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Sunday, September 5, 2010

Cyclocross - the first ride

I love it.

I can't remember having this much fun on a bike... hammering through a forest trail in a road position (down in the drops) is just an amazing thrill.

In general it feels like a road bike - same type of handlebars means same kinds of positions and similar feel.

But then you can hit a trail, or gravel, and it just floats through as if I were on my hybrid. No shocks meant full power from the pedals to the wheels, it's got a great solid feel.

Downsides?
  • Sand - thinner tires + narrower handlebars = tricky
  • Brakes - I don't know if they're just new or this is status quo, but I had to really squeeze to get the bike stopped, especially downhill
  • Gearing - this bike has a double on the front, which on some of the steep trail hills will be a challenge (my hybrid has a triple). I'm used to spinning, now I have to learn to spin a low but even cadence uphill
Upsides?
  • Faster than the hybrid - no shocks means all the power at the pedal gets to the rear wheel, and the position is much more aero
  • Stronger than the road bike - takes the wider tires with no fear of puncture, it's an off-road machine that can deal competently with on-road
  • Great feel - I could really feel what was under me and how the bike was reacting to what was under me. Maybe this is the lack of shocks, but I felt very confident even when I got moving fast!
I'm going to be riding this bike a lot... off-season and on! It's just too much fun not to, my new favourite.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I agree, best bike ever for getting the fun back into riding. We use ours for double and triple bricks - we ride and run trails instead of hitting the roads.