Thanks for all the notes! I'm inspired the by the idea that maybe brakes (Weinmann calipers) don't matter that much at this point in the game (as a super slow speed beginning just learning how to get on and off the bike at a canter). Since I'm mainly trying this out for fun, I'm not really worried about ground speed. I brought my old trek 420 to class lass night but was pretty spooked by the gravel track on my 25c contis! So, I'm opting to try some cheap-y nashbar cross tires on the Trek before I fully commit to converting the Riv over to cross duties (especially since it seems easier to locate 700c over 650b cross tires). The Riv does have nice Pauls centerpulls but I'll have to do a lot of renovations (remove honjos, convert from downtube to bar-ends, remove rack, etc) to get it up to speed for this project.
LL On Sep 3, 12:19 pm, Bill Connell <bconn...@gmail.com> wrote: > On Wed, Sep 2, 2009 at 6:33 PM, Lesli<lesli.lar...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > I'm thinking about converting my Riv road (w/centerpulls) for Fall > > amateur-hour cyclocross (going to my first clinic tonight). I was > > planning to use my old vintage fenderless Trek 420 but I'm not sure if > > the weinmann calipers will hold up in muddy conditions (I THINK I > > could retrofit the bike with slightly wider cross tires). > > > Any suggestions for 650b type cross tires or other possible points of > > conversion. Wondering if it would be better to set up bike as a > > single speed or maybe switch over to single chainring in front, seven > > speed block in back with a more burly derailleur). > > > What do other folks who run mountainbike-ish road bikes use in the way > > of tires and drivetrain set-ups?? > > I raced my first season returning to cyclocross on my Redwood, so i'd > guess that your Road should work pretty well too. My only caveats > would be whether you can get any kind of knobby tire in there (i don't > know the Road's clearance), and your chances of success will be much > greater if it's not super muddy. On my Redwood i could get a 35c > 'cross tire in with no problem. No fenders, of course. There are > people who race with centerpulls on old frames around here and they do > fine, but i think in general our 'cross season isn't nearly as muddy > as around Oregon. > > I highly recommend a single chainring setup if you're racing with > gears. I switched to singlespeed last year, but before that i used a > 1x8, and it was plenty of gear range. I really only used about 3 of > the gears in any given race. Like Jim noted, expect accelerated wear > on parts, particularly rims and brake pads and drivetrain, depending > on conditions. > > -- > Bill Connell > St. Paul, MN --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
