Monstercross… Let's see yours (and setup advice required)

Got an itch that is starting to need scratching. Tried CX bikes twice, they weren’t for me, I just tried to ride them like an MTB offroad and the limitations of 35mm tyres came into play all too often. Hence thinking of building a Monstercross.

Now… The frame… I’m 5ft10 and would ride a medium sized bike in pretty much anything normally. My MTB’s have a 600mm ETT or therabouts with 70-80mm stem, my road bikes usually a 550mm ETT or therabouts with a 100-110mm stem. My question being, should I run a medium sized 29er frame, as I normally would, but with a really short stem and drop bars, or should I go for a small 29er frame, with say a 70-80mm stem and drop bars, but obviously with more seatpost showing (got a 410mm Thomson waiting to go on it so not so much an issue there)?

Also, build wise… Thinking of running a 2×10 setup, probably 28/42 chainset with an 11-36 cassette. If I go for SRAM, I know I can still use a clutch mech which I’d prefer, but what to do about the front derailleur? An MTB double front derailleur will have a different cable pull to a road STI right? But then the cable routing is top pull with no provision for using a bottom pull FD.

Any advice appreciated, and please post some pics of your own Monstercross builds…

Tried CX bikes twice, they weren’t for me,
You mean you realised you did not have the skill to ride a cx bike!
Get a phat bike proper monster cross 🙂

tried it, would love to do it properly. Played with ugly sticks to get the bars right. It rode, brilliantly. It just looked hideous.

Ive still got a hankering for a “monserpetamine”, but still no sign of one from Mr. B. Richards. Lazy arse.

This:

<img src=”https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7250/7567842568_af4306ac1f_s.jpg&#8221; width=”75″ height=”75″ alt=”phone 035″>

or this:
<img src=”https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8664/15932386556_68650684df_s.jpg&#8221; width=”75″ height=”75″ alt=”december 004″>

and would quite like to try this:

<img src=”https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5347/9283934402_ee53d04c3c_s.jpg&#8221; width=”75″ height=”75″ alt=”Experimental rigs 9-12 002″>

I’m a great lover of monstercross bikes, I feel they are the most versatile bikes, great for long days in the saddle on anything from road to trail centers, but also tough enough to not worry about the stuff you would on a CX bike (but also love my CX bike)

I’m currently building a frame specifically for use as a monstercorss, it is going to have a 585mm ETT and I’m just under 6ft. I have worked out I should need between a 90mm and 110mm, 6deg stem. (with my woodchipper bars) (it’s a 29er too)

This is the CAD I’ve made for it, and you can follow the build here

This is the bike that confirmed that monstercrossing was for me, 26er wheels, shockingly bad fork (flexy and had about 10mm travel) but great fun and surprisingly fast. It was a 17.5 inch scott hardtail frame and used a 80mm 30deg stem for size reference.

I then transfered the bars onto the hardtail frame that I built, to use as a singlespeed, with 425mm forks it had a 72deg head angle so was very twitchy, but was a great laugh and very capable and I set quite a few of my fastest bits around cannock on it. For reference I used the same stem and bars as before.

As for gears I will be running 2×10 on my new build and the front derailleur pull ratio difference can be got around with clever cable routing. I will be running a shimano set-up so going for an 9s XT rear mech.

My old singular arty pic 😉

Surly cx with 1.8 bonty tyres on

On the swift i went for a 90mm stem with higher rise which had the effect of shortening the reach. Tbh at 5’9″ it was still a bit long.

Ive just ordered one of these i hope will be perfect 🙂

You mean you realised you did not have the skill to ride a cx bike!

😆

To be fair, less to do with the lack of skill, more the fact I kept forgetting the limitations of the tyre width. Offroad both I had were incredibly capable, way more so than you would expect.

Get a phat bike proper monster cross

I may or may not already have a pair of WTB Scraper 27.5+ rims and Trailblazer 2.8″ tyres on order already, and know that they’ll fit in the frame I’m planning to build! 😉

I’m a great lover of monstercross bikes, I feel they are the most versatile bikes, great for long days in the saddle on anything from road to trail centers, but also tough enough to not worry about the stuff you would on a CX bike (but also love my CX bike)

Precisely my take on it. The more time I spend on a road bike, the more I realise that for anything except full on offroad, I prefer Drop Bars for the various hand positions they offer. But I much prefer larger tyres for the terrain they allow me to ride.

I’m currently building a frame specifically for use as a monstercorss, it is going to have a 585mm ETT and I’m just under 6ft. I have worked out I should need between a 90mm and 110mm, 6deg stem. (with my woodchipper bars) (it’s a 29er too)

The 29er frame I’m looking at has an ETT of 595mm in Medium, or 580mm for the small. The medium is what I’d ride normally as an MTB, the small ETT sounds more usable with drops and a “not too short” stem, but still quite long. Also, the medium has a still quite short 17″ seat tube, the small has a 15″ seat tube which means I’d have loads of post showing!

I have a Bonty Privateer frame in the garage that I bought on a whim that is currently hybridised with 700c wheels. Could be the basis of a frankencross build if you’re interested. It’s got disc tabs and a carbon fork

I just tried to ride them like an MTB offroad and the limitations of 35mm tyres came into play all too often.

But you ride a MTB like it’s a road bike. No wonder you struggled.
My advice would be to forget about the gearing and focus on riding the ****.

Current KM build, though it has a higher-rise stem now:

But you ride a MTB like it’s a road bike. No wonder you struggled.

Not once in 20 odd years of MTBing have I been accused of that once! MANY times I’ve been accused of riding a road bike like it’s an MTB mind…

I have a Bonty Privateer frame in the garage that I bought on a whim that is currently hybridised with 700c wheels. Could be the basis of a frankencross build if you’re interested. It’s got disc tabs and a carbon fork

Sounds nice, but funnily enough, building your new road bike for you has got me looking at the P-29. Can still get the older, sliding dropout version for a knockdown price and it’s tempting me!

Define Monstercross for me. Is that just drop bars and tyre width > 35mm?

Not once in 20 odd years of MTBing have I been accused of that once!

Really.
I’ve ridden with you twice and both times you minced like the meat filling in a cottage pie. 😆

MIght try 700c wheels on my Genesis IO SS which already has carbon rigid cross forks. Soma Sparrow bars and a 100mm stem. I’m about your height and ride a 19″ frame – so pretty log with pseudo-drops because I didn’t want to change brakes. I’d go shorter and longer stem, personally.

I was thinking of going 2×1 next year.

You’ve seen it before, but here’s another picture

Finished 16th in the last central league race and it rode just fine despite the mud cammo 😉

Colin,

That’s how I chose to define it after I tried some 40c tyres on my Salsa.

Unfortunately this encouraged me into some silly rocky terrain and resulted in a broken frame 🙁

So from now on I’m not calling it ‘monstercross’ I’m calling it ‘gravel’ 8)

MonsterCross you say?

Here’s my new FrankenCross

It looks silly, weighs 24lbs and rides so smoothly, it’s fantastic

Semi-Monster then?

that’s barking and brilliant, John.
Love it.

I wish I didn’t like that FrankenCross as much as I do!

Stoner’s bike has made me do a little sick in my mouth.

Nasty.

My first monster cross was a van dessel WTF which was a true monster cross, but unfortunately it cracked but the new ones have addressed this issue. Now riding a All City macho man disc with 700 x 40 tyres, this feels more like a off road tour bike. I run 2 x 10 speed using a xt front mech dual pull front mech. The chain set is a SRAM 40,26 I think. Have fun.

Here’s my new FrankenCross

Huh, how about that: crazy forks plus crazy bars equals looks sort-of right for some reason.

Nice work! 😀

Ontor what bars are they –
Woodchipper?

Got a cx and wondering if I make my (rigid) singular swift a monster or get the singular gryphon.

Can’t believe the question hasn’t been asked – whot tyres?

Function is so much more important than form when designing a bicycle.

It doesn’t really matter what it looks like, so it might as well be mind-bendingly hideous. Like, actually give people a twinge of blinding visual sciatica to look at a picture of it.

And once we’re over that hurdle, we might as go the whole hog and decide that function isn’t all that important either. It doesn’t really matter what it does. Just build terrifyingly ugly cyclocross bike by battering a redundant mountainbike paraplegic with shallow drop bars and a throbbing erecto-stem. And then give it green rims. Perfect.

Have words with yourselves, for god’s sakes.

😯 😆

Stoner – Member
that’s barking and brilliant, John.
Love it.

CaptainFlashheart – Member
I wish I didn’t like that FrankenCross as much as I do!

mintimperial – Member
Huh, how about that: crazy forks plus crazy bars equals looks sort-of right for some reason

BigDummy – Member
Function is so much more important than form when designing a bicycle.

Why thank you, it’s built with a Travers titanium Rudy 29er frame, Lauf Trail Racer forks, Brooks Cambium saddle, Ison Genetic Digest Bars, plus the 3 x 9, Thompson seatpost, BB7’s and Stans Flow wheels off my old Niner.

It is magnificently hideous. I salute it. 🙂

Stop tempting us John, that frankencross is the berries!

One day a custom Ti 29″ with lauf forks shall be mine! Just needs an IGH or P1.18 with gates carbon drive for fit and forget convenience.

Love that, john! Bars are noted, they look like a nice shape.

Makes mine look a bit staid! Singular Peregrine with Salsa cowbells, mtn BB7s and Tektro levers, TT500 10spd bar-end shifter, single ring Zee chainset. Thunder Burts.

Slightly gopping amount of stem spacers, but through luck or subconscious judgement, I’ve managed to hide them here:

I’m guessing you’ll have spotted the nearly eight year old thread on mtbr? If that doesn’t answer your questions I’ll need a lie down somewhere. Huge arguments about the definitions too.

I’ve fiddled a bit. Firstly with a prototype On One ‘adventure bike’ frame. It was a bit small for me but apart from that and some odd cable routing was ok.

Wouldn’t say it was a looker though.[/url]

I played about with it and changed the stem, etc and got it better in the end but it was still too small for me.

Then I stuck some drop bars on my Inbred. I think that makes it a drop barred 29er rather than a monstercross.

Dropbred[/url]

Much better but the forks were too short so low BB and steep head,etc.

I like the look of twinklydave’s drop barred TD1

Mark Whale’s picture[/url]

Ive still got a hankering for a “monserpetamine”, but still no sign of one from Mr. B. Richards. Lazy arse.

Indeed. Though I think it might be 650B- now 😉

downshep – Member
Stop tempting us John, that frankencross is the berries!
One day a custom Ti 29″ with lauf forks shall be mine! Just needs an IGH or P1.18 with gates carbon drive for fit and forget convenience.

Forget the belt drive, I’ve been there, done that had the long walk back and I’ll never go back, the 12 mile walk back to the start of the ride put pay to that, chain drive for fit and forget.

Heard a couple of negative stories about belt drive systems. What causes them to fail?

Johnclimber, how much does that ludicrous leaf spring set-up weight in comparison to a Sid world cup? Honestly?

how much does that ludicrous leaf spring set-up weight in comparison to a Sid world cup?

Lauf[/url] say theirs weighs 990g.

SRAM say a SID World Cup is 1346g

Lauf 990g
SID WC XX 29″ 1485g
(both claimed weights)

Edit; Beaten to it. Is the lighter SID for a smaller wheel?

The Laufs weighed in on my wife’s cheapy digital kitchen scales with the full stearer not cut down at 1005g.
So the 990g is about right on calibrated scales.

Have you seen how strong they are?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fRd3qzhcJI

No wearing parts, no stiction, no need to service, up to 60mm of travel for under 1kg what’s not to like?

Plus you can’t see them when you are riding so if you think they look ugly it won’t be you who’s looking at them.

They are designed to absorb the ride and take the trail buzz out of riding rigid. So an upgrade from rigid forks or for those on suspension who want to lighten up but don’t want to go to fully rigid.

If you want an all mountain fork look elsewhere but for most UK riding they are perfect, get them on a nice Ti frame and it will ride all day every day.

I eat my hat then.

Sort of.

Maybe not the yellow for me then!

Love that Peregrine – always fancied one of those.

Not sure if it counts, but this is my Fargo.

Went out on it the other day, and yeah, I think I ‘get’ it..

Very nice Teetosugars

downshep – Member
Heard a couple of negative stories about belt drive systems. What causes them to fail?

Downshep, email me, my address is in my members name link clicky thing.

Not mine, a demo bike but I had good fun on it!!

Genesis Fortitude Race Monstercross by scottgolfgti[/url], on Flickr

and a vid: https://flic.kr/p/ekBbGH

@singletracksurfer
Ragley Luxy bars. they’re ace and W – I – D – E