on 9/3/09 3:28 PM, bfd at bfd...@yahoo.com replied to : > what Bill Connell wrote: >> FWIW, there are a few guys here who are racing old road or touring >> frames as cross bikes and routinely faster than me, so i don't think >> there's anything wrong with using the Trek for a season :-)
with > Agree. Further, doesn't Riv have lower bb height than most "cross" > bikes? If so, you may want to check the height of you Trek as it may > be more useful in a cross race. I hear the bb height thing a lot in referring to cross bikes in general. I think it's a bit of a misnomer, as most of the cross bikes built with the high bb's were back when folks ran clips & straps on the CX course. When clipless pedals hit, most builders returned to the "normal" range. The only cross-specific frame I've owned had the lowest bb of any of my bikes (Lemond Poprad, 1st production year). FWIW, I'd clip a pedal or crankarm every once in a while on technical, off-camber trails, but other than that, never noticed it. And, to bring it around to Rivendell designs, I think Grant has worked the bb height consideration in all manner of ways. I recall an early RR where he wrote about what happened to handling when he tested prototypes with higher bb's - I'm paraphrasing by memory here - it felt like the bike was in a ditch and didn't want to react to rider input, until it suddenly tipped to the desired direction. He didn't want to design a bike like that. I've gone through all manner of steep drops and wacky berms, and my experience with using the Quickbeam and Hilsen on courses is that if you can hang on, the bike will get you through just fine. - Jim -- Jim Edgar cyclofi...@earthlink.net Cyclofiend Bicycle Photo Galleries - http://www.cyclofiend.com Current Classics - Cross Bikes Singlespeed - Working Bikes Send In Your Photos! - Here's how: http://www.cyclofiend.com/guidelines "I had to ride slow because I was taking my guerrilla route, the one I follow when I assume that everyone in a car is out to get me." -- Neal Stephenson, "Zodiac" --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ 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 -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
