Cross Tech

It's Friday, I'm injured (more on that later), so no training BS, but I don't want to disappoint you, so here are some thoughts for you to ponder.


Here is Nys' bike. Notice how short the chainstays appear to be.


Contrast that with American Tim Johnson's bike.

I was talking with Jim Quinn at Wrentham. He was using a Cannondale road bike for his second cx bike. He said he used it as his first choice at many races, because the tighter geometry gave him an advantage. Jim owns a fairly large, successful bike shop and could choose just about whatever equipment he desires. It got me thinking. I haven't owned a lot of cx bikes. Besides the bike I ride now, the only other purely cx purpose-built bike I've ridden was a Torelli. That bike was basically a road bike with cantilevers. The wheelbase was 99 cm. Tire clearance was tight, but the bike handled better than anything else I've tried before or since.

Notice that neither of the pro bikes pictured above has the typical nine miles of seatpost sticking out either. The trend on the road has been to compact and shorter and shorter frames. It seems to me many US cx designs follow the MTB model of short seat tubes and long chainstays. IMHO Nys' bike is better, especially for the dry courses we've been seeing lately. It looks a lot like a traditional road bike from a few years back. Thanks for reading.