spesh Romin saddle, Hope BB – that’s about it.

I’ll be using an Alpkit Koala, alongside a small Deuter frame bag and a Topeak bar bag. That’s big enough for 5 days kit, as I’m staying in B&B accommodation so no tent or sleeping bag! I’ve actually got more room than I thought…

Tried the new drivetrain out yesterday on a hilly Peak District ride and was suitably impressed that I probably won’t go back to the closer ratio Ultegra bits I had on before, even though they looked ‘nicer’. Did my first run out with all the new luggage on today on gravel, roads and a few hills and that went very well too, so I think, once I’ve found my legs, I’m all set 🙂

At the other end of the spectrum I have put some road pedals, Hunt disc wheels and 25mm tyres on mine. Went out on my personal 20 mile fast paced course into a strong headwind and got to within 1kmp/h of my best time on my carbon race bike. These Tripsters really can do it all, or most of it at least.

Gtth how big do the contis size up a big or small 37? Cheers

Awsome mudguards ctbm also has them for sale cheap too

I’d say that they’re pretty true to size, firestarter. They’re quite a square (not rounded) profile on those rims and surprisingly fast rolling – but I guess that’s the big centre tread. I’ve got Duranos in 32 and 28 widths that I also swap and change – as curto80 says, the range of talents these bikes have is phenomenal.

I need some PDW guards in my life!

Awsome mudguards ctbm also has them for sale cheap too

where is ctbm?

I’m after some for my Equilibrium.

Ta

http://www.charliethebikemonger.com/pdw-full-metal-fenders-set—road-30mm–city-45mm-3329-p.asp

Cheers gtth. I tried to fit a set of halo twin rails in 38 yesterday after a puncture fest but they seem pretty big and rubbed the guards a bit 🙁

ta very muchly, @ that price they seem worthwhile trying

Sounds like a good trip gonetothehills.

Planning something similar with my Tripster in September in my neck of the woods.

Haven’t decided yet to stick with my slick 28mm’s and stay on concrete paths, or put some treaded tyres on and take in a few more of the gravel options.

Tour de Tripster

Simon, Rory and I did a smash and grab 22h visit to the Tour on Thursday. All Tripster’d up. Twas a great day :O)

cool pic, a trio of tripsters all with different set-ups

Indeed. All built for their owners desires :O)

The one sticking out front is 1×11 XTR Di2 with shift buttons integrated into some TRP Hylex hydro drop bar brakes. Rory works at Upgrade needless to say! The shifting was amazing albeit that amazing comes with a hefty price tag. My XT shifting seems great value in comparison!