i’ll always try my best to get up any hill on a SS, but there’s usually a pretty sudden stop point, couldn’t tell at what degree this happens, it’s quite hill length and traction variant

i’m not a doctor so your bad back may be a deeper underlying problem but SSing can make your back hurt, you’re putting a lot of strain through it standing up and hauling on the bars compared to a geared bike, so if it’s your first time out then i wouldn’t be surprised for this to happen

changing your hill-climbing technique can help with back strain, focusing on using your legs and arms more, although SSing is very good at building up core strength (a sign of poor core strength can be getting a bad back after cycling) so the more you do it the less it should happen

but like i said, not a doctor, or a physio, just a singlespeeder at times

i found they made the braking worse overall and because my hands were so close to the stem gave even less control, handy for riding along the seafront one-handed eating an ice-cream though

in the drops for better braking and firmer control

a cheap pair of MTB shoes with toe-studs in the sole that you like the look of and also fit you will be fine

there are a few CX specific shoes about but they tend to be quite spendy, and a lot like MTB race shoes with marketing added

FYI – 32 miles isn’t EPIC

you’ll be fine

bigmandh – Member From what I can see not any overwhelming benefits of them over flat bars.

maybe the next race you do you can borrow some drop bars to go with the ‘cross wheels you borrowed to make your MTB more suitable to CX racing :-)

if it’s still making a noise after that check the pads to see there isn’t a bit of grit in there making a nice gouge in the rim

are you sure you need a Koala for just a couple of extra layers?

a Kowari should do fine if you’re stuck on getting an Alpkit bag

just did some googling and the 10th Anniversary of D2D was in 2010, so does 2001 make sense?

although i feel it should be later, i probably have photos in a shoe-box in the loft

don’t use a hosepipe, use a bucket and a sponge, thirded

also handily mentioned on the TRP HyRd webpage :-)

“TRP’s own semi-metallic pad that is Shimano M525/M515 compatible allowing for further customization”

i usually ride 56 in a Spec road/cross bike and i borrowed a 56 Diverge, it was spot on

surely a look at the geometry compared to other Spec bikes and any other bikes you’re used to would allay your fears?

i hate to be that person, but for an 18 mile round trip commute, neither, you don’t need a rugged adventure bike for that

if it has to be a Specialized then a Sirrus, get one of the blingy carbon framed ones if you must

but don’t let me stop you, the Diverge is a real fun bike that might just nudge you to further adventures away from just the way to work

i use 38/18 on my drop-barred SSCX that’s ridden on all sorts of everything from tarmac to hills to CX races, so work from there really

there’s no real definitive answer, you have to suck a gear and see, it depends on how hilly it is where you live, how fit you are and what you define as ‘spinning out’

you can buy them on the day at the gate

don’t forget that beer and frites are also on a ticket system that you buy from a booth

lots of events to choose from, mountainbikers in general have more demands on their time (family etc) than they did in the glory years so have to pick and choose, thanks to online pre-entry people can look at the weather forecast the week before and decide to enter then if it looks nice rather than send a cheque months before and just man up to whatever the Gods decide, organising an event is difficult, expensive and sucks the organisers life away and at some point they have to draw a line…

look at the depth of your ahead cap, that could be bottoming out on the steerer bung so the headset is never really tight, although a bit of spacer above the stem is a good idea on a carbon steerer and should stop this

the steerer bung just being for preloading the headset and it’s the stem tightness that keeps everything in place is an idea that only works on the internet, i’ve had plenty of instances where the headset’s become loose over time as the stem has crept up because the steerer bung has vibrated up, so check that

i tried to lift up a Trek Sawyer once

one of the best fun bikes i’ve ever had, raced on it for a bit then it was pressed into town-and-back duties, frame + fork and box of bits still in the loft awaiting a respray and rebuild at some point

that’s not helping is it?

really very hard to say with you stood astride a bike frame :-)

but i’d say you could happily go up a size, the top picture does make you look quite cramped for being in the drops

edit – i’m about the same size as you and happily ride 560mm top-tubed CX/gravel/casual road bikes, not that this means much

here’s[/url] a 1″ quill to a 1 1/8″ ahead stem one

you’re mixing up your steerer and bar clamp diameters here, can you get some wider bars to fit the clamp in the existing stem?

or get a quill-ahead adapter, clamp a ahead stem with a 31.8 bar diameter in there

to echo some of the above, fit the biggest tyres you can in the frame, the comfort benefits going up from a standard 33mm CX tyre to a 40mm if it will fit are immense and worthwhile
even so it’s worthwhile mincing a bit on the descents, the time wasted in being a bit slower are more than made up for by not spending time mending punctures

you can do it on standard CX gearing but it will hurt, the climbs are heavily weighted towards the back half

i’ve tried tubeless many times on the CX on the South Downs and really suffered with sidewall flint gashes so run tubes now, others have better tales

my top tip is just to keep moving, it doesn’t have to be fast, just keep moving, stopping at gates (there are 100 or so) to look at the view, stopping for food and a pub lunch really chews your time

here’s a thing i wrote for road.cc on doing the Wiggle SDW in a day on the CX last year – The Way Of The Cross

Cycling – i thought riding a bicycle around a bit was just something ten year olds did on a Saturday morning

all the real talent is stuck behind their keyboards whining about how easy the course is

i’d say suck it up princess, the welfare of someone with a broken wrist is more important than you riding your bicycle, and the guide made the right call in making the whole group wait for the ambulance rather than leave him there, even with someone else/one of his friends in attendance
also something about empathy maybe

the eateries on Brighton seafront tend to be noisy and expensive so head sideways a bit into Hove if you can, Marrocos[/url] on Hove seafront for pizza/ice cream/lying down for a bit

(the Meeting Place as mentioned up there is quite expensive also for what it is, and the coffee is truly dire :-0)

Carats Cafe is a good call, and it also means you can return via the Adur Valley through the Downs for a change of scene, and less hill

no wasps noticed on several rides of that section over the last few days, and the dog-shit’s mainly in handy little bags hanging away from the trail now

you won’t find conditions more perfect than they are currently for climbing that, getting the line right at the bottom and saving a bit for the final grunt are crucial though

and it’s singlespeedable :-)

as above double-wrapped tape is too fat for my hands, couple of strips of old bar-tape underneath the wrap on the tops and in the drops for me

if it was that much of a bother i’ve have made a fuss about it before i’d set the brake levers and wrapped the tape

if this is one of the Zipp bars that everyone was knocking out at half price i’d suck it up

never had an Arione creak, plenty of seatpost clamps though

but if you need this as an excuse to justify a carbon railed saddle for your commute bike then carry on

Bridesmaids seconded

i wasn’t even made to watch it by a girl

faff

smokey_jo – Member
So given that it’s easy to build a bike below the UCI weight limit and all the riders descend on the top tube now – why not use a dropper post?

Nibali sometimes has a height adjustable post on is bike with 20mm of up and down, there more to deal with comfort over the day and easing muscles than descending prowess

because you don’t really need to get over the back wheel when descending on a road bike you don’t need a dropper post in the mountainbike way of things

it’s about a mile and half downhill to suburbia ;-)

Anyone know if you can leave a car in the beachy head car park over night?

you can, there’s plenty of car-parking spots in the area, whether that is wise (for a variety of reasons) is another matter
leaving the car in a quiet suburban street in Eastbourne would be a better bet

Also, is there a water tap at the QECP?

yes
there’s quite a few taps along the SDW and the Wiggle CX team will also be supplying water and snacks

as above, learn to descend in the drops, more control over both the bike and the brakes

if that’s how your bike’s still set up then braking in the drops is going to be hard as you’re reaching down into the drop and then having to awkwardly rotate your hands back up again to reach the levers

try rotating the bars so that the flat bit at the ends bit is about the same angle as the top-tube, that might drop the levers and bring everything into a little more of a comfortable position

as above, after each TdF stage the overall leader, the stage winner, and two riders at random are tested

a quick browse through various jersey-winning rider’s histories would suggest this does nothing to stop doping in its tracks

Haribo

it’s just a bag of sweets and you’re not 9 any more