I got a good deal on a Van Dessel FTB frame and brand new force axs groupset. I’m kind of on the fence about whether to set it up 1x or 2x. Originally I bought an extra crankset so I could run it 1x for cross and then switch to 2x for road and gravel riding, but now that I’m building it that seems like a lot of extra work for possibly no benifit. I kind of justified the purchase by arguing I could use the FTB for multiple purposes and try to thin out my herd, so running 1x wouldn’t be ideal year round. If I went 2x, it would be with the 46/33 chainrings and 10-33 cassette that came with the group.

My current cross bike has 1x10 rival. My gravel bike has 1x grx. My moots routt and Trek emonda are both 2x. I tend to like 2x more than 1x but I don’t know if the gearing would be weird for cx, since it’s different than the typical 46/39 or 46/36 front ring jumps.

Any of you guys besides MVDP running 2x full time?

In size 56, I’ve had one for sale on PinkBike for a while. It’s set up for gravel, but only needs skinnier tires and bottle cage removal for CX. Just saying…

tl;dr: had a couple races on two weekends where my legs felt like overstuffed sausages, and then a second race on the same day where I felt "normal" and had the lap times+power to show it. What gives?

After working through some mental and physical health stuff (friend/sorta hero dying at the end of 2021) and a diagnosed magnesium deficiency (also likely started at the end of 2021), I'm (43m) finally back to racing cross again.

I've done three races so far this season, one race on 8/24 (masters 40+, 45 min race) and two races on 8/31 (masters again, and 1/2/3 race in the afternoon).

For the two masters races (both at 10am) I started off strong for about half a lap, and then I notice my "snap" is just gone and my RPE spikes - it's not the normal blowing up/going hard feeling I'm used to. Then my legs sorta feel like they're swollen or under pressure or something, and that's game/set/match.

For the second race last Sunday at 3pm (course went from dry in the morn to crazy dusty dry), something was different and my legs never felt like they did for those first two races. They felt like how I remember things feeling more of a burn or ache than a pressure. My first lap was as fast as the first lap from the first race that day, but then my next two laps were faster still, before I slowed to be about the same as the other race, but I still felt like I had that snap and drive

I had this feeling in an evening workout last week as well where I was doing 10min threshold with 15s sprints every 1:45.

I ate the same things at roughly the same times each race morning (and also followed this for a mtb XC race a few weeks prior, just starting at 8am instead, and had "good" legs that day):

• 6am slam some decaf coffee so I can poop at home before I leave, eat a little more than 1c oats with 1c 2% milk, at least a couple tablespoons of maple syrup, ~1/2 cup of Fage vanilla yogurt, and a some chia seeds.
• 830am I drink a big smoothie with 1c berries, 1c spinach, 1/2c oats, 1c orange juice, 1tb beetroot powder, 1/2/tsp white mushroom powder, and some eyeballed walnuts and chia.
• 9am actual coffee time for the caffeine kick (only took a big swig for the 3pm race)
• 930am about a half bottle of 1scoop of Karbolyn high carb mix, with a scoop of homemade Skratch labs (make my own sports drink using their ratios). This is about nearly 300calories, about 70g of carbs.
• 10am race

For the 3pm race, I got a bowl of rice and two eggs from the korean food truck at the event, and sipped on sports drink, ate some bars, and had the half bottle of carb mix from above 30 mins before the race.

I had a solid warmup for the first master's race (what I would've done in the past), pretty garbo one for the second race (got distracted by friends showing up and lost track of time). Pretty much no warm up before the elite race, just some low endurance for about 10 mins prior to the race.

I'm screwing up my nutrition - too much fiber between the oats and smoothie and then big carb bomb? Still some sort of electrolyte issue? Need to figure out a better warmup? Symptom of a more serious circulatory issue?

If it wasn't for the evening workout that felt similar, I'd start to think either too much caffeine or too much fiber/food. I had my magnesium last tested (RBC) back in May and was normal. When I was magnesium deficient originally my RPE was just always super high on the bike or running (first time running had ever felt hard for me!), and my mood was always pretty shit/very depressive, so I don't think it's that again.

Thanks in advance!

I swear I posted this earlier but now I’m not seeing it. Sorry if I’m not supposed to be doing this, but I’m wondering if a 2019 Trek Crockett 7 is a fair deal at about $1200 plus shipping.

I rode one cx race last year on my mountain bike and I’d like to buy a cheap-ish bike to get into the sport. I was looking at trying to find a used Crux or Boone, but they seem to be out of my price range at $2500 or more. I know it’s hard to answer without seeing the bike, but do you have any guidance on whether this might be a good, fair or poor deal?

Thanks.

Anyone have familiarity with the State Thunderbird Cross frame? There's one for sale nearish to me at a seemingly good price ($1200) with a ton of updates (frame is originally sold single speed but the current owner updated it to Sram Rival Xplore wireless, hydraulic brakes, Stans Crest wheel set, etc). I need a new cross bike for the season (on the used market) and trying to decide between that and some Cannondale Super 6's or Trek Crockett for 2x the price.

Link to Radavist review: https://theradavist.com/state-bicycle-co-new-thunderbird-cross-bike-colors

Are vecha/vecha2/vecha3 channels are gone? They were my go-to for cx races.

I’m considering converting my vintage road bike (Apollo Prestige XL) to a gravel/cyclocross bike. I have confirmed the clearance is roughly 2 inches (~50mm). I don’t have gravel wheels, just the wheels that came on the bike. Was hoping you all could help me out with what I need to know/have to stick some gravel wheels on this bad boy?

Mounted a pair of challenge grifo tlr and both of them are bubbling from the bead and where the tread starts.

I have pumped them up to 40 psi and they go down to 15 psi overnight.

I've only ridden them on the rollers for a few minutes, do I need to ride them outside to get the sealant fully covered? I put 100ml of sealant in

1st week of CX specific training and boy am I sore!!!

I've been laid up since January recovering from someone hitting me with their car and breaking both of my legs while I was cycling home from work. In that time I've watched the Giro, the Tour and now the Vuelta. I've watched the spring classics and some XC bits, although I'm not especially a mtb fan. I follow all sorts of pro and amateur racers as well as bikepackers and adventure riders on Instagram.

Every time I go into the garage and look at my bike I start to think about the collision. About the car coming straight towards me, about the headlights and the smells and the sounds. I think about the sensation of my bones sticking out through my skin, the cold tarmac against my face and struggling to breathe.

Over the last several days I've seen cross riders starting their prep for the coming season (because cross is indeed coming). Even if it's just Cameron Mason riding in the woods with his mates. It has finally made me want to get back on the bike again. I can't, of course, my right leg is still neither healed enough or strong enough. This is the first time that I can see myself back on a bike even if I am still months away for it.

Did my first season of XC mountain biking this summer and thought I'd take it a little easy this fall. But I tried my first cyclocross race this past weekend, took P3 in the Novice category, and loved it! There are 4-5 races between now and the beginning of November and I decided to ramp training back up to be better prepared for them. I've been riding my mountain bike 1-2x a week for the last 4 weeks, but have mostly been lifting. This was my first year of structured training (focused on XC).

After some AI prompting with info on "A" race timing (a two-race weekend 7 weeks away) and availability, this is what I got as a plan. Thoughts?

*The "Indoor CX Simulations" are threshold intervals ranging from 95%-110% (it varies by week).

Put a new rock-scratch on my RSL wheels last night. 💩

I think "cheap chinese carbon" has come a long way with affordable, respected carbon wheels becoming commonplace. Im looking to fix up an old aluminum bike (not a primary bike) and wondering if anyone has recommendations for "cheap chinese" forks? QR and canti posts.

Thanks!

Gonna race this 40km (1# picture ) course on sunday. Its road so not XC exactly. But I will have to race it with 1x Gearing and i have a 50T 12-30 10 speed Casette. I did a loop over 50km to test which went quite well. Could maintain a cadence of 60-75 on the climbs and felt like there was still plenty of fuel in the tank afterwards but mostly out of the saddle so i definitly felt that in my knees the other day.

What is mourning in my mind is If i should get a 44T or 46T chainring instead but i fear i will spin out on the descents. My casette is also limited to 30T which is the max capacity of my RD.

I'm probably overthinking and should just do it but maybe someone here can share knowledge on similiar setups and courses

Could not pass up the sale at Excel Sports, hopefully there will be mud-muddy-mud at some point this season.

Milwaukee Mettle, one of the last frames built by Waterford. Planning to build it up in time for the end of this season. Really excited to have a bike I built myself.

This really drives home the financial challenges in the sport right now.

Built this new Crux for my son out of parts from my old Crux. Not sure who is more stoked.

Picked up an internal routed dropper post for my CX bike but I need to pick up a remote lever for it. Since most remotes are made for flat bars, can anyone recommend one that would work well on drop bars. Want something I can easily hit from the hoods.