Lapierre XR here. 100mm front and rear and just under 23lb (on my scales anyway), climbs well, descends very well!

It is to allow forwards/backwards flex for ride comfort while maintaining sideways rigidity under pedalling. The flat edge on the rear will be much less resistant to flexing than the rounded edges and should therefore allow the post to bend backwards to some degree when you hit a bump.

I’ve got the Sportscrafters ones with resistance from Planet X. I was expecting them to be quite easy compared to the turbo workouts I’d done previously – turns out I was wrong! Not only does it offer similar resistance to a turbo on full, but it is much harder to get there and keep it there due to the technique required. I’ve done some very good interval sessions on the rollers that I didn’t think I’d be able to when I bought them.

You can swap the drum round to have static resistance but I’ve not tried that. In summary, they are sturdy, easy to use for a first timer, quieter than a turbo and a much better workout.

So that’s why I was finding my 120psi 23mm Gatorskins a bit slippery in the snow last year.

No amount of clearance is enough for that!

That’s not good, do cx bikes get that clogged up?

Ok thanks. It looks like the way to go is to order a KCNC unit and then get a set of MRA 2437 LLB from Enduro in the US when the original bearings give up.

This is the tyre clearance on the BMC GF02 with Continental Speed 35’s fitted. Is it enough?

Rear seatstay

Chainstay

Forks

Cheers all, as I say it rode well on a quick demo but knowing nothing about CX I thought I’d check in.

Small was the only one that hasn’t fallen back on ETA!

I noticed a few online shops are now saying Dec/Jan for that model. Think i’ll give it a miss!

Thanks!

Fraid so. You can tell on the full size images that it’s a QR.

Giant have confirmed to me that the TCX SLR 2 has rack and mudguard mounts front and rear (adaptor supplied for the seat stays to add a bridge/mount). It is standard QR on the fork though. The higher end models that are 15mm TA on the front (and more than twice the price) use the same frame so the rear mounts are the same, but the forks don’t seem to have mounts for mudguards (but to be honest I don’t think anyone buying one of that spec will be using it for commuting!).

Hope that helps.

That Giant TCX SLR 2 does look a cracking weekend CX/weekday commuter for the money – mudguards should fit (there are eyelets front and back) although no bridge on the seat stays so I’m not sure how it will mount up there, but Giant also claim ‘hidden’ rack mounts too so i guess there’s some sort of bolt on mount. Also, the cheaper model doesn’t look like it has a 15mm axle although the website mentions it does. I’ve sent Giant some questions, will update if I get a response.

I was getting pains in my left knee the day after long rides and sometimes waking up in the middle of the night and having to stretch my leg out.

I had a half fit done about 3 years ago and it was obvious to them that my left knee was bending inwards to the top tube under load. Tthey added some of the Specialized wedges in my shoes (3 in the left and 1 in the right) to get my knees tracking straight and hey presto no pain since.

I’d recommend that 1000000000000%

They also did a quick check of seat height and position measuring all my angles etc, which got me most of the way there but I have tweaked it around since based on feel. That part I’d say isn’t necessary really.

I’ve used Shimano center-lock and also some cheap randoms (Clarks?) with my Forumla RXs without any issues.

I used the 32t Goldtec chainring (now with an XT clutch mech) yesterday for the masters race at Eastridge Woods. No ‘Strava gloating’ this time I’m afraid (I did terrible), but I was mightily impressed with the setup. The long descent on the Eastridge course is seriously bumpy (to the point of arm pump and finger ache by the bottom) and full of well secured fist-to-head size rocks that bounce you around everywhere.

No chain issues and a silent drive train throughout, the standard setup would have been clattering around and almost certainly dropping the chain a few times. I’m totally sold on the idea (until I run out of legs on a massive climb anyway!)

On my 29er I found that I was struggling on longer climbs (e.g. around the Long Mynd) even with 26t front 36t rear. Although i’m only light so that probably doesn’t help the power!

Going to man up and use a 32t chainring for a bit and see how I go.

kimbers – Member
how do the ratios compare between xx1 and
(is xx1 32 teeth?)

11-36 + 30t

A friend has XX1 with 32 front (smaller is available) and the 42t on the rear.

It seemed to compare similarly with my XT double (26t front, 36t rear), so if you got for a 30t front and 36t rear you should be OK for almost anything except long fast road sections!

greeble – Member

yeaaaaaaahhh Bro! go you

I guess I was asking for that!

But I did think it might be useful to include, otherwise I could have gone for a pootle down the canal and tried to amaze you all at the chain not falling off.

SRAM service were also terrible when my Reba’s went belly-up after only about 2 months use from new.

My Felt. It has been around the block a few times now!

I saw the AWOL as a ‘commute to work (via the local singletrack if its nice and dusty)’ type of bike! They might look a bit funny but I guess there are specific requirements for that sort of bike…

Bregante – Member
Minging

Compare that to the other similar bikes like the Salsa Vaya then!

verses – Member
My road bike with Sora groupset came with a double chainset and triple shifter.

I rarely use the smaller ring, but have to shift down 2 clicks to get to it and then back up 2 to use the big ring.

That sounds more like the normal trim function – use it to prevent the chain rubbing the front mech when on either of of the cassette.

I think the course was about right for a long event with people of very mixed abilities. Too much singletrack and people just get annoyed with getting stuck behind, or being pushed past every few seconds. Also, remember, had it been dry there would have been more singletrack, because it turned to slop people were widening the trail massively to find some grip.

I’m doing the Hanchurch Hills 100 this weekend, that should be the polar opposite in terms of course design :D I’d recommend anyone who loves singletrack to enter!

I did assume people would want to just skip to the ‘famous’ bits so I added in titles assuming Youtube would let you skip to the Kenda Koffin etc, but it didn’t work.

To be fair, the video does make the climbs look a lot easier than they were. I wouldn’t say the descents were anything tricky, other than being a bit slippery when wet.

“…And then I said, Go-ride on this!”

I’ve not been overly impressed with my Rebas, very short service intervals!

42 mins was my fastest, and although I never did a flat out fastest lap attempt I tip my hat to those getting in the mid 30s! 2 or 3 mins I could make up for sure, but 7 or 8 would kill me!

I followed the signs for Mountain Mayhem, but it seems that I turned up at a long distance walkathon (possibly a race for life event, but there is usually more pink at those).

I did, however, see some very shiny and expensive looking walking sticks.

It took me until the last lap, but I finally cleaned the off camber rocky climb (the one with the 90 degree left that walkers were cutting out) – on Ralphs!

I expected beer/trophy at the top for my achievement, but sadly got nothing!

tang – Member
camping is hard ground

Mountain Mayhem camp site earlier today :D

My road bike with Ultegra has always suffered from poor shifting, so I recently fitted Gore Ride-On Professional Road cables and it made a huge difference. Shifting is massively improved and its all sealed under the bottom bracket which should keep them running nicely for a good while.

At the same time I fitted fully sealed Gore gear cables on the MTB and noticed last night the front cable has started to fray about an inch BEFORE the front mech clamp and the frayed cable has cut through the liner shielding cable. I’m not particularly impressed with that after only a couple of months (due to position I don’t think something could have cut it, but it’s always a possibility)

Update: Hotlines have told me the hub is made by Formula.

Gold star to orangeboy, as it seems the same one is used in Specialized hubs – e.g. the one dismantled here: http://forums.mtbr.com/specialized/specialized-142-rear-hub-679462-post7678056.html#post7678056

The CR1 Pro frames have always been listed there and are a heavier frameset than the CR1 SL (hence the lower RRP)

Hi Stimpy – If you could have a look and see if it matches my pics that would be great. Happy to buy it off you if it is new?

Thanks again for the replies. From the few listed above, the Pro-lite looks the most similar, but can’t see them for sale anywhere!

Rorschach – Did you get a chance to look?

Hi Brant, thanks for the link. It does look similar although slightly different in a few ways (3 lines across the body and unpainted spline bit). I also read in a few places the DMR Revolver uses a 12mm allen key for removal where this is a 14mm one (they don’t seem to make a 142×12 revolver hub)?