2019 XC Racing, bike plans, purchases, thoughts ?

Overview Chat Bike Members News Women

This topic has 108 replies, 26 voices, and was last updated 5 years ago by Yak.

Viewing 29 posts - 81 through 109 (of 109 total)

← 1 2 3

2019 XC Racing, bike plans, purchases, thoughts ?
Yak
Full Member

Probably not worth getting that cube when you could spend less on wheels/tyres for the Parkwood or maybe even just tyres if it’s not got fast rolling xc tyres on it.
I’m aiming to be at the next Brass Monkeys – need to make amends for Sunday’s lousy outing. And then i’ll try and catch up with you at some of the southerns, although Checkendon is my least favourite….I need hills! 🙂
Good luck with your plan.

Posted 5 years ago

weeksy
Full Member

Yeah i’m waiting until i head home and check what rubber i’ve got on the Parkwood, i’m pretty sure I’ve got a Crossmark II fitted on the back which should be OK… but the front, i forget what’s on there and in the loft…. So i’d potentially get the Vittoria Barzos again from Probikekit as per @Kryton57s suggestion. Would be interesting to see what difference the 29er makes if any…. Apparently Weeksy Jnr is out at a flute thing so apart from finacances i have no excuses not to make the 27th at Minley… So i guess i’ll be entering it.

Posted 5 years ago

barrykellett
Free Member

19″ Cube HPA frames here if you wanted to swap parkwood kit over:
https://www.bike-discount.de/en/buy/cube-reaction-hpa-sl-29-side-swing-frame-black-n-blue-692540

Posted 5 years ago

FGF 701 The Hydrate Or Die Edition

weeksy
Full Member

Nice thought, 142×12 rear and PF BB though. I’m not sure i can get 142×12 kit for my WTB stock O-one hubs…
TBH and lets be honest here for a second with myself…. the gap to the riders in front was too great that swapping bikes to Schurters XC world cup winning bike still isn’t going to get me up more than 1 place in the results lol.

It’s clear where i really need to work and very little of it is me spending more money on anything other than race entries …..

Posted 5 years ago

ferrals
Free Member

I think though improving my weight is likely to make a bigger difference than improving the bike weight…

Don’t worry, post-Brexit food shortages will have us all emancipated racing snakes by the end of the year!

Posted 5 years ago

Yak
Full Member

Yay freed, from, er stuff……..to race?!
😉

Posted 5 years ago

weeksy
Full Member

So jumped on Zwift for a gentle recovery ride and also on the scales, I now know exactly where I am and where I need to be. Of course, this all takes time, but I’m now set in my head about what it’s going to take.
Checked out the 29er tyres and they’re both light enough and fast enough that for a test at Minley on 27th they’ll be plenty good enough to see what’s what.

Just need to stay focused on the 5-2 now and not go crazy on the 5 days and we should see the weight coming down reasonably quickly.

Posted 5 years ago

Kryton57
Full Member

Don’t restrict your self of Carbs the week before Weekly, it’ll impact your result.

Good plan to test Parkwood on what will be familiar terrain IMO, it’ll give you a good idea about what bike you prefer. Trade in both bikes and get the 120mm Spark 😉 :p

Posted 5 years ago

weeksy
Full Member

Lol can’t as we need the 3rd bike for family trips out. The wife rides the t130 on these and I use the Parkwood.
I also like having the emergency spare just in case.

The last thing in this world we need to worry about is me not having enough carbs. You don’t get to ride 350+ hours a year and gain weight without being a carb monster.

Posted 5 years ago

weeksy
Full Member

Meh, doesn’t look like i’m going to make the 27th now. I’ve got ear surgery on the 23rd under General Anasthetic, so i’m thinking that the 27th may not work for me. I’ll take the discretion route and not do this one.
Gives me until the 29th April to get the weight in check and sorted before the first in the Southern XC series. Unless i go for the 17th Feb at Gorrick, but that depends potentially how me and my lad get on at FoD on the 16th for his race.

Posted 5 years ago

twowheels
Free Member

If you’re seriously considering swapping the Parkwood frame for something racier and want rear QR note Torq are selling unused 2015 Whyte 29c team frames (in Torq livery). Tempted myself but don’t want to “downgrade” to QR.

I can’t make the BM on 27th but hoping to make the 17th at Crowthorne.

Posted 5 years ago

weeksy
Full Member

Saw them yesterday, they look like PF BBs ? In all honesty though i’ve weighed up all the swap thoughts and the gap to say you for example is that massive that a frame, a wheel, a change, isn’t really going to cut it. I need to improve ‘me’ more than the bike, be that in fitness, ability, weight, i’m not really sure, but likely a combination of all of that. Only then can i really justify a purchase.

Posted 5 years ago

twowheels
Free Member

Is a race license needed for the 3 lap “Open” cat at Crowthorne?

Posted 5 years ago

weeksy
Full Member

Nopes. Nothing.

Posted 5 years ago

Kryton57
Full Member

Where are these Torq bikes?

Posted 5 years ago

weeksy
Full Member

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Whyte-29c-Gloss-Carbon-Bike-Frame-TORQ-Branded/323640690269?hash=item4b5a7d065d:g:bTQAAOSwyApcNMcp:rk:41:pf:0

Posted 5 years ago

twowheels
Free Member

Sorry weeksy I missed your reply. Yes I think it’s PF30. I am almost resigned to having PF on next bike. At worst I can put in a sleeved BSA adapter if it’s as creaky as folks say.

I’m very flattered you think there’s a massive gap between us 🙂 (not my impression!)

I am still enjoying the delusion that I’d be faster with a better bike 🙂

I’ll do at least one of the Feb, Apr (hot MTB challenge), May (Kawasaki) gorrick events.

Posted 5 years ago

weeksy
Full Member

I’m very flattered you think there’s a massive gap between us 🙂 (not my impression!)

My intention is to make that gap smaller 😉

Posted 5 years ago

weeksy
Full Member

Been having some debates recently over the XC racing bike choices i have available to me. Whether something faster is going to give me the edge i want and up my performances even slightly.

LAst night, i debated clicking on this to buy
https://www.rutlandcycling.com/bikes/mountain-bikes/scott-scale-720-2017-mountain-bike-black_373464

My thoughts were that at 10.5kg it’s already 2.5 lighter than either of my choices roughly, along with the fact it’s 2×10 meaning i could drop the front mech and single ring it taking it to 10kg easily…

Today i went out riding with Crust and a couple of other lads around Greenham Common and surrounding areas and rode the 29er Parkwood. Well blow me…. they’re awful in some way are HTs, especially in the tricky rooty stuff… It really just doesn’t inspire in the same way the T-130 does, it’s more sketchy on the front and the rear over the rooty stuff and you end up girlieing your way down stuff you’d attack on the FS. We hit a road segment and sure the 29er rolls along really well… But on anything else, the T-130 really is King for me. I’ve already got the T-130 as light as it really practial, sure i could rdrop 100gr here or there on a post/bars… but with the wheels and tyres it’s about as good as it’s getting. Along with being ideal for all my other riding at FoD, BPW etc, which would be more of a compromise on a more XC oriented bike of course.

So the super racey HT idea is kicked in the head.

It wasn’t all just Strava miles and head down today though

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2eaUSNi]93ihrF_C–AGfkPDMee2PMCiU4uhys8Wt8Q1n8KZ1tc-1152×2048[/url] by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

Posted 5 years ago

Kryton57
Full Member

Do 5 +2 turned out to be 5 pieces of cake and 2 cups of tea?

Posted 5 years ago

weeksy
Full Member

Lol they’re the only treats I’ve had this week and have put in a large chunk of riding, with another 65km off-road tomorrow coming. So felt I could enjoy it.

Posted 5 years ago

flattyre
Free Member

Anyone tried racing on bigger volume tyres, say > 2.25?

All the tests on bikeradar etc seem to find the wider the faster (obviously within reason).

Posted 5 years ago

twowheels
Free Member

Seeing as I just entered the Beastway race series I’ll post my bike for critique. Focus is on durability and practicality rather than weight weenie-ism. However I could cheaply lose weight from grips (GS1 I think, which despite the weight I will probably keep for comfort), rotors, tyres (or just going tubeless) for racing.

item current grams description
wheels 1914 see separate tab
forks [uncut steerer] 1665 Reba RL
tyres 1420 Mavic Crossride Quest MTB Tyre 2017
Frame 1100 Chinese carbon 19 inch
brakes (excluding rotors) 580 XT M785
cassette (incl. lock ring) 482 SunRace MX8
cranks (excluding ring) 477 XTR M9000
tubes 400 Maxxis Welterweight
pedals 355 M540
rear mech 323 SLX M7000
rotors 270 XT and Avid HS1
chain 250 CN-HG701
seatpost 200 Toseek carbon
bars 171 Toseek 700mm carbon
grips 150 Ergon GS1
shifter 144 XT M8000
stem 101 Kalloy Uno 7 80mm
seat 100 Toseek carbon
BB 90 freebie with frame
headset 90 freebie with frame
chainring 40 Superstar Raptor oval
seatpost clamp 30 freebie with frame
bottle cage 28 unbranded carbon

[Mostly actual weights]

Posted 5 years ago

weeksy
Full Member

Tubes? I’d be dropping them and tyres if that were the plan for dropping weight.

You’d get 500gr back from 2 light Barzo tnt+ tubeless

Posted 5 years ago

twowheels
Free Member

Yeah I think tyres will be swapped soon. The Quest’s cost £9 each (CRC sale) and have been good but will be worn and ripe for replacement by April. Have already got a bottle of magic milk to try ghetto tubeless [the Maxxis have removable valves].

The Barzo 2.25″ Isotech tubeless is apparently 575g, which is indeed a good saving if I can get away with 60g-80g of sealant.

Posted 5 years ago

mccraque
Full Member

Anyone tried racing on bigger volume tyres, say > 2.25?

All the tests on bikeradar etc seem to find the wider the faster (obviously within reason).

Funnily enough I was thinking about that as I lapped Minley at the Monkeys a couple of weeks back. I was on a 29 HT (relatively soft carbon back end comparative to uber stiff race machines), and was getting my arse kicked by the roots in terms of where I could get the power down. Was thinking something like a short travel Epic would have been ideal.

At the big dog in the summer, I rode a plus hardtail….and really enjoyed the extra grip and cushioning. That’s extreme, I know…and wouldn’t want to race balloons in winter slop…but it was surprisingly rapid (when I say rapid…this is comparative to my own times. I am certainly not rapid!!)

I’ve got a chunk of clearance on the back of my 29 and was thinking of upping from a 2.25 Rocket Ron to something a little more squishy and volumous. Anything like a rocket ron available in a 2.4 or 2.5??

Posted 5 years ago

Yak
Full Member

I would expect there are. I have an old ralph in a 2.35 that goes on in the summer.

@twowheels – a 29×2.25 tnt barzo is going to be min 720g. I have some recent ones that came in at 730 and 750g. I can’t imagine any reinforced sidewall xc tyres are going to be 575g.

Posted 5 years ago

twowheels
Free Member

@Yak have you got the g+ Isotech (graphene) version? In any case you’re not the first person to say 575 is wrong. Probably it’s a typo in the review I saw ( https://reviews.mtbr.com/vittoria-barzo-tire-review )

In the end I bought a pair of Racing Ralph 2.1 tle from eBay. Actual weight apparently ~640g each. I hesitated over 2.1 Vs 2.25+ but they were cheap enough I can just use them for beastway races then give them away if I don’t like them for normal riding.

Posted 5 years ago

Yak
Full Member

Yes, G+. Yeah, got to be a typo. Nothing is that light, well maybe a liteskin thunderburt, but that’s no use to anyone at this time of year on a race course.
Anyway, enjoy your racing!

Posted 5 years ago