[Squeak]

I am planning on trying my hand at cross racing this season. I am doing it for fun and do not plan on having any good results.

I guess I am starting this thread to find out more about the logistics of the race. I have heard so many things like "You need 2 wheelsets" or "You need two bikes". What do I really need to know to just go out and race it? I will most likely have no support for wheelchanges, water handoffs and the like.

What do I need to know?

 

[Motionboy2]

Go out and have fun. You don't need 2 of anything unless you are serious enough to worry about what tires to run for the course or if you can get a wheel handed to you for a flat change. Go out and do it.
Here are things you will want.
1: get rid of your bottle cages. They get in the way when you throw your bike on your shoulder.
2: get a chain device; Third eye makes one, redline makes one. It will keep your chain from taking a fatal plunge to your bb shell.
3: make sure your gearing is set so you don’t have to shift to your big ring. If you limit your shifting to 1 shifter your going to be much more efficient.
4: HAVE FUN!

 

[Squeak]

Originally posted by Motionboy2
Go out and have fun. You don't need 2 of anything unless you are serious enough to worry about what tires to run for the course or if you can get a wheel handed to you for a flat change. Go out and do it.
Here are things you will want.
1: get rid of your bottle cages. They get in the way when you throw your bike on your shoulder.
2: get a chain device; Third eye makes one, redline makes one. It will keep your chain from taking a fatal plunge to your bb shell.
3: make sure your gearing is set so you don’t have to shift to your big ring. If you limit your shifting to 1 shifter your going to be much more efficient.
4: HAVE FUN!

Hehe. Third eye added to list. I will be purchasing several things from your fine establishment MB.

 

[indieboy]

Originally posted by Squeak
I am planning on trying my hand at cross racing this season. I am doing it for fun and do not plan on having any good results.

I guess I am starting this thread to find out more about the logistics of the race. I have heard so many things like "You need 2 wheelsets" or "You need two bikes". What do I really need to know to just go out and race it? I will most likely have no support for wheelchanges, water handoffs and the like.

What do I need to know?

you don't have to have 2 wheels or 2 bikes. it's nice if you do but not absoulately necessary. if you do anything having two sets of wheels is definiatly nice incase you get a flat. that way you can just roll it into the pit area and switch the wheel and your off. the reason why most pro's have two bikes is b/c of the nasty conditions. they can just roll into the bikes and have a fresh bike for the next few laps.

something my coach told me to do to help me w/ dismounting and remounting is go buy or borrow a video of a european cross race and study how those guys dis/remount. pretty much you are brining your right leg over the saddle and through the other leg so your right foot is forward. i've found w/ my eggbeaters that i have to unclip my left foot before i swing my leg over, however w/ times you can get away w/ unclipping your left foot before you start to run (if that makes sense to you).

i'm gonna try to leave my water situation up to a friend so i can get away w/ putting no cages on my bike. plus that leaves the frame a bit more open for shouldering the bike. if i had to put a cage on i'd probably put it on the seattube. when you shoulder your bike you are carrying it more towards the headtube then the seat, so that would probably be the better position out of the two.

 

[gorgechris]

I did a couple races last year on the local circuit, just for fun. I have a cross bike that I use for commuting, but didn't want to take off the fenders, so I just ran my hardtail. The conditions were super-muddy (Pacific NW in the Fall!), so having V-brakes, knobbies, and mega-mud clearance helped out a lot. Guys in cross bikes were falling all over the place, and I could ride right past them.

The next race was much drier, so I ran my GF's old rigid early-90's KHS. Worked fine, but I was at a disadvantage on the short road stretch.

I got 6th in the lower cat on my first race, and then finished mid-pack in the next-higher cat in my second race. Moral of the story: you don't need a cross bike to race cross (at least in the lower categories like me!).

 

[SuspectDevice]

Do you have a cross bike, a road bike or a mountainbike?

irrespective of the technical modification you need to make to your bike there are a few things you should practice.

1. mounts and remounts (indie's advice is good, because i gave it to him )

2. starts. starts are more important in cross than they are in mtb racing.

3. flat corners

 

[Squeak]

I have a cross bike. I plan on practicing mounts and dismounts.

Whats a flat corner?

 

[SuspectDevice]

Originally posted by Squeak
I have a cross bike. I plan on practicing mounts and dismounts.

Whats a flat corner?

ok cross bike.

make sure you have a decent gear setup up front (39-46 or the like) a 53 will make you very slow.

many cx races will have sections taped through an open field where you will zig-zag back and forth. being able to make tight bends on grass or gravel at speed saves time.

 

[Sideways]

Get yourself a sexy Tu-tu, some eyeliner, and a singlespeed.
Go to the race, win.

That's all I know about cyclo-cross-dress racing.

 

[Squeak]

Originally posted by Sideways
Get yourself a sexy Tu-tu, some eyeliner, and a singlespeed.
Go to the race, win.

That's all I know about cyclo-cross-dress racing.

I might have to raid your closet!