[station29er]

Ok, so it's new to me so I might be making a super lame comment but I just don't get why you would want to put knobby wheels on your road bike, jump off to climb hills, then jump back on. I clearly am not getting it.

 

[ire]

nice vid. First off, its not a road bike but a cross specific bike. The bike has different geometry, more frame clearance for mud, and different brakes. The second thing is that once you try it, you'll be hooked! The course in the video was dry, and a bad example of a cross race. We race cross on narrow, knobby, tires because they cut through the deep mud that many of the races take place in. I kid you not, a cross bike will go through things you can’t get mountain bike through

 

[Heidi]

All out effort for a relatively short period of time, crazy cheering fans, beer, bike handeling skills rule, something to do when the trails are too wet/snowy...need I say more?

 

[Squeak]

Explanation:

Imagine a cute fuzzy bunny hopping through the forest. We will call him...Foofoo, yeah Foofoo. Now Foofoo really likes hopping down the trail. It is a nice trail with soft dirt that keeps his paws from cracking. It also leads to a nice park where he can get leftover food from the "people" who frequent it. He has an easy life.

One Sunday Foofoo decides he needs to go to the park to grab a snack. Maybe someone dropped some nuts or even a carrot! So Foofoo hits his favorite trail and starts hopping. As he is hopping down the trail he sees this strange thing blocking his way. A flat piece of wood about 20 inches high. How strange, thought Foofoo, who would put that the.........

Foofoo gets run over by 30 crazy dudes on bikes.

Does that help?

 

[Heidi]

Ummm, Brian, you've gone off the deep end.

 

[DirtyMike]

Did you post on STR as well???

 

[James]

It started out as a way for the road guys to ride/race their bikes in the winter.
I'd still love to see it in the winter Olympics, even as an exhibition sport...

 

[maddog17]

i've never done it but it looks like fun. my luck, in my first race i'd end up like Foofoo the bunny!!!

 

[Squeak]

Ummm, Brian, you've gone off the deep end.

ya think?

I blame Bush

 

[OGRipper]

Why put knobbies and suspension on a bike and go ride around in woods? Why put skinny tires on a bike and ride 100 miles or so?

Why? Because it's fun.

 

[oldfart]

If you have to ask brother, we can't explain.

I think historicaly it was created as a winter training exercise. No raod racing, toio cold and miserable to put in long training days on the road. I raced in years ago after a coach recommended it as a way to maintain fitness a little longer into the winter. It is really good for bike handling skills too and power training. It's damn hard. Probably the hardest racing one can do. I just picked up a new cross bike for commuting. My commute includes lots of relatively tame by mountainbike standards trials. It's wet here in winter and I prefer to ride at slower speeds away from traffic but quite intensly.

 

[sanjuro]

Come on.

I went to a SF cyclocross race where all the racers were shocked when me and a buddy rode down a steep run-up with our mountain bikes.

There is a historic aspect of CX and the bikes are cool. But I believe most CX racers are roadies who do not have the skills or the courage to race XC.

Take any CX rider and compare him to a rigid 29er SSer. I bet the fitness levels are the same, but 29er rider has more skills.

 

[Westy]

Take any CX rider and compare him to a rigid 29er SSer. I bet the fitness levels are the same, but 29er rider has more skills.

I think it is silly to relate skill to the type of bike ridden. I know plenty of MTBers that have no handling skills and some roadies who can and probably could hop on a MTB and kill. There is certainly an aspect of practice that can build skill but the core of it comes down to being able to read terrain, judge distance and speed and react appropriately. Some people have it and some don't. Granted someone like Tyler Hamilton who has no handling skill can go far on a road bike but would die off road but that isn't because he is a roadie.

 

[Squeak]

Come on.

I went to a SF cyclocross race where all the racers were shocked when me and a buddy rode down a steep run-up with our mountain bikes.

There is a historic aspect of CX and the bikes are cool. But I believe most CX racers are roadies who do not have the skills or the courage to race XC.

Take any CX rider and compare him to a rigid 29er SSer. I bet the fitness levels are the same, but 29er rider has more skills.

Are you just playing instigator here?

Of course there are "roadies" that have the handling skills of a 12 year old on a slip and slide, but there are a lot of damn good riders and PLENTY of MTB'rs, SS'rs, and 29'rs race cross.

I have found the Cross is the most fun "racing" I have done.

 

[sanjuro]

Are you just playing instigator here?

Of course there are "roadies" that have the handling skills of a 12 year old on a slip and slide, but there are a lot of damn good riders and PLENTY of MTB'rs, SS'rs, and 29'rs race cross.

I have found the Cross is the most fun "racing" I have done.

I am playing instigator. As you might imagine, I have lots of friends who are CX riders and I support any kind of racing.

This reminds of a buddy of mine: he was a top B rider in CX, and he shows up in Downieville with his hardtail with rim brakes.

I advised him not to use that bike, and he assured me his handling was excellent thanks to his racing.

Well sure enough, he crashes super hard, down to the bone. Apparently when he was squeezing the front brake, his SID deflected enough so that the pad contacted the spokes, and OTB.

But I am saying, for example, BMX improves your skills way more than CX, it just doesn't have that Euro history roadies love.

 

[oldfart]

Come on.

I went to a SF cyclocross race where all the racers were shocked when me and a buddy rode down a steep run-up with our mountain bikes.

There is a historic aspect of CX and the bikes are cool. But I believe most CX racers are roadies who do not have the skills or the courage to race XC.

Take any CX rider and compare him to a rigid 29er SSer. I bet the fitness levels are the same, but 29er rider has more skills.

Careful san, I could say take any XC rider from the North Shore stick them in a shopping buggy and they'll still ride California trails better than any Californian. What we call XC every one else calls extreme. Truth is there are skilled riders in all disciplines. I have seen riders who were riding World Cup XC do extremely well at cross but road riders are right there with them. Cross isn't really about super technical skills but physical skills and only for an hour. One of the top cross pros went to the Olympics for the mountainbike race. He did OK but I think he faded at about an hour which is how long pro cross goes, 60 -70 minutes.

 

[sanjuro]

Careful san, I could say take any XC rider from the North Shore stick them in a shopping buggy and they'll still ride California trails better than any Californian. What we call XC every one else calls extreme. Truth is there are skilled riders in all disciplines. I have seen riders who were riding World Cup XC do extremely well at cross but road riders are right there with them. Cross isn't really about super technical skills but physical skills and only for an hour. One of the top cross pros went to the Olympics for the mountainbike race. He did OK but I think he faded at about an hour which is how long pro cross goes, 60 -70 minutes.

I agree that CX is not bowling or golf. It is a hard sport, especially when the snow and rain start falling.

But there are downsides to CX, or rather other cycling disciplines which are superior, which I don't think anyone wants to acknowledge.

Mostly, there seemed to be a lot of attitude dropped on a newb.

 

[ire]

There is a historic aspect of CX and the bikes are cool. But I believe most CX racers are roadies who do not have the skills or the courage to race XC.

Maybe where you are from but that is not the case up here.....all the cat 1 roadies and pro mountain bikers race cross, even some of the pro DH guys race cross up here. Being a semi-pro dh, and xc racer, I can attest that CX requires a lot of skill (to be good at anyway). It is a hell of a lot of fun to boot

 

[clockworked]

So is it just a climate thing that you don't ride actual road or xc in the winter?

Coming from Australia i can't fathom it
If you want to ride on dirt, ride a xc bike. If you want to ride road, ride a road bike. CX seems like the all mountain bike of the cycling world

Is it the spirit of competition? The shorter races?

 

[H8R]

I've met the kid that did this film. He's the brother of my wife's friend. He also made a film about trekking all the way across Africa on a bike. North to south.


Funny, he seemed perfectly sane in person.

 

[ire]

Is it the spirit of competition? The shorter races?

Its hard to explain, but it is the most fun sport I have participated in. As for the bike, cross bikes go through mud that XC couldn't make it through. There is a reason we run 30c tires. They design the courses around here to favor cross bikes (deep mud, mix of flat with some pavement). Here is a short clip about our big series

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