CX bike specs decision time

[Gummee]

Originally Posted by BRad704

Good thing the only ones I can afford are mechanical. ;-)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Juin Techs with compressionless housing are pretty darn good.

M

[jfranci3]

I know you already ordered but for a warm fuzzy.... selecting a bike based on paint is always the right decision. The adjustable rear dropouts are not really life changing.


Brakes - I had a 2014 Crockett with mechanicals that I upgraded to hydro. There's not really a difference in braking power or feel(with good cable/housings). The big difference is that the pads self center a bit. Those are probably the best mechanical disc brakes though.

Apex - At some point I changed it over to 1x with the Apex 1x RD. My only observation was that the jockey wheels didn't have bearings. You'll want to replace those after a season with the rival/force ones ($40) as they cheaper ones will be toast especially if you have sandy soil. The other thing there is the steel cage holding those wheels is different, but probably more durable. Otherwise there's not much difference between Apex and Rival aside from the obvious gear, which, after going from 1x10 to 1x11, is unnoticeable.

Trek bits - Make sure when you pick up your bike you grab the L shaped chain holder if not installed. They might get it in the box and toss it. Order one if not installed or in the box. If you haven't had a 1x bike before, everytime you remove the rear wheel, the chain wants to fall off. Definitely put clear protecting tape around the drive side crank. The aftermarket ones are too expensive and either too small or too elaborate/strong for this use.

Cables - people complain about Trek's 'control freak' cable routing, as the cables can hit your knees. THe problem is that the factory and mechanics leave the lines too long. You can shorten them pretty aggressively. I'd suggest paying the mechanic to pull the lines, turn the front wheel 90 deg or so to the right, cut the housing to the shortest length possible, and rerun the cables. You should only have about two inches between the cables hanging out and the frame. Put clear protective tape where the cables go near the frame. If he can, have him run cable housing bow-to-stern through the internal frame to the derailleur and the brake - this will mean less places for sand and mud to jam up the works, particularly under the crank.

Tires - Those stock tires are slowwww for anything except mud/grass. If you're going to be doing any 'gravel' rides, you'd pick up a solid 1-2mph on just about any other 120tpi+ tire, especially something like a Schwalbe G-One or Gravel King.

Ride / road duty - If you're using the bike as a road bike on occasion, my observation with my 2014 bike was that it was BRUTALLY stiff (some numbers I've seen in German bike magazines quantify this) in the rear on road tires, making my back hurt. I swapped out the seat post and handle bars, and the world was a better place. The newer '300' series frames should be a lot nicer. Still there's 750gr of extra metal on this frame over an Emonda ALR frameset, which is likely going to translate into ride stiffness. Otherwise (after the seatpost and bar change), I couldn't tell the difference between my Emonda ALR and Crockett on the same wheels and tires on the road.

[BRad704]

Wow thank you for such a well thought-out idea.
I've added some other comments below...

Originally Posted by jfranci3

I know you already ordered but for a warm fuzzy.... selecting a bike based on paint is always the right decision. The adjustable rear dropouts are not really life changing. The sliding dropouts was something I really wanted, so I could race this SSCX, and save my other CX bike for Cat4... but in the end, the overall package of the new Crockett 4 was too good to pass up.


Brakes - I had a 2014 Crockett with mechanicals that I upgraded to hydro. There's not really a difference in braking power or feel(with good cable/housings). The big difference is that the pads self center a bit. Those are probably the best mechanical disc brakes though. Brakes are really the least of my concern on this bike.
I raced (and podiumed) several early season CX races last year on a 1983 Schwinn Super Sport with 30c Michellin Mud 2 tires and caliper brakes.
Granted those were dry events, but still... even my Felt only has cantis, and anything disc is going to be a huge improvement.

Apex - At some point I changed it over to 1x with the Apex 1x RD. My only observation was that the jockey wheels didn't have bearings. You'll want to replace those after a season with the rival/force ones ($40) as they cheaper ones will be toast especially if you have sandy soil. The other thing there is the steel cage holding those wheels is different, but probably more durable. Otherwise there's not much difference between Apex and Rival aside from the obvious gear, which, after going from 1x10 to 1x11, is unnoticeable. Great idea with the difference in pulley wheels. I'll put it on the list of things to upgrade after the season.

Trek bits - Make sure when you pick up your bike you grab the L shaped chain holder if not installed. Again, great idea.
They might get it in the box and toss it. Order one if not installed or in the box. If you haven't had a 1x bike before, everytime you remove the rear wheel, the chain wants to fall off. Definitely put clear protecting tape around the drive side crank. The aftermarket ones are too expensive and either too small or too elaborate/strong for this use.

Cables - people complain about Trek's 'control freak' cable routing, as the cables can hit your knees. THe problem is that the factory and mechanics leave the lines too long. You can shorten them pretty aggressively. I'd suggest paying the mechanic to pull the lines, turn the front wheel 90 deg or so to the right, cut the housing to the shortest length possible, and rerun the cables. You should only have about two inches between the cables hanging out and the frame. Put clear protective tape where the cables go near the frame. If he can, have him run cable housing bow-to-stern through the internal frame to the derailleur and the brake - this will mean less places for sand and mud to jam up the works, particularly under the crank. I'm pretty good friends with the guys at the shop, and they know I'm buying this to be my race bike for this year. If it comes in pieces (like the last bike I built for a friend, Argon TT bike) then they'll be able to cut them to a proper length from teh start. Otherwise, I'm fine doing all my own mechanical work anyway, and can shorten them up later.

Tires - Those stock tires are slowwww for anything except mud/grass. If you're going to be doing any 'gravel' rides, you'd pick up a solid 1-2mph on just about any other 120tpi+ tire, especially something like a Schwalbe G-One or Gravel King. Already thought about that.... and I've got a set of Compass Barlow Pass 38's to go on a second wheelset for road/gravel duty.

Ride / road duty - If you're using the bike as a road bike on occasion, my observation with my 2014 bike was that it was BRUTALLY stiff (some numbers I've seen in German bike magazines quantify this) in the rear on road tires, making my back hurt. I swapped out the seat post and handle bars, and the world was a better place. The newer '300' series frames should be a lot nicer. Still there's 750gr of extra metal on this frame over an Emonda ALR frameset, which is likely going to translate into ride stiffness. Otherwise (after the seatpost and bar change), I couldn't tell the difference between my Emonda ALR and Crockett on the same wheels and tires on the road.I could be totally OK with this being a wicked stiff bike, but I won't know until I get to try it.

Thanks again for putting so much time into some great ideas.