I created a sscx from the broken remains of a geared CX bike after 3 mechs went in the first half of a season.
Now use it regularly both regionally and nationally. It’s got limus mud tyres on it so if that’s the tyre I want to use then that’s the bike I use. Love it. 36/16 BTW

It’s refreshing racing something different. I love racing single speed, I find it very pure and efficient. It’s great not to have to think about gear selection and just concentrate on riding well and smoothly.
Disagree about not being able to podium on a ss. I tend to do a touch better on the ss than the geared bikes whether MTB or CX. Have podiumed on both.

I think you need a target race in the not too distant future to justify intervals. Otherwise just riding is fine.
And yes you need to be fresh. If you want to get fast you have to sacrifice the steady rides. You can either train to race or you can just ride. If you’re training to race then you have to go really hard between 3-6days a week depending on your experience. There is a place for longer rides but even these should contain specific blocks of effort if you’re really serious.

I tend to do my training in 3 day blocks if possible but the reality is you fit them in when you can, even if that means you’re doing max efforts in bursts, round and round a football pitch, in the dark and rain on a Monday night (as I was last week)

Ha ha! Me too.

Trek fuel would be worth looking at Kryton if you want a more trail based bike.

Ferrals. I practice starts a lot. I find a bigger gear gives you time to clip in nicely then stomp on the power. Personally I think it’s the second phase of the start that matters. Everyone has got a 10 second effort in them however unfit they are, but then you need superb fitness for the next 30 seconds or so and this is where if you’ve got it you can easily come to the front as riders fade around you.

Trouble is at a Trophy, every bugger is fit as a butcher’s dog.

Ferrals. There was a wicked little mini rut to turn on at the bottom of that corner wasnt there? Pretty small target to hit in the mêlée though, especially when your vision is a bit blurry.

I give the rim a coat and leave it a day then do the tyre and another thick coat on the rim and mount the tyre there and then. I read somewhere that this lets the glue really soak into the base tape.
Key thing is I then leave it for a week or more somewhere warm to cure properly before using it.

Because the grip on the corners is measurably better and the ride is smoother thus conserving energy, plus you can bang them over roots, hitting the rim and usually get away with it.
You do have to glue them up properly, set the pressure correctly for the cornering forces expected and nurse them through certain sections.
Couple of races ago I was losing 2 seconds per lap to the leader. Think about how everything has to be optimum when you’re working to margins of 0.3 sec per minute on a course with 10 corners per minute.
That’s why we run them.

I do run tubeless on my training bike, but on race day I use Challenge tubulars.

Just home from the Nat Trophy V40 race at Abergavenny. Superb course, which was nice and slippery after some overnight rain but it dried rapidly to super tacky by the end.
Reckon I got about 25th place after a cracking battle with three others forming a small group. I decided to take a few chances on the corners/cambers on the last lap and it paid off as I picked them off one by one from the back then held on till the end. It was quite exciting!

The hood shape on the trp’s is lovely. It’s a little longer and slimmer than sti’s.
Very good braking too. I use them on my ss cx race bike and they have been very reliable.

Where was that Bikebouy? I used to be a windsurf addict but have been dry for about 6 years now ;)
Camber was my local beach. Days like that used to scare me silly but were so epic!

We rode on the bit of it from the gap to Pen y Fan. We also carried our bikes up Fan y Big and rode down the ridge line.
Despite it being summer hols and loads of serious ramblers around, everyone was lovely with words of encouragement, and bottles of water when we ran low.
How different from the miserable dog walkers down here in the South East.

I bought a Topfuel purely for race use, however it’s such a great bike it’s become my all-rounder. Took it out for nine hours in the Brecon Beacons end of summer, riding trails that were so rough even the hikers were struggling.
Love this bike.

First round of the National Trophy at Derby for me yesterday in the Vet40 class.
Exciting racing and managed 21st which I was well chuffed with.
Bit sad that there’s absolutely no mention of us oldies on the BC website. All the other cats got a write up or at least a mention, but nothing about the v40 and v50 which happened on the Saturday. :(

There’s time for 2 or 3 recce laps before each race. Don’t be put off by talk of scary features, everything can be done at your own comfort level.
Turn up a couple of hours before your race and ask lots of questions. It’s a very friendly sport.

I bought a couple of pairs of cheap ski gloves from Millets last year. Total revelation! No more cold hands even when I did 6 hours at minus 6 degrees. Water bottles froze solid though, and my mates headset, gear cables, brakes….

I repaired a carbon wheel with glass cloth and West epoxy. Still use it regularly.
Also have repaired around the bb area on another bike and numerous windsurf boards too.

Get nice fine cloth from a model shop carbon or glass. Lay it up using a paint brush to squidge the epoxy into the cloth then wrap it in a bit of carrier bag (epoxy doesn’t stick to PVC) and finally apply pressure by wrapping tape around it all.
Leave it for a day in a warm place, then sand it all down for neatness.

London X league at Herne Hill today was super fun. Brief rain shower just before the off made everything slippery and the Vets field was packed full of fast guys. 90 starters in the V40 I heard!
Crashed 3 times in one lap. Toned it down a bit after that.

Sadly his domination has killed mens xco for me now. Don’t bother watch anymore.
The women’s however was excellent this year with different riders coming into condition at different parts of the season.

I came to the same conclusion earlier this year. Transferred my power meter to my CX bike and don’t ride on the road anymore.
I’m so much happier now not having to share my life with these angry idiors. It’s a calmer, more pleasant way of living.

I’ve still got my blue pig x. Use it each winter for mucking about on jumps, through to all day epics.
Currently got 150mm Secktors, 1 x 11, and a dropper. Don’t feel any urge to replace it as it just works really well and we’ve been through so much together. I use 2.4″ tyres on it which make the wheels pretty big.

Can I suggest going to a trek dealer, chatting to them and throwing a leg over a normal fuel, procaliber etc. The geo will be similar and it’ll give you an idea.
One note of warning if you have plans; I ordered mine last August and didn’t receive it until December!

Congratulations Iain. Having dipped my toe into marathon racing this year I know how hard it is.
Enjoyed reading about your strategy. As a repeat offender of the trying to keep up with the front guys even when my hr is through the roof, I need to hear stories like this. (Although it did pay off at a Scott marathon in Wantage where the course was flat enough to draft a bit)

I’m targeting ‘cross so just did a mtb marathon every six weeks or so to keep motivation up over the summer. Worked really well and haven’t suffered from that ground down feeling you get at the end of an xc campaign.

I use butyl tubes on clinchers (cheaper and maybe tougher?). I’ve not found tread patterns I like as much as the Challenge open tubular range in other manufacturers tubeless designs plus the tubeless I did try either suffered from unsealable sidewall nicks or burped air. The only ones that worked were the Bontrager range but these tread patterns are far behind Challenge tyres.

So to surmise, If you are buying two tread patterns then make one a limus and the other a griffo, if just one (which I recommend; less to worry about) then I think the baby limus is the best all rounder. I use this tyre from road/dust/gravel trough to thick mud as it stays on my training bike all year. Current set, rubber lasted 9 months although it’s very worn now and I got 3 punctures in total (2 pinch flats and a thorn).
I vary the pressures between 20-35psi depending on what I expect to come across on my ride.

On a ‘cross race course, you can identify any feature that can cause a pinch flat during your pre-ride laps. There will often only be one or two hazards a lap and you can choose whether to hop, ride around, slow down or dismount for them. Therefore on race day you can drop to silly low pressures and really enjoy the feeling of floating around on a set of cushions. Beware though, when you stand up and sprint or corner hard you may cause the tyres to fold over which is a whole new thing to learn to deal with. It’s such a cool game!

Baby limus is a great all rounder and really works well in all conditions.

As to the tub argument I have to agree that they are significantly better, however I wouldn’t recommend anyone in their first season using them.

Thing is, you’ll be racing most weekends, and in between you’ll be training. cleaning kit and mending stuff. There simply isn’t enough time to be stripping off a punctured tub and gluing up another. It adds another layer of stress on to an already exhausting schedule.

I’d recommend buying a set of Baby Limus open tubulars, use inner tubes and lean not to pinch flat them (ride light) so you can run 20psi both ends.

Tubs will make a difference of a place or two in some races. Fine if you want to get from second to first place but not worth the hassle whilst you learn the craft of getting bike and body to the finish line in one piece a little further down the field.

You’re annoyed that your viewing pleasure was ruined then you do the same to mine by posting that thread title up on here.
Why?

Opposite for me Ferrals. I love long, muddy mtb rides with mates over the winter, always becomes an epic. Setting off on a four hour road ride in the cold and wet can be a bit depressing.
Tend to mix it up though. Any hours spent in the saddle tend to make you faster in the long run.

Go out for an hour and try to achieve 200w av by alternating 20second max efforts with (lets say) 40second recoveries. Another day ride at a steady 200w on the road bike.
You won’t manage the first and the second will be easy.

Personally I train both regularly. Can’t hurt, and the road stuff feels like a rest day compared to the more specific off road training. Well for the first couple of hours anyway.

There must be different dimensions of anchovies in the weldtite kits because even with squashing, slicing and cursing, my ones did not want to fit between the prongs. When I did manage to do it by slicing bits off the middle, the whole thing was so chunky still that the hole needed enlarging to get it in!

Chucked it in the bin and went back to the much more refined Genuine Inovations kit.

I much prefer the Genuine Innovations ones. The Weldtite ones are much too chunky in my opinion.

We did an average of 17.5mph on the Ridgeway for 80km last Sunday at the Scott Marathon.
29ers all round.

Kinesis bikes are really sorted. I wouldn’t go front derailleur though. 1x is much cleaner and doesn’t trap grass/mud.

Go tubs for the ultimate performance upgrade but a pita.

Kinesis CX race frameset with planet x carbon tubs good enough for the podium. Challenge tyres on normal wheels with tubes were good enough as well.

Main thing is the rider but you need a machine that’ll get you to the finish line.

One thing worth doing are the xc races there. The Boars use a completely different track that is twisty and loamy. One of my favourite xc circuits ever!

They had to do something, the trails used to get trashed and boggy over the winter.
It’s not a bad place but not worth travelling for. £12 to park takes the biscuit though. Too greedy for me.

Yes

Can’t resist commenting on this thread.
It’s my belief, and I have found some internet opinions that agree with me, that by eating well and normally, there is always plenty of protein in your gut in various stages of digestion.

After a ride I scoff something sweet as that is what I’m usually craving so I listen to my body. Other than that, lots of water and a lie down for 30 mins is the best recovery I know.

I rode most of it with a guy called Lewellyn, who was wearing Poc shorts.
Funnily enough came across Nick Craig just before the finish line as 3 of us were sprinting for the finish. Not that it’s a race;)

Builth Wells for me too. 62km in 3hrs10min :D