Current Projects chat and miscellany

do it the way your top picture showed - levers further outside from the stem

to my understanding, putting them closer in you want to mimic MTB riser bat position while on the hoods. depending on the length of your stem you already have that position - on the outside of the bends

They look really awkward to brake with to me?

Damnit - Whats the OLD on CX bikes, 130mm or 135mm?

Mine is 135mm, but other brands (Van Dessel for example) use 130mm.

I think 135 makes a lot more sense as you can use any 29er wheel- my wheelset is a 29er wheelset, for example.

Also having a cassette on one side and a disc on the other I think a bit more width is useful- I reckon Dura Ace 9000 might well be 135mm in the disc version.

nope, infinitely less awkward than the traditional drop bar, on a traditional dropbar you can't actually brake from the hoods easily or from the drops with comfort!

i'm only talking about vintage style with skinny gummy hoods

I'd put more miles on before you cut and fit tape.

Try each extreme and everything Inbetween.

too late...

wrapped and ready to ride by monomaniac(tom), on Flickr

(best thing about brooks - easily rewrapped)

Mine is 135mm, but other brands (Van Dessel for example) use 130mm.

I think 135 makes a lot more sense as you can use any 29er wheel- my wheelset is a 29er wheelset, for example.

Also having a cassette on one side and a disc on the other I think a bit more width is useful- I reckon Dura Ace 9000 might well be 135mm in the disc version.

Yes, it does indeed make more sense, a hell of a lot more sense.

135mm with space off for the cassette and disc mount would allow you to make a stronger wheel than 130mm.

Just finding out to see what braking system to pick, which would seem be pretty fundamental, especially as the only 130mm CX disc hubs I could find were bloody expensive, whereas good MTB hubs are not hard to find and relatively cheap!

My disc cross frame is spaced at 132.5mm at the rear, to allow for both disc and normal road hubs.

Did you import that straight from Canada Andy?

Its the fact that with either of the two bikes I was looking at, I'd at some point have to build some new wheels and I wanted to check it wasn't gonna cost £200 for a new rear CX specific 130mm disc hub!

But, as there seems to be plenty of options, I can build the wheels exactly as I want em.

Which bikes are you looking at?

More Q's does expensive gear or brake cable make a diff? been reading up on stuff and some blogs seem to suggest it does but i don't know if its another 'expensive hdmi cable' theory.

I.e it it better to get £10 worth from wiggle or £25 for shimano sets

The Boardman, as it seems to have been universally approved and has discs, or the Specialized CruX, which would seem to have a monster of a frame that might just cope with my 19st weight and clumsy(at best!) riding skills.

Both of them I've seen on ebay for £400-500 mark in pretty good nick, both have superb frames by all accounts, although the CruX is the racier of the two, and the Boardman the more adaptable, both are worth component upgrades, and I like both of them!

I cannot envision me needing to do any touring, as health is not likely to allow, the same reason is probably gonna cramp my style racing, so thats out too, and commuting with loads is not really an issue, as I work from home, and I can use mudguards without braze ons if needed.

Is this the Boardman CX Team you're looking at? Does it have mudguard eyes?

Yeah, the Boardman CX Team seems to have everything as far as I can see, it also seems to be the only one of the CX range actually available for the UK, even though Wiggle are selling it, but not here!

Think its just gonna come down to which comes up first thats in reasonable nick and fits my rather meager wallet!

Did you import that straight from Canada Andy?

Yes.

There was a UK importer, based in Honor Oak I think, but he quit importing a few years back.

More Q's does expensive gear or brake cable make a diff?

Personally I believe in using the best gear cables I can to reduce friction and ensure a nice crisp shift. And certainly, if you're using an under bar tape Shimano STI system you need to do everything possible to reduce friction to make it play nice. That means expensive cables .. Go Dura Ace if Shimano is your thing and you want to keep it in the same groupset family.

Yes.

There was a UK importer, based in Honor Oak I think, but he quit importing a few years back.

I was looking at their site the other day.

I wonder if they'd mark the parcel "$10, gift"....

I asked, he didn't.

To clarify, I asked him to mark the value down, not to put $10 gift on it.

"Contents, 150 snowglobes"

Are you aware of anyone building similar frames within the EU?

You mean a Ti disc brake cross frame? There'll be plenty come the autumn. Charge definitely have one planned.

Personally I believe in using the best gear cables I can to reduce friction and ensure a nice crisp shift. And certainly, if you're using an under bar tape Shimano STI system you need to do everything possible to reduce friction to make it play nice. That means expensive cables .. Go Dura Ace if Shimano is your thing and you want to keep it in the same groupset family.

theyre ones with the shifter cable coming out the side but ill get some decent shimano ones either way!

this.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Salsa-Vaya-Ti-eastonEX90XC-FSA-Adventure-Bike-/110925470817?pt=Road_Bikes&hash=item19d3ac5c61