Anyone here ride cyclocross? (and general bike stuff)
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back when I was in school, I took a class on bicycle maintenance (you can learn almost everything about fixing a bike in one semester, which is nice) and i heard about cyclocross for the first time.
for those of you who arent familiar, it was a sport that came about because road racers needed something to do in the crappy weather months of the year. simply, its just road bikes with knobby tires and tweaks to make them better for dirty, muddy, and rough courses. anyways, when I heard how the bikes were put together it only made sense to have one since its a do-it-all type of bike.
so, i bought a cheap $50 hybrid bike and did some work to convert it. drop bars, new paint, better wheels, and other little things. however, i wasn't really able to dedicate any time to any sort of racing so i just through road tires on and used it for exercise/recreation.
well, I'm finally getting around to finishing what I started and am reworking the bike again. of course, like cars, its addictive as hell to wrench and very fun. when Im done hopefully it will be a useful bike.
anyone here race 'cross around milwaukee? or does any mountain biking and would know good trails? i don't really know where to start or practice or anything and searching is only yielding clubs, which maybe in the future would be good but for right now not. i've done a couple 'muddy buddy' races and the conditions are like a 'cross race, but its really not the same thing (its a team race).
Dan
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and if you say 'fixie' or 'how much does your bike weigh' i will hire chuck norris to punch you.
Dan
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you should check out corey the bike fixer (i used to be a wrench there) since you live on the east side.
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unfortunately i dont really like bike shops in general. (corey, bikesmith, crank daddy's). its like going into the BMW dealership for parts. they assume you don't know anything and talk to you like your an idiot, even if you clearly know what you're talking about. a couple of for-instances:
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i've bought new parts from them and when i got home and opened the box, the parts were already used, like i wouldn't notice.
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just today i went in to get some parts. here was the conversation:
Me: "I need 10ft of shift housing and 6ft of brake housing and some cables for road levers"
Shop guy: (looked at me with a funny look) "Why do you need that much?"
Me: "I'm running full length cable housing"
Shop guy: "For a road bike?!"
Me: "No its not a road bike"
Shop guy: "Then you probably need mountain bike cables"
Me: "Its a cyclocross bike, it has drop bars and road levers"
Shop guy: "Oh... (thinking...) Well how are you doing the cable stops?"
jesus just get me some housing!!
Dan
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chris, this is exactly what the bike looked like when i bought it in 2004. it was that red, it had the rear rack and the super high handlebars. its a 1997 or 98 Mongoose crossway 650. very much an old person hybrid bike. unfortunately i dont have any pictures of when I first refurb'd it, but i will have some new ones soon. the only thing left now from the original bike is the frame and derailleurs.
Dan
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if you don't like bike shops go to truly spoken in riverwest on center ask about the "wolf pack rides" and where to to some cyclecross riding
if Ayton is there tell him Dustin says HI
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thanks, will stop in there and chat with them! do you bike as well?
Dan
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i dig bikes. every year i race the riverwest 24 but other than that i just roll around on nice summer days for fun nothing serious
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Never done a cyclocross race but for mountain bike trails, DEFINITELY check out the John Muir trails, they are a network of single track trails that are absolutely fantastic and generally well cared for. Usually not very busy either. I have a friend that is very into cycling and I could ask him about trails and things if you'd like
Back before I had a car I built a few bikes. I took an old 1970's Japanese ten speed I bought for 30 bucks and built a cheap fixed gear/single speed out of it for a college bike (I will never call it a 'fixie', I like the simplicity and reliability and that's why I built it) as well as a 1985 Trek 560 road bike with a Frankenstein drive-train (18 speed, 2 front 9 rear, down-tube non-indexed friction shift, really takes a while to get used to but it works perfectly)
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Never done a cyclocross race but for mountain bike trails, DEFINITELY check out the John Muir trails, they are a network of single track trails that are absolutely fantastic and generally well cared for. Usually not very busy either. I have a friend that is very into cycling and I could ask him about trails and things if you'd like
Back before I had a car I built a few bikes. I took an old 1970's Japanese ten speed I bought for 30 bucks and built a cheap fixed gear/single speed out of it for a college bike (I will never call it a 'fixie', I like the simplicity and reliability and that's why I built it) as well as a 1985 Trek 560 road bike with a Frankenstein drive-train (18 speed, 2 front 9 rear, down-tube non-indexed friction shift, really takes a while to get used to but it works perfectly)
i like the not busy part for when i inevitably fall on my face. sounds like a great bike build (the trek), mine is definitely a frankenstein bike.
Dan
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i dig bikes. every year i race the riverwest 24 but other than that i just roll around on nice summer days for fun nothing serious
do you ride with Will and that gang? are you the dustin who made a rallycross car out of will's winter beater awhile back?
Dan
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someone said:
i like the not busy part for when i inevitably fall on my face. sounds like a great bike build (the trek), mine is definitely a frankenstein bike.
Definitely worth a look, they have a 10ish mile loop that is fantastic and you will almost never see someone on the outer part of the loop, a bit technical in places but overall very fun.
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i just looked up the john muir trail, i've actually biked there before on a gravel section and had no idea it was such an extensive mountain bike trail...very cool! will definitely be going back. thanks.
Dan
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New to the forum, just noticed this. I'm a professionally trained bicycle mechanic and have worked at numerous shops in the area and Missouri before I moved here. I ride cross and MTB. Wisconsin has a great cross race series every year. Also the Wisconsin Off Road Series is great if you wanted to try your hand at mountain bike racing. The John Muir trails are great. There are also some local Milwaukee spots that are fun and not technical at all. Sorry to hear about your crappy experiences at some of the shops here.
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I used to ride road a lot throughout college(UW-Milwaukee alumni). I think on a couple of years, I crossed the 11k miles mark. Then I graduated, tried to keep up with cycling but it's a losing battle. Heck, I haven't even touched my bike for 2 years now? Just gathering dust and I used to change bikes way too often. I have a mountain bike and try to get out as much as possible but the idea of driving to a location just to ride defeats the purpose of cycling.... And with my schedule, it's hard to find someone to ride with. Sigh, the good old days. I would really like to try cyclocross but once again, time is so limited. Heck, I'm staying up past midnight the past 2 weeks to work on my car
Current hanging road bike (Pinarello) and mountain bike(Trek) gathering dust
Collection of past bikes
Specialized Venge
Specialized Tarmac(Cavendish edition!)
I think there were 8-9 other bikes if you include the TT bikes, over the span of 4 years. Yes, I had a problem.. ;x
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cool bikes! i don't want to think what you paid for all that carbon. still have to snap some photos now that i've been riding mine.
and thanks for the info, caleb.
Dan
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More info on that tricycle!
That tricycle hanging in my picture? No idea, got it at a junk sale for like $20.
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