I should note that I went to a clinic with Powers last weekend, shared the frosted barley nectar, he's an "athlete" and way cooler and nicer than momotardo.

 

Cross-bike crew, what's the go-to setup for canti brakes? The Kona has a fork that's drilled for a crown-mounted front cable guide, so I'm hoping that and the 1-1/8" to 1-1/2" head tube will eliminate/limit front brake shudder. Looking for recommendations on pads, calipers, and everything else.

(Discs are not an option, I'm not ready to take that $1700 leap yet)

 

I'm a bit out of the loop these days. Mini V brakes stop but lack the uber mud clearance that cantis do. I raced my old bikes with v brakes in some sloppy races but never armaggedon mud like you get on the east coast.

Most areas of cali there is very little clay in the soil so it tends not to clump and stick so bad, making V brakes a viable option. Cantis just never have the power of V brake. Most V brakes require a more cable pull than an STI shifter will provide so you need a leverage converter thing to increase the leverage ratio a bit. Pads are key. If you buy a brake set up and it has the right amount of cable pull but lacks power, just try race pads.

You might try calling the guys at cyclocrossworld.com for advice. Let then know what part of the country you're in, how much you weigh and if you will be racing or not.

 

Tektro mini-V. It already accounts for the STI travel and has great stopping power. Cantilevers in the dust we have are a joke. Downside is clearance, but the chances of a sticky mud cross ride here is pretty much zero.

 

Be careful, cycle crew.



**** you TSA : WTF

 

I see a lot of Tektro Mini-V's at the cross races here in Cali

 

Mini-V it is. Thank you gents

 

Big CX race on Saturday, bros.

 

The Angry Singlespeeder: I am so over the road - Mtbr.com

Also, anyone ever ridden one of these scott voltage bikes i linked on the previous page? Going to ride one at angelfire this weekend and pick it up (along with a 2015 gravity pass) if I like it!

 

I am not sure how familiar you are with riding a TT bike, but they aren't a whole lot of fun to ride. Also, the long BB drop will cause you to strike pedals pretty easily when running fixed. Does the rake on the fork you ordered match the head tube angle you spec'ed?

I'm not sure exaclty which brake setup you mean. However, I would recommend a shimano direct mount 5800. They are really cheap, should be easy to mount, and have great stopping power. The reason I sold my last TT bike was having to deal with crappy aero brakes. If you only have one, make sure it works flawlessly.

 

I haven't ridden a TT bike, LOL.

I wouldn't run fixed... seems undesirable.

Fork is designed based on a real fork rake as designed in that picture. 43mm off the top of my head with ~400mm axle to crown from memory.

I was planning to run a 165 or 170mm crank to be more of a cadence machine than a torque requiring knee killer single speed.


Campy rear brake. I would weld a brake bridge into the chainstays to mount this, with an internally routed cable that would pop out right at the bottom bracket with only a few inches of exposed housing.

 

I would take a front brake over a rear brake.

 

If you are going through the effort of an aero brake, don't do a center pull. Unless you are routing it with integrated cable stops and only 5" of housing, it will be beyond mushy. Even if you do fix the mushy brake lever, it will still be a pretty weak brake.

It is your only brake. Front brakes stop about 3x as well as rear brakes. The dual pivot direct mount rear brakes are what you want, even if you don't know it. Room for a 28c tire. They are $40, new.

 

scott's website sucks and doesn't give much of any geometry info. Build out is mostly **** but for the drivetrain is good enough for gravity stuff. I would assume it would ride decent enough. Has what is essentially a 4 bar style rear end which is going to be pretty decent for not needlessly blowing through travel. Brakes are very meh.

The suspension is the biggest letdown. Proprietary damping setups with no compression adjustment. X-fusion actually makes a few decent fork and I don't know if this version utilizes a shim stack in the fork or if the damping cart is up gradable. Same with the rear shock although some what normal for bottom barrel rear shocks.

Overall not a terrible bike but I'd be ***** deep in upgrading it and it would overall be a pointless purchase. That being said... ride it. If you like it, buy it. Make sure to rail it over some braking bumps and something that tests the high/low speed compression so you know what you think of the factory tune and port damping units. Bikes with very little low speed compression feel great in the parking lot but have brake dive and pack down on the trail.

 

I will be running both. I just don't have it shown on the fork.

I was building it with cable stops, there would only be enough brake housing to get it from the aero levers to the frame cable stop. the internal routing would be without housing and there would then only be a few inches of housing at the bottom bracket...

 

Don't know how I missed this...

http://www.vitalmtb.com/videos/featu...6950/sspomer,2

 

Thanks for your input. Pretty much what I had in mind. At this point it's only in my grasp if I go with something like that. I get the bike and a pass for $1200, the bikes are rentals but they rebuild the fork and put new bearings in the pivots, as well as bleed the brakes and whatnot before they sell em to you. You can also rent the bike, and if you choose to buy they will apply the rental cost towards the bike.. so I might do that this weekend. I figure if it gets me riding angelfire it's well worth the investment, and I can upgrade the parts as I see fit over time just like anything else.

It's either that, or wait another year to get into it. I do have enough **** to do as-is, lol.


Holy ****.

 

pretty standard dh/fr setup. Nice short chianstays, 65 hta, very short effective top tube. As long as you like the suspension and enjoy it... it's a decent buy. You won't lose your as if you decide to upgrade it for the price you'd be getting it for.

 

Well, that escelated quickly:

$20 for three laps, broken RD, and a flat in warm-up.

 

That sucks. Welcome to racing bicycles.

How was the rest of the experience?