1) Cross is a lot of fun and I can't wait to do the next one.
2) Cheap SPD pedals are not ideal for cross. This is from my limited experience, but I couldn't clip in to save my life after remounting during the race. I don't know how much it impacted the race, but I spent a lot of time cursing my pedals between gasps for air on Sunday.
3) I don't know didly-squat when it comes to tire pressure or tire tread..or for that matter anything about cross (other than it is awesome)...but as a result I was sliding around a lot in the corners towards the latter part of the race on Sunday.
So to remedy my three observations:
1) I'd like to do the weekend double the weekend of kelley acres and hagerstown. These are both far away, so it may take some convincing of "the boss", but she had fun on Sunday..so maybe. I'm really looking forward to our race in Hyatsville in October.
2) I picked up some egg beater pedals from my favorite shop of all time (Arrow MF-ing Bikes) and I'm hoping that they work better than the SPD pedals. It looks like there is a little more float and they'll be easier to clip in..what do I know though. We'll see.
3) I won a set of Bontrager Jones CXR 700x34 tires for finishing third in the 4 race and they look like they are more aggressive than the Kenda smallblockeights that came with the bike. They do look cooler on the bike, so I can only assume they'll make me faster. We'll see.
So after swapping out the two tires and pedals, the weight of my huge TCX dropped from 20.2 to 19.6 pounds. Does it feel good to be a new member of the sub 20 pound club? Yes it does.
I'm thinking the next easy swap is going to be the seat post...and maybe I'll get rid of the valve caps on the tires.
Cheers
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®
2 comments:
Nice race on Sunday Jesse. You did a fantastic job. Tire pressure, the toughest part of the race other than racing the acutal race. Keep track of the starting pressure you have in your tires. Make a mental note of the course, the conditions, etc... You should be able to run a surprising low pressure near the low 40s. Unfortunately, with clinchers and the fact that you are not 5.7" and 130 pounds will keep you from running 34 psi, but a few psi makes a big different.
Keep rocking the cross bike.
I had the best seat in the house during your surge to the front. Great race.
Now that you've ditched the water-bottle cages you can replace the bolts with machine screws or spare cleat bolts (that's what I use). This will definitely save a tenth of a gram or so but more importantly gives you a clean downtube and one less thing to get snagged on when shouldering your bike.
You can also do it the Belgian way and plug the holes with rubber cement.
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