World Cup Cross racing

oldpotatoe · #1 10-21-2013, 07:02 AM

Tough racers but...looking at the pix, what's 'striking' about a lot of the bikes ridden?

Just curious.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/uci...e-women/photos

http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/uci...ite-men/photos

nooneline · #2 10-21-2013, 07:14 AM

Yeah, most riders are still using cantis and mechanical shifting - is that what you're getting at?

Auk · #3 10-21-2013, 07:16 AM

Could it be that you don't need disc brakes to ride really damn fast when there's mud?

thwart · #4 10-21-2013, 07:17 AM

Seem to be using those antique, quaint (you remember 'em, right?) cantilever brakes...

oldpotatoe · #5 10-21-2013, 07:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nooneline

Yeah, most riders are still using cantis and mechanical shifting - is that what you're getting at?

Just curious, not trying to start a fight. Even a local guy who is big in US cross has sram 22 with wet discs...

These are sponsored riders, the difference between the fields in the US and Europe, equipment wise, seem to be very different.

batman1425 · #6 10-21-2013, 07:20 AM

The winner of the mens race was on discs, one of the few that was from the pics that I saw.

nooneline · #7 10-21-2013, 07:22 AM

Yeah.
Well, Lars won on hydro discs; there's some adoption but with cross being hard on bikes - as much in the travel and cleaning as in the actual riding - I think a lot of people are sticking with what they know.

Riders are sponsored, sure, but in Europe a lot of sponsored riders can still have their say. Didn't Ridley go over to discs entirely? But Telenet is still on cantis.

Likes2ridefar · #8 10-21-2013, 07:28 AM

I was talking to a mechanic for these types of racers last week, and he said many have no interest in discs for a few reasons.

1) first and least important, it adds more weight to the frames in certain areas
2) it's far easier to ding the rotor and bend it having a nice rub the rest of the race or simply accumulate mud or grit and hear it screeching the rest of the race. even if it's not much if any resistance it's still more than they have with canti's and it can take a toll mentally over time.
3) they don't like the additional power with minimal lever pull

oldpotatoe · #9 10-21-2013, 07:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Likes2ridefar

I was talking to a mechanic for these types of racers last week, and he said many have no interest in discs for a few reasons.

1) first and least important, it adds more weight to the frames in certain areas
2) it's far easier to ding the rotor and bend it having a nice rub the rest of the race or simply accumulate mud or grit and hear it screeching the rest of the race. even if it's not much if any resistance it's still more than they have with canti's and it can take a toll mentally over time.
3) they don't like the additional power with minimal lever pull

Thanks...any Euro cross team wrenches here?

I have the above from a gent who races for Moots also....

AngryScientist · #10 10-21-2013, 07:45 AM

i dont know anything about disks, but just curious: i would think disk brakes could be a disadvantage for quick wheel changes too correct?

Likes2ridefar · #11 10-21-2013, 07:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AngryScientist

i dont know anything about disks, but just curious: i would think disk brakes could be a disadvantage for quick wheel changes too correct?

if anything, they are probably faster, but since the tolerance is so tight the risk of rub is greater.

and then you run the risk of slamming the rotor into the pads upon insertion which will probably screw up the pad alignment.

oldpotatoe · #12 10-21-2013, 07:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AngryScientist

i dont know anything about disks, but just curious: i would think disk brakes could be a disadvantage for quick wheel changes too correct?

Could be but most of the racers at this level have pit crews that do that for them, with bike in a stand. Speed isn't an issue, since the cross 'big boys' have a fleet of spare bikes and a legion of pit wrenches.

gavingould · #13 10-21-2013, 08:59 AM

the Euros are pretty resistant to changing over to disc except the younger guys, Van der Haar most certainly is at 22.
Even the ones who are very familiar with discs from the mountain bike side (Nys went to Olympics for mtb) are not embracing them. i'd expect to see more disc next year as some of the bike manufacturers phase out canti models entirely and Shimano's hydro/Di2 is fully on the market.
men and women winners were both on Di2, one on the hydro disc. seems pretty clear to me where things are headed.

wheel changing speed is a non-issue in pro 'cross. usually they have 3 full bikes each and 6-8 full wheelsets with various different treads, 2 or three pit crew members... they nail down which treads and tire pressure in pre-ride and generally have all three bikes set up the same. get a flat on the A bike, take the B bike from pit. if the rider needs to pit again before the wheel can be swapped, take the C bike.

KonaSS · #14 10-21-2013, 11:57 AM

Give it time. The bigs in Euro-land are always the last adopters. In mtb, which I follow, they are just getting on 29ers in a big way in the last year.

I am too lazy to look it up but you probably could have still found V-brakes on mountain bikes for the Euro crowd in the 2005-2006 timeframes.

45K10 · #15 10-21-2013, 03:50 PM

Off topic concerning the brakes, but I just wanted to point out that all of the World Cup races this year are being streamed live on the UCI's youtube channel. http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCloqTh1nPpW13LCntQglS-Q

I watched the mens race yesterday and the stream quality was very good and they have the re-runs loaded the next day.