jhawk Posted July 20, 2017 Report Share Posted July 20, 2017 Just ordered this bad boy to race this year! 2018 Trek Crockett 7. Plus can do some gravel riding and fair weather riding now too. Any others racing NEOCX this year? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redkow97 Posted July 25, 2017 Report Share Posted July 25, 2017 yes. I will be racing several NEOCX events. I put all 9 rounds on my desk calendar already, and sent them to my wife so she's aware of them. Not sure if CX bike is in the cards or not. Student loans may go up by $350/month in August. If that happens, I can't (as easily) spend $600 on a bike like I had planned. If the increase is negligible (or god willing, they forgot I have kids, and it goes down), then I'll probably get the new bike. I need shoes too... I will race the fat bike if I have to. Shouldn't matter much in cat 5 anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhawk Posted July 27, 2017 Author Report Share Posted July 27, 2017 (edited) This is what happens when coworkers get to your bike first. Got the bike assembled last night. Scratched up the carbon seat post by not reaming the seat post tube first. I'm sure there will be more dings to come. I added on a rear fender that mounts to the seatpost for those wet days, will post pics later. Went out for a quick ride with the misses and gotta say this bike is sweet! It's like my road and MTB were locked away in the garage to long and 9 months later this popped out! It brings out an urge to ride over anything and go anywhere. It has also helped to level the playing field with the misses when we ride on the road. I initially got this for CX racing, but am looking forward to putting all sorts of miles on it! Lil strava action: https://www.strava.com/activities/1103364997 Edited July 27, 2017 by jhawk strava added Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redkow97 Posted July 27, 2017 Report Share Posted July 27, 2017 How many miles/year is "enough" to justify another bicycle? I am starting to think that I don't ride often enough or far enough to rationalize a CX bike. My fat bike isn't fast on the road, or really on singletrack either, but it is CAPABLE of both. I'm planning to start the cross season on the fat bike and see where I can finish with that. Maybe even go this full season on it, and then decide if a better bike will make me demonstratively faster... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhawk Posted July 27, 2017 Author Report Share Posted July 27, 2017 Like I tell my wife, at least I'm not buying several motorcycles or into cars! I really like the 1X set up on my MTB and this is very similar. The only time I wished I had 2X was when I did the Mohican 100. Of course all the issues I have with a 1X set up can be resolved with more fitness, but for rides with lots of climbing or long toury rides I can see the pro's to 2X. I really like less crap on the bike, so am going with the develop more fitness to handle it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhawk Posted July 27, 2017 Author Report Share Posted July 27, 2017 I think they often have fatbike groups at the CX races. I know some of them did last year. So you wont be racing against others on CX bikes. Yes, you will be faster on CX bike, 29er, or a road bike than a fatbike. It depends on if that is important to you to have a different bike for whatever setting you are riding in to go faster. All bikes will do 5, 10, 20 or 100 miles just depends on terrain and how fast you want to get there as to what bike is "best" for the job. I ride all types of terrain with all sorts of people and enjoy doing it all as quick as possible. So having a bike that fits the riding I am doing is important to me. I think the CX bike could replace my road ride if I wasn't into doing crit races and chasing cars on the road! <---Stands up - Hi my name's Jesse and I'm addicted to bikes! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redkow97 Posted July 27, 2017 Report Share Posted July 27, 2017 I mean "justify" as in "will I actually use it often enough to feel like it wasn't wasted money?" I'm currently at about 400 miles of riding for this year, and I average 30 miles/week if I'm lucky. Even if I get that up to 50 miles/week, I'm not sure another $500-$600 on a CX bike makes sense when I start putting it in terms of miles/$$. I don't have any races on the calendar for a while. CX is the most organized racing series that's local to me, but that's the primary draw. I prefer to ride XC. it would be nice to have a CX bike for road use as well, but I'm not jonesing for long road rides - I only do that when the trails are too wet 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CBBaron Posted July 27, 2017 Report Share Posted July 27, 2017 Justify? Does not compute I have found with 1x you really want to have a clutch type derailleur. The extra chain tension really help to keep the chain in place. I just run a small enough gear to handle all of my low speed requirements on the MTB and suffer not being able to apply power when on gradual down hills on the road. I think it is currently a 30t front with a 11-42 10 speed rear, but this is a fat bike and snow riding requires some really low gears. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CBBaron Posted July 27, 2017 Report Share Posted July 27, 2017 Road riding is a good way to build fitness, especially during the shoulder seasons when the trails are often closed. It also nice to be able to ride from your garage to put in miles instead of hauling the bike to a trail. I think its likely you would put more miles, though maybe less time on a CX bike than you would the fatbike. Plus riding trails like Royalview and Bedford on a CX bike is good skills training. Last time at Bedford there was a CX training group on the MTB trails putting down a pretty good pace. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redkow97 Posted July 27, 2017 Report Share Posted July 27, 2017 I don't mind riding my fat bike to the trails, but I avoid it when I can, so I can spend more time on singletrack. Weeknight rights are a race to get back quickly enough so my wife isn't cursing me while she bathes our kids without my help I actually like having a warm-up and cool down ride to and from the trail. My Saturday ride was a lot of fun. Rode to the trail, did a lap of the outer loop, rode out to the big climb on my road route, then turned around and hit a different loop at the trails before riding home again. 2:20, mostly with 8 psi in the tires (I had them at 15, but aired down when I got to the trail). 24+ miles of varied terrain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redkow97 Posted July 28, 2017 Report Share Posted July 28, 2017 bought clipless shoes at lunch today. Entry-level stuff. I was VERY close to buying a $210 pair of Bont Vapors that the shop owner didn't fit properly. The carbon bottom pinched my foot a bit. Half a size larger, and I would have blown my budget I was wrong about my quoted mileage yesterday. Strava says 711 miles for 2017, but almost 300 of that is on a spin bike at my gym... Tomorrow will be the maiden voyage cipped in. I'll start on the road and ride to the trails, practicing clipping in and out along the way. maybe mess w/ cleat placement when I get there. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redkow97 Posted July 31, 2017 Report Share Posted July 31, 2017 did some street and trail riding this weekend. Clipless pedals seem easy enough. I'm sure I'll feel differently on tougher terrain, but for now, I keep increasing the tension on the pedals. for CX, clipping out more easily is probably a good thing, but I had my left foot pop out by accident a couple of times on rough terrain. Might have more to do with my technique than the tension. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redkow97 Posted September 11, 2017 Report Share Posted September 11, 2017 'cross is HERE! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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