Best cyclocross bike under £1000 and other CX chat

It's a 1.5mm and the grub screws are made of jelly - I ended up replacing mine with swisstop brake shoes. Which helpfully have a nice simple way of removing brake shoes...

did you try the new shimano?

Got them under the coffee table, as soon as the Oak is finished I'll post my impressions.

It's a 1.5mm and the grub screws are made of jelly - I ended up replacing mine with swisstop brake shoes. Which helpfully have a nice simple way of removing brake shoes...

that'd make sense, the one size I'm missing from my set.

I think this is the same size that RockShox (un)wisely use to retain the blowout adjust dial on their forks. Even if you have the right size key, it will almost immediately round off. Solutions that have worked - bash in a similar sized torx or the tip of a precision screwdriver.

Does seem as though Avid were trying to encourage the use of every Allen (and some Torx) keys available with the Ultimates.

bargain!

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/fuji/sportif-13-compact-2014-road-bike-ec053264
http://www.evanscycles.com/product_image/image/ea4/4e3/486/118609/product_page/fuji-sportif-13-compact-2014-road-bike.jpg

Anyone have any experience with bar end shifters, kelly take offs or those retroshift things in race situations?

Running a typical 10 speed drive train this year has proved costly and unreliable without a pit bike. I run 8 speed on my road bike (down-tube shifters) and my cross check (bar-end shifters) and can deal with gaps in the cassette okay, it's just the shifting which concerns me.

I think Dammit's raced with the retroshift on his Boardman?

^^^ not a CX bike but a surprisingly good value given the spec.

Anyone have any experience with bar end shifters, kelly take offs or those retroshift things in race situations?

Running a typical 10 speed drive train this year has proved costly and unreliable without a pit bike. I run 8 speed on my road bike (down-tube shifters) and my cross check (bar-end shifters) and can deal with gaps in the cassette okay, it's just the shifting which concerns me.

No race experiance. But I used to hammer it around trials on the mongrel. Which had 9 speed with bar end shifters on drops. So long as you use the flats of the drops a lot its great. You get a feel for what gear you're in by feeling where the lever is with your palm.

The downside is that you cant cover the brake and gear lever at the same time. Plus of course if you're on the hoods more you need to reach down.

Most reliable set-up out there though.

Have a 10 speed Sram 0X mech, and a TT shifter mounted on a thumbie on the fat bike. Just works all the time.

yup, I reckon the plan will be to go for bar end shifters then switch to retroshift if I don't get along with them. I tend to ride in the drops a fair amount off-road anyway, and flipping the stem will lift my bars aiding matters. Not going to be pretty, but hopefully a bit more reliable.

If you ride in the drop a fair amount, the bar-end probably more intuitive as you can just shift with the palm of your hand.

I think Dammit's raced with the retroshift on his Boardman?

Yep, only positive things to say about them.

I run a 44T single chainring with an 11-32 cassette, using an Ultegra rear mech.

Works perfectly.

Change of heart, I'm going to go for retroshift. Will be ordering in the next few days if anyone want to go in on postage ($15), though ordering in bulk will increase our chances of getting stung for import duty...

gear-calculator.com has led to something of an obsession with comparing gearing. I'm going to run a 12-25t 8 speed cassette with 34-44t chainrings. This should give me the same range (and pretty similar jumps) as a typical 10 speed cross setup: 12-28t with 38-44t chainrings.

It make more sense to change the chainring than cassette, so I reckon it's a good move.

It mean you'll spend more time in the middle range where the jump between each cog is smaller rather than top/middle with a smaller chainring.

Selling a pair (i.e front and rear) of Avid Shorty Ultimates shortly. No brake pads and could do with straddle cables being replaced (they use standard road cables for these). To give an idea of usage they've just worn through the original pads. A few marks but nothing serious, got some spare grub screws for the carrier I can throw in too (these are liable to rounding).

£60 seem fair?

anyone know where I can buy a fork-mounted canti hanger? tektro or similar?
online pls.

Raleigh usually have some, check SJS for some.

http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/raleigh-front-brake-cable-hanger-prod21510/

Paul Milnes, Zepnat and there'll be loads on ebay.

cheers!

Selling a pair (i.e front and rear) of Avid Shorty Ultimates shortly. No brake pads and could do with straddle cables being replaced (they use standard road cables for these). To give an idea of usage they've just worn through the original pads. A few marks but nothing serious, got some spare grub screws for the carrier I can throw in too (these are liable to rounding).

£60 seem fair?

Very. In my experience, these are by far the best cantilever brakes available.

This must be considered pretty good value. Looks like the same specs as 2013 Croix De Fer and only £550 with discount.

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/verenti-substance-cx11-sora-2014/

Dotbike have a good deal on a Colnago World Cup right now;

http://www.dotbike.com/p/13040/Colnago-2013-World-Cup-Cross-Bike?t=cat&c=63

Selling a pair (i.e front and rear) of Avid Shorty Ultimates shortly. No brake pads and could do with straddle cables being replaced (they use standard road cables for these). To give an idea of usage they've just worn through the original pads. A few marks but nothing serious, got some spare grub screws for the carrier I can throw in too (these are liable to rounding).

£60 seem fair?

Dibs when you get round to selling them