I’m looking at building a bike up to replace my super-commuter Genesis Vapour so will base it on a CX frame but one of the new ones with discs front and rear. Not 100% decided on the frame as yet (though I have a shortlist), but I’m just trying to get my head around the options on the wheels, forks and brakes.

Obviously there are plenty of 29er disc wheelsets around, but I’m after something that’s ideally got disc specific rims, and is designed to suit a narrower tyre – say a 700c x 28 Schwalbe Marathon. Any suggestions please? I’m not after spending a fortune, but would consider a custom build around a Shimano, Hope or Halo hub, I guess.

There seem to be a few steel forks around that have disc and canti / V bosses on, but I’d love a carbon road fork with just a disc mount. Do they exist..?

Finally – I’ll probably port my 2×9 Shimano Tiagra groupset over, but will I be able to use the STI levers with something like Avid BB7 (road) brakes?

Cheers in advance…

I have a Kinesis Tripster…

Used Avid BB5 road brakes to work with 105 levers and for wheels I just had a set of DT470 rims built onto hopes so I could switch wheel set between Tripster and 29er..

Fork wise the Kinesis DC19 forks that comes with frameset is carbon and disc compatible… great bikes… raced all winter CX on it and now only selling as I will be getting a more race orientated cross bike for next season.

Cheers paul – that’s really helpful. Thanks for the heads-up on the forks – it seems a 28mm tyre and guards will fit too. Perfect!

Just a thought, but could you drop me a line when you come to sell the bike (or if you’d be interested in splitting the wheels, brakes and forks…) please. 🙂

Winwood do cross forks with disc mounts.
I’ve got a Winwood Carbon Cross fork. Wheels are CK hubs on Mavic Open Pros with Avid BB7s on my cross bike – mostly (always!) used as a road bike.

Cheers, Atomizer.

On the wheels front, I’ve spotted the Halo AeroTrack rims – 700c with no braking surface. I’d heard they were a bit heavy but they come in at the same weight as an Open Pro (435g) which surprised me. Anyone used them before?

there’ll be a lot of STi to hydraulic conversion things coming out this year – most sit under/in the stem – might be worth waitign to see what appears?

hydraulic discs on a CX would be a waste of power i reckon, a well set up cable disc would be sufficient and lighter unless you are planning to do world cup DH races on it

I’m using Halo AeroRage rims which are the same as the AeroTrack but with the anodising machined off so you can brake (as I’m using rim brakes on my CX) – they’re fine – no problems so far though I did find them to be a bit picky when building up but fine now that they’re in use. Not as nicely finished as an open pro but functionally I can’t really tell any difference.

Cool – cheers clubber. I was wondering what the difference was. I just quite like the idea of a disc specific rim that’ll take the narrower width tyre (relative to a 29er MTB one). Are they slightly deep section too?

I have a tripster too and the halo aerotrack rims. When looking for wheels i came to the concluision the best thing to do was build some as i could find very few disc 700c wheelsets designed for 23mm tyres. The aerotrack rims are quite cheap, lightish and look nice. Mine came in at around 460grams each but they are painted rather than anodised. I got some ACI double butted spokes from cyclebasket and built them using sheldon browns wheelbuilding guide. i use road BB7’s with 105 levers and they work great.

I’ve also got a tripster that I’ve kitted out for commuting, again with the DC19 forks. Really nice bike. I’m running Hope Bulb hubs laced to Stans Arch 29er rims and running 28 mm Conti gators that I’ve converted to tubeless and run at 80 psi. My 3×9 Tiagra shifters run an LX rear mech across an 11-34 block and a Tiagra front mech across an FSA road triple.

For brakes, I’ve got some Hope E4 (165mm each end) through some old Hope remote reservoirs. Works a treat but they’d work as well with Avid BB7 road specific calipers.

I believe Hope have a proto-type remove reservoir in the works currently.

I found some tyres simply won’t stay on the aerotrack rims so be careful. They’re so narrow. Lancruisers were a good example, I’d spend half an hour making sure the tyre was properly seated and then 5 miles down the road it’d pop off the rim and go BANG! Some folding continentals were nigh on impossible too but they went onto other rims no problem.

I see no benefit in disc-only rims, I’d go as light as posible.

DC19s are great, hopefully lighter forks wil lnow follow. Not sure I feel the need for hydraulics, theey’r ebound to cost when they do appearr.

I’ve used Conti Twister Pro 30mm’s, Ritchey Excavader 35mm’s and Kenda Small Block 8 32mm’s on my AeroTracks. The bigger 35mm did fly off once, but only after being poorly seated on the rim after a puncture repair in the dark. My wheels have stayed nice and true despite taking quite a hammering over the last year.

I’m happy on my steel On-one Pompetamine fork (disc only), my bike’s so light already that I’ve not considered a carbon fork for that one.

Thanks (again) for all the advice – it’s coming together nicely now! HoratioHufnagel / Onzadog / simon1975 – have you any pics of the bikes? It would be great to see them built up. What hubs did you lace the Aerotracks onto Horatio / Simon?

Cynic-al: I thought the Halo rims were going to work out heavy but was surprised that the quoted weight is the same as an Open Pro, and a fair chunk less than similarly priced mtb 29er hoops. I don’t think 435g is too bad?

It’ll be either BB5 or BB7 for me, with my Tiagra STIs, but is there a different variety of BB brake for road and MTB or did I imagine that?

435 is light – will they really weight that little though?

Alphas – 350gm 😎

Yes road levers pull less cable so yo uneed specific calipers – BB5 or 7 or some shimanos.

I’m quite pleased with my Tektro Lyra disk brakes on my Genesis, look better than the avids and work great so far.

Genesis Day-one by Jon Wyatt, on Flickr

Just seen the BB5s at CRC* for £22 each end, incl rotor. Got to be worth a punt? Is there a big advantage in the BB7?

*obviously going to pay with PayPal… 😐

BB5’s only have one sided adjustment IIRC, messing around getting them lined up every now and again I don’t think there’s much in it myself. As far as stopping power goes I haven’t noticed a difference between them.

I’ve got deore hubs on Mavic 717 29er/700c rims and can run tyres upwards from 28mm. Great for commuting and could go bigger for touring.

Also got flat bars and ancient deore discs.

However, not sure I am getting on too well with the Cotic Roadrat as its a bit heavy and flexy when its got the shopping on the back. Pondering something else made of alu that can take 700c disc wheels rack and guards ranging from C’dale, Kona, Merida, Specialized etc…

The two big differences between the BB7 and the BB5 are that the BB5 works by flexing the rotor over to squeeze it onto a fixed pad and that the BB5 uses a unique pad where as the BB7 uses the more widely available Juicy pads.

I’m yet another Tripster convert, I run Mavic Speedcity wheels with the Tektro Lyra disks and the 10sp 105 STi levers and its all rock solid.

435 is light – will they really weight that little though?

Alphas – 350gm

I didn’t weigh mine but they didn’t feel noticably heavy which CXP22s and the like at 550ish g tend to.

Alphas – lovely but three times (IIRC) the cost of the Halo ones.

BB5 works by flexing the rotor over to squeeze it onto a fixed pad

As do BB7s

Fair enough clubber – but no other spending to save rotating weight is as cost effective as Alphas, once you have say Open pros, light tyres etc.

I use both BB7s and BB5s, difference only matters when the pads are really wearing IMO.

All interesting reading,

I have a Croix de Fer (AMAZING BIKE – personally I think it rides better than my 456 for general feel goodness) anyway, I digress.

The whole thing is completely standard apat from tyres, it has currently Schwalbe 40mm (I can’t remember the actual tyre) but does run 23mm Michelin Speediums on Alex Rims laced to a deore hub with unknown spokes.

They are heavy, but are also the most reliable set of wheels that I own (others being DT 5.1 rims laced to XT hub and Unknown rims laced to deore hubs).

I am looking to change them at some point, but will probably do the hubs first as I have had enough of the cup and cone system. No complaints with the rims (Except for weight) but then I probably don’t ride them that hard!

Blue Aerotracks here:

Front is on a Planet-X Dog, rear is on On-one’s 120mm double-fixed. Sapim Lasers in both. Small Block 8’s FTW 🙂

I built up my Cotic X from bits. Deore hubs as they were cheap and the few grams penalty wasn’t worth the bother. Mavic CXP 33 rims. I like slight aero rims as crap slides off a touch better. Theoretically more expensive than open pro’s but in this case cheaper. Have run up to 38mm tyres with no issues. When you look at a moutain bike rim and see how much bigger the tyres are you realise that the small differences advocated for road tyres isnn’t an issue.
Tektro Lyra brakes as they are part of a full build Cotic and also my Cotic dealer used them and reconded they were fine. I am a touch disapointed with the power.Way better than V’s but not as solid as a good road dual pivot. At least thats the preception. Maybe the Campag Ergos I use are less efficient than Shimanos in this respect. Having said that amybe decent linear outer would help. Yet to try that.
The Lyra’s can be set from both sides easily but only one side moves.
Am I to think that by reading the above that both pistons move on BB7’s
I reckon Lyras can be set up well with a touch of effort

Am I to think that by reading the above that both pistons move on BB7’s

No – on BB5s you can only adjust the inner piston.

100% decided on the frame as yet (though I have a shortlist)

Go on. Share.

I’m trying to plan a cross bike to race (race only – have other bikes for arsing about), and something tells me to future proof it.

But, before I succumb to a Boardman, what other suggestions for a frame that will build into a decent weight race bike?

Go on. Share.

Well… I’ve got the Croix de Fer and the Cotic X on the list, along with the Pompetamine, though that would need me to run an Alfine setup. The Tripster is there of course, there’s a new Pinnacle and the Boardman looks very good VFM. I’d prefer to go for a steel frame and carbon fork combo – the DC19 fork looks a winner at the moment.

My project is very much geared to a ‘super commuter’ for next autumn as opposed to an out-and-out CX race bike though. What’s your plan…? 🙂

Simon1975 – bling, bling Pomp! Love it.

My project is very much geared to a ‘super commuter’ for next autumn as opposed to an out-and-out CX race bike though. What’s your plan…?

Race bike. I’ve already got plenty of other bikes (road, MTB, track). I never trouble many in the top half of the field, so it need not be flash. I could, I’m sure, race happily on a canti-only bike, but I can see it now – I buy canti-only frame this summer…by autumn there’s a vast choice of disc ready frames at all the right prices/weights. 🙄

I’m frame material agnostic, but certainly won’t be able to afford carbon, so ally it probably is (if only because the steel frames tend to be heavier – generalisation I know)).

Sorry, bit of a hijack for the crosser types. I’ve got an old Langster i used to use for single speed commuting in the shed. At a loose end last night so i took it up the hill and down barry knows best which was kinda fun. Tempted to set it up as a cross bike for something different. Will the frame be ok to start out on? Secondly can i get a cross tyre in a normal road caliper brake or will it rub? Got some normal road tyres on there at the moment which aren’t ideal. Cheers

And Simon1975 are you running that Pompino fixed?

Gotama – you’ve identified the common issue: cross tyres are (usually) too big for road brakes and frame clearances.

that isn’t to say you couldn’t do something in between, but it would take some experimenting with what size tyres you can fit through the brakes.

You could, of course, ditch the brakes and ride it brakeless fixed – you’d have a bit more clearance then. Or, perhaps, get a disc specific cross fork, and run it fixed with a front disc brake.

Samuri’s your man for fixed cross madness.

Gotama – road bikes with CX tyres tend to be severely compromised on clearances – it’s usually just not worth the hassle.

And Simon1975 are you running that Pompino fixed?

Yes it’s never seen a freewheel but it did used to run a back brake before I went disco on the front. Usually seen around Notts bridleways and woods, but that photo was up in the Goyt Valley near Buxton before I hammered it down Cumberland Brook – all good fun!

frames usually dictate clearance rather than brake calipers Shirley?

Fixed with just a front was the option i was thinking of but i take your point clubber, that was my concern.

This is my (current) SS “cross” bike – actually and old 70s road frame with big clearances. It’s run with a freewheel, but could be riden fixed (which is what it did on the roads first). Scuse poor photo quality.

Whilst fun, there’s only room for one cross bike in my life and, as I want to race, it’s going to have to go.

Do it Gotama!