Pog being a former national cx champion seems quite close.

Of Slovenia? Haven’t even double check that but LOL at that comparison

I think Ineos problem is simply that they don’t have pog or vingd on their team? Same as any other gc team really.

TP has real technical bike handling talent especially off road that those 2 will never ever be able to come even close to. They win instead on the gc climbing fitness pissing contest which frankly has been boring for years. I doubt he’ll ever be able to do the same as them so why should he leave all his talents behind the sofa for years with the outcome that he still unlikely to beat POG in gc?

Unfortunately real bike handling skill doesn’t necessarily pull in the bucks even if the racing it creates is IMO often way more exciting. I reckon he should sharpen up his sprinting again as hes got the agression / elbows for that aplenty!

https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/events/details/301900/The-Mid-Lands-Off-Road-Collective-R1

I did notice this series which I believe is intended for adults as well as youths in the oldest category. But its quite a long way to go from Leeds for what looks like quite a low key thing. Certainly i won’t be going!

Shimano hydro brakes and larger volume but semi-slick gravel tyres are the two things for me that made a huge difference to capability off-road without actually slowing down that much on road.

Yep midweek madness ran this year its now done. Nearest one they do to Leeds is probably Lee quarry. Mainly in parks around Manchester. Really enjoyed Bolton midweek race this year. Awesome course with natural dh’s

There is also a welsh xc series  which has some northern rounds so not that far from Leeds but think they struggled for numbers this year which is a shame. Thats also finished now.

Midlands and Nutcracker (northern xc) series both seem to have been wound down sadly so options for xc racing really dwindling. I think its just going to keep reducing until very niche.

Crankit one mentioned above had a Leeds round that was cancelled this year. Plus one in rother valley also cancelled:(

I blame gravel bikes!!! Maybe get one of those and get ready for cx season starting in September? Its a shame almost all the gravel events are not really races in the sense of mass start, elbows out etc

Yeah Dalby may be the last opp for this year to race in north of england. The other series have all run in May/ June / July multiple cancellations sadly.

Just don’t enter the actual champs if its your first race! Or i wouldn’t anyway…did try once….ha did not get many laps before i was lapped out by the pros!

The Saturday Open race is probably a good one to do though. Same deadline i think as the champs

After a proper wet gritty ride i brush out the pivots with a dry soft bristle toothbrush then brush some grease in onto any exposed bolts / bearing exterior with little paint brush. Then wipe any excess off with a tissue to stop it attracting too much dirt next time out.

Been doing this a couple of years a coincidentally when it comes to bearing change time nothing has been seized in place. :)

I would go for Shimano over hope. Not sure what if any advantages you get for your extra money other than picking colour and they say hope on? Hope aren’t hollow either are they? So arguably worse as they won’t have the same stiffness to weight.

165 is great unless you want to ride lots of flat terrain I reckon. Shorter cranks = higher saddle at full extension relative to BB so they’re not quite so great for saddle up riding on technical trails I find (e.g gravel bike or fast hardtail on singlrtrack).

For a Mega they defo make sense!

Did quite a bit of road riding on a hired fast road bike in the summer on family hol staying in port de sant miquel. It was excellent but had to go out very early due to heat. I guess October should be much cooler.

From south to north is not really that long of a ride. North and east towards coast were the best for scenary IMO

I like them but do find a bit of sweaty plastic bag feel on lower legs on climbs, especially if not wearing longer socks so its just bareskin in contact with trousers.

I just wash mine with soapflakes and put in tumble dryer for 10 mins post wash (with some dry towels in TD as well). So far has brought back repelency effectively. had them for 1 year.

Waist closure i really like. They don’t really slip down and don’t dig into hips. 1st set i bought was too big / flappy though. Had to go down a size

I’ve just bought one of those exact same bike and its an ace one to ride! Do have a different set of wheels for racing thankfully, those ones on there aren’t great

Sadly mine has a weird, loud click on each seated climbing pedal rotation so its going back. :(   (Tried all the usual guff, different pedals, grease seat clamp, saddle, bolt checks etc)

Gutted to be missing that Barnoldswick race. Hope you have a good one and no similar issues

Hopefully get it back soon.

Unless I’ve missed it posted alreaady. Going to throw integrated seatpost wedge clamps into this but to say they should be standardized! (Or binned as an idea for non aero bikes)

Just overlooked this on my new CX bike purchase and realizing i’ve got this delicate looking part that is critical, proprietary, gets hammered in a CX race and if it breaks its down to whether the company still has the part. They currently have none in stock. The seatpost is creaking in frame from new. Doh

Hmmm 50/50 on a pretty small sample then!

Matt, the hubs supplied are Shimano then. Cup and cone?

Thanks for the tip on Primes I’ll take a look

How so? I have two sets of wheels and I don’t need to adjust between sets. On my MTB I did need to add a shim (from Cyclocross Racer ) behind the rotors on one set so they lined up the same on both sets of wheels but on the road bike both wheels align the same

This didn’t seem to work well enough for me sadly. I have tried to use some shims off Etsy

Rounded off bolts on two occasions trying to fine tune with a packable tool when doing this away from home. Only thing I’ve found that seems to get adequate tension / undo without slipping on the shallow t25 slots (SRAM) is one of my sockets with an extension bar on t-handle holding decent torx bit. Do it up any looser and the calipers seem to migrate out of alignment after any intensive braking

Seconded on any prior mentions of:

– flat mount – pointless, too hard to align and bolts awkward to access /easily round so always nerve wracking swapping wheels

– press fit. Creaky, faff / risky to fit

– internal cable routing. Pointless, Rattle, faff

Any other stuff has been easy enough to work around. The three above steal my riding time regularly. Piss off unnovators pls!

Yeah plus one on the TNT version of the tyre you’ve got! Decathlon do them for £30 a tyre so cheaper than schwlabe but still a bit of a splash

There is also a TLR type tyre that Vittoria do which is more supple but like the challenge ones they’re easier to slash open

Although with autumn and winter coming you may want some more knobbly tread if you want to ride singletrack? For muddy months I’ve tried wtb cross boss (35c for mud clearance) for the last couple of years. They were relatively grippy, lasted two autumn / winter / early spring before wearing too much but they did puncture a few times. Putting schwalbes on this year for these months

If you want to run drops could head to geometry geeks and compare to some gravel bikes that would fit you and work out the differences?

Looks like your frame has 30mm more reach than a vitus substance of same size / recommended rider height. Only 0.2mm lower stack. So 70mm stem could be alright depending on what you’re running now

I reckon I’d buy the bike if it was really ‘the one’ and immediately sell brakes.

I’ve had no problems with SRAM drivetrain and have gx 11 speed on one bike that is approaching 8 years of peak District thrashing. Only occasionally changed chain and cables. Never cassette mech or shifter

On the other hand I’ve never had SRAM hydraulic components not leak / fail within 1st year of ownership. Forks or MTB brakes or road brakes. All piss out oil or get sticky pistons in my experience. Plus they’re a right faff to bleed compared to Shimano. Anecdotal of course but that’s been my ride with it. Obvs you can warranty or whatever but when your brakes can’t be trusted not to seize in middle of nowhere it’s not really acceptable.

Defo one of the big dog Christmas time Belgian or Dutch CX races (with the form to be competitive of course!) Ideally night time, flood lights, pissed up spectators, town centre sections and greasy conditions.

Watched the TT again and what also stands out is the quality of JVs ride. Technically it is superb, he is clearly maintaining huge speed and momentum in the corners at some risk.

+1

Healthy cynicism is always needed but that was cool to watch and clearly carrying a lot more speed everywhere through technique as well as power. In some places positioning himself in rather weird positions to keep the bike weighted right and also keep hard pedalling going simultaneously which was cool

possible to gain a second or more on some of those corners if you risk it? (Pog smooth but visibly conservative from what I could see). Lots of corners. Plus bike change. Still a huge power ride but not sure it’s as much of a fitness h2h as is being implied

Remco and Rog have put huge although admittedly lesser gaps into a strong field on time trials that suited them particularly well this year

If you’re riding sat in the saddle only then maybe. If you want to protect your arse when riding down steep stuff you need something extending back beyond where it will be.

So the steeper the trails the longer you need as you’ll be squatting further back

For me riding some steep local woods that means even mudrocker without extension piece results in some muck on me

Duct tape and a drybag would work for one event, or short’s pockets..

Yep planning on pre-trialing just dry bag strapped to seatpost / saddle for my Bivvy stuff as the harness contraptions all just look like additional weight and still sway from what I can see. Plus they all seem to hold stuff up really high so limit getting off back of saddle

Something swaying around my legs while pedalling 300k just seems intolerable though!
I think I’ll often re-use a good stable frame bag for my commute as well so happy to pay for something decent although I can see some are £100+ maybe a bit too spendy!!

Thanks for the replies! will probably go for restrap or revelate then

Nope haven’t ridden as want to return having seen them on bike.

Bag is shorter than frame so not bulging. straps almost seem too short. They’re pretty simple velcro things and the velcro actually rubs on frame in places. None of the straps cinch up, just wrap around so no real way to get decent tension which may be part of the problem

I guess I could get some different straps but as its a 50 quid item not sure I want to be faffing around buying extra bits from it if I can return and get something better designed even if a bit more pricey

I have speedrockers. They are ok. The front one is so bad for toe-over lap on my bike that I don’t run the big bit of it very often. Just the small bit facing backwards and get over having wetter feet.

The front one also slips down if I use both bits together

The back one has a lump inside the shell where the longer stay arm attaches which causes clogging in deeper mud a bit sooner than you might really expect. Other than that rear one very good. Never had a wet or dirty back with it

Would be inclined to look at mudhugger gravel set if riding single-track or muddy trails

I have the mudrocker. It does audibly slap the rear tyre on big impacts / Hucks but not end of world. I imagine it will eventually break with a big Huck. Easy fit / remove though

I will be trying mudhugger once I break the mudrocker

Thanks, yes the xc3 does look like a different heel tread so unlikely to do same thing

I can only find one other reviewer with the same problem so hoping its just a rare defect

I guess I’ll try the xc7’s and hope for the best. Looking for something decent for racing with toe studs for CX so the 3’s won’t work for me.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/nwMFLuH5Yza8gvwv7

Image link here as don’t think it’s showing?

If you have time to drive to Stainburn I might be inclined to suggest drive 15 mins longer to Ilkley. IMO a lot better riding on Ilkley moor

Ebike might be best choice if short on time to get to top get bearings etc

I ride a cross bike as my ‘gravel’ and road bike.

Now it has tubeless and inserts I think it’s really good for a lot of local singletrack that my mtb is slow on. Tighter corners, closer trees, lots of accelerations required. Also great in mud, muddy fields etc (of course!) Plus if you come across a set of steps, unrideable climb, styles etc it’s so much easier to shoulder and carry

Wouldn’t agree drop bar bikes are poopy off road but there is a learning curve

Separate road wheelset that swaps over to cx race wheels for the winter. Found I am very comfortable doing towpaths etc on 30c slicks

Trying to smash out a ride with lots of rocky bridleways on any drop bar, rigid bike with skinny tyres does seem a bit niche though!

Ok Thanks both! Maybe I’ll stick with my scrubbed cross boss run over the summer for first few races and switch to a bite or terreno wet in October then

DT worth a look? Usually merlin have options around that price. Spline 1600 with alloy rims are nice wheels

Does seem to have made for some grumpy drivers in the area today! Looping it back to the south involved lots of beef. In hindsight an out and back would have been much nicer

Appreciate the pointers. Thanks! Wow looks like you can spend loads on aftermarket dampers! (RE Avalanche, Fast etc)

I contacted Slick and Slide and think the repair cost is quite reasonable as you get a full fork service on top of that so if one is due anyway its not that bad. Probably will go with that option

Agreed on RS / SRAM though. Not really very happy with much I’ve had of their kit in recent years. GX 11 speed mech has lasted forever but nothing else has been much good and they still use dot in their brakes :( . Whats the alternative though? – Fox forks a so much more expensive and are they any more reliable?

I would have been at Stoneyhurst where it not for covid +ve result. :( I wonder if quite a few in the same boat?

Pretty gutted! Isolating but feel absolutely fine and looking forwards to the 2 remaining races in Jan

Sounds like it was a good course then?

buxton brewery tap did good ones last time I was there but haven’t been since lockdown think there’s been some changes since then.

Great win for Yolanda, would’ve been a different race if PFP hadn’t slipped on the first lap I think. But that’s how it goes sometimes.

Possible but it was pretty clear she wasn’t going to touch Neff I think? PFP consistently making mistakes throughout.

That kind of course where being the cardio fitness top gun is way less of an advantage.

PFP is alright on jumps, corners, berms etc but has always been a bit rubbish on wet roots, techy rocks etc

OP my hydroshot stopped drawing water through in the winter for some reason. Possibly clogged a bit?

I attached to a tap with a normal garden hose / hose lock fittings. Turned on tap and it worked again when trigger pulled. Has been perfect since.

Maybe worth trying

Minion DHF out back actually works OK, probably better than a highroller and less drag. You can get a 2.5 WT DD Maxx Terra option. DHR would be better of course…..if anyone from MAxxis reads this sort it out!

I’m using car with roof rack at the moment but also have a biggish camper van

One thing to think about with racks is that you really risk the bikes getting nicked if you want to leave the car parked. Maybe that isn’t a biggy if you just want to go riding then home but
I would probably go for a small van lwb caddy, connect or simmilar if the mrs would drive one!