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CX newbie, looking for advice... Or feel free to point and laugh!
So, given I have a CX bike as winter bike/commuter/all-rounder, I thought I'd enter a 'cross race to see what it was all about. Final race of the local series was in Southampton, so I entered. I'd heard it could be muddy, so treated the bike to new X One Bite mud tyres.
A practice lap, seemed a bit squishy, few spots to run/carry but that's 'cross, right?
I guess when the start was more Le Mans style, (warnings bikes must touching the ground, everyone (at the back) chosing to run) should have been a warning.
Ploughed around, having to pedal to go downhill was novel, only fell off twice, and was getting into it, dare I say, having fun. I had settled into a minor battle with 2 other riders, and on the bell lap when I saw one ahead of me having unshipped his chain at the top of a carry, I hopped on the bike and aimed to gap him for good. Presumably my raw power then ripped the rear mech off... Game over, too far out to run in, DNF.
<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">I guess running a front mech helped collect more mud. </span>Tyres seemed to hook up as well as could be expected, maybe they picked up too much mud and plant material from the course...?
Questions are - what caused the hanger to break? Jammed rear mech/jockeys? The mech didn't hit anything at the time it broke, and it wasn't near the spokes. It sure wasn't my Hoy-like thighs.
What could I do differently? <span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Not in a position to run 2 bikes, and have no chance of getting pit crew/pressure washer.</span>
Was it just super muddy? Did the grass/leaves in the mud make it worse? Should I have carried more? Or are Pro6s carp at clearing mud?
Any advice much appreciated!
Up until trashing the bike and DNFing, I actually enjoyed it, and if I learn how to hop on/off the bike without mincing, I could have been quicker too!
Yes it was disgustingly muddy - it needed to keep raining really as it just became sticky.
I was on pit duties and I’ve never seen so many broken rear mechs.
I saw a few bikes leaving yesterday afternoon as I started my journey back to Cambridge and saw how muddy it was-must have been a real treat racing in that with canti brakes jamming the tyres. I remember doing a race there donkeys years ago around New Year and it was exactly the same muddy hell.
my mate had a DNF too - not sure why
HobNob - I was wondering if I could beg a jetwash of someone...
It was a friendly event, great apart from the mud!
Saw plenty of fallers on the off camber bends, at least the landings were soft. Don't think anyone went home injured, just lots of broken bikes! I hate to think of what could happen to carbon chain stays, could be an expensive day out...
Didn't see anyone injured though, but a couple of punctures and lots of gearless bikes.
Reluctantwrinkly - to be fair, everyone was clogged up, discs or cantis! And there wasn't much braking needed, I never got that fast...
You know how eskimos have 10 words for snow, it's a bit like that for CX racing and mud. You can get some horrendous muddy conditions but if it's very wet it can clear OK - like riding through chocolate mousse. It's when it's a bit drier, clay-ier and you mix in a load of grass and leaves that's the mech-killer.
You can carry or ride sections as you see fit / are capable of, but usually not a good idea to push the bike through mud for any distance. Sounds obvious but plenty of guys do this if they're not comfy running with a shouldered bike or just flat out tired and not concentrating.
Southampton is one of the worst for broken mechs IME - twigs in the mud get jammed in jockey wheels
Questions are – what caused the hanger to break? Jammed rear mech/jockeys?
Probably.
Did the grass/leaves in the mud make it worse?
yes.
I lost a mech at the first Southampton round; I finished the race then it came off near the changing rooms!
I rode yesterday. I did 2 laps and DNF'd. the wheels wouldn't turn and I was shattered - carrying the bike for 1/2 the lap when it weighs 10kg extra is hard.
I was running rocket rons - I might try something else next season - or i might spectate at the sports centre next year!
Yeah, I don’t imagine many bikes can avoid clogging in that mess!
can;t see your photos.
mine from november. That tiagra mech was 100 km old and the jockey wheels were crap (only found out after) new 105 one seems much better.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/24645633@N08/38370750751/in/datetaken-public/
Just looking back over Polar data - reckon the bike knew it was a 40min race, as the mech blew after 40mins... maybe the bike was more tired than me!
Garry_lager - I was guilty of pushing up the hills, I'll know for next time! On the muddy flats it was much easier to shoulder it...
Thomthumb - I might lend you some X Ones! It'd be better than trashing another mech hanger (hoping the mech survives). Bailing out seems the better route now, the chap I was trying to beat was clearing mud as well as putting his chain back on, he obviously knew something I didn't...
shame if Soton is routinely that filthy as it's close to home
Breaking rear hangers in cx races is relatively common. I will normally see a few people do it whenever it gets muddy. Over my years of racing on one bike i have learnt the following.
Buy one or two mech hangers for your bike so you don't miss races.
When it is likely to be muddy make sure your bike is clean before you ride. Particularly drive chain.
Make sure there are no issues like stiff jockey wheels, miss shifts etc.
lube your chain well, it stops the mud sticking and you'll be washing most of it off anyway.
GT85/ teflon/ polish on mud traps like behind the BB, fork crown, mech, pedals. Stops the mud sticking so badly initially but it will wear off.
If things get clogged up then take a few seconds to stop and remove the worst with your hands. You can do this while running if needed, make a habit if there is a long run section at any point.
Beware clay courses and long grass.
Most importantly, don't back pedal. Keep gently pedalling forward at all times. When everything is gunked up you will have big problems back pedalling, it will likely send your mech into the spokes. This is particularly important (and hard to do when you jump back on after a dismount). The habit is to back pedal to get your dominant foot forward. Break this habit and just pedal forward.
I've watched a few mechs rip off at cx. Many were where the chain sucked to the underside of the chainring, pulling the mech forward until it ran out of travel / slack and then crunch. Jammed jockey wheels tended to rip the mech off backwards.
Funniest was snapped chain just under the ring where he pedalled on unaware for quite a few metres laying the chain out behind him until it eventually ran out.
From the pictures in the OP - Big ring? And chain over the top of the cassette? I will assume that the chain is in there from after the failure. But Big/Big combo is bad in cross, as has been already posted, debris gets in the cage.
Once something stops the chain moving your powering on means the fate of the drivetrain is decided by which has more resistance to the force... the blockage or the hanger.
Good point above about never backpedalling. And to the extreme, freewheeling is something to try to avoid even if you are just coast pedalling, glass cranking to keep that chain in soft forward motion
The cage and jockey wheels clog until the chain can't pass through it, at which point the chain pulls the rear mech with it up and around the cassette. As above - grass, leaves and also gravel can make it worse.
I've only been racing since 2015 and my first season nearly put me off - I killed 3 rear mechs - but now I use a pit bike and usually blag use of a power washer. Water, not diesel, is the premium so if you go this route turning up with a jerry can or similar of water means your more likely to get the nod and I've usually negotiated use beforehand on that proviso. At a push de-clogging with a stick/screwdriver will keep you going and I've turned bikes around in the pits this way when I haven't had access to a washer. I race in Central League and Corby 2016 claimed over 20 rear mechs (including all 3 of our bikes)!
X-one Bites are excellent though; I have fancy 70 quid-a-time tubular FMB Supermuds on my 'A' bike but the clincher X-one Bites on my pit bike are comparable.