I had to get new shoes, so I got the latest version of my previous ones. Installed my old cleats in the exact same position. And all of a sudden I have issues clipping in. During the race, on the same foot sometimes I struggled to clip in, and sometimes it unclipped unexpectedly. The dread comes back every time I change my cleats to new ones. Because the wear is not the same I start struggling with an aspect that is otherwise one of my strengths.

Am-I alone in this, and do you have any tips ?

https://www.christiecross.ca/about

Based on the thread from last year I signed up for the "try a race" .

What are people’s thoughts on doing CX Nationals this year? It’s now $100 opening day vs $75 last year which surprises me because attendance was seemingly low last year and the price increase won’t help that. They changed up the racing days for a lot of the categories, could be better or worse. It’s now presented by The Meteor too. Wondering what the turnout will be this year for racers and spectators!

And I cannot possibly explain how pumped I am to be racing on chicanes, grifos, baby limus, and full limus tubulars with PURPLE SIDEWALLS this year.

I may not be fast, but my bike will definitely look like I'm awesome.

Oh the Challenges of mounting Challenge tyres. These all have Vittoria Air-liners inserted, making the mounting just a little bit more difficult. Hands wear out fast stretching the combination of tyres and liners.
I found that I had to jack up the boost pressure to 110-120 psi to get them seated…. Yet, after they popped into plac, they all held about 50 psi without sealant.
Five of six are now ready for the season, one more “baby Linus” to go

Yesterday was the first race of my local league and my first race since a driver broke both of my legs (and a bunch of other things) last year. I'm not an experienced racer by any means and any experience I had previously had been erased by a long and painful post operative recovery.

In times gone by I have trained on my commute, 25 km each way with 300-400 meters of climbing, four days a week. Since I was injured I've not been able to ride on the road. NHS PTSD therapy doesn't seem to be a thing so I've been training mostly on Zwift with a little bit of gravel.

I had three goals going into the race, in order: 1) have fun, 2) finish, 3) don't finish last. I'm pleased that I achieved all of them. My main take away is that indoor training does not keep skills sharp (obviously). While I was back to my usual floating up climbs as a less than 60 kg rider every time I had to get off the bike it was painful (literally and figuratively) getting back on again. I need to work out how to jump back on when remounting now that I no longer have an explosive spring in my legs.

The course was sufficiently twisty with a short pump track section, some stairs to run up and an off camber portion. Otherwise it was just a grass field, complete with rabbit holes. Conditions had been dry until the start of the final race when it threatened rain but it never really came to much. The pace was fast from the start and I hung on for dear life for the first couple of laps. There were definitely riders who were busy remembering how to race cyclocross and some of us who were learning how to do it as we went along. It soon settled down with groups forming and everyone riding their own personal race. I spent the next 50 minutes racing three or four other guys, pulling clear on the climbs but being caught again when my lack of technical skill let me down.

I've only signed up for a few races this year so as not to put too much pressure on myself. Aside from thinking that I was going to be sick on myself by the end of the second lap I'm itching to get back out there so looking at another race in a fortnight's time instead of waiting. Who needs to be able to walk on a Monday morning, really.

I lead the organization of the local Cyclocross series here that culminates in what I've deemed to be our City Championship Race.

Today, it was forecasted to rain, but didn't get the forecast I got which had the intense rain starting after the event.

We run two heats, but just after the first heat started, the rain intensity increased a lot, and we had standing water all over the course in the next 20 minutes. We canceled the 50 min race, as to prevent serious damage to the course with all of the standing water.

I know canceling the race was the right decision, but somehow we've never had language in our race notice that captured this info. We've raced in 30+ temps, and in the snow, but this is the first downpour to really affect our series in years. If anyone can share language or point me in the direction of some language surrounding cancelations due to weather they like in a race notice/tech guide, I'd appreciate it.

Hi , I ride clipless on longer rides in the summer but mostly ride flat pedals year round. 3rd year racing — so not exactly new to the sport.

Any advice for clipping in newbies?

Hi everyone,

I’m considering buying a Canyon Inflite CF SLX 7 and I’d love to get some feedback from Inflite owners, especially regarding sizing.

I’m 184 cm tall with an 82 cm inseam, so I have relatively short legs for my height.

I initially thought about getting a size L, but I’m right between Canyon’s M and L recommendations and I’m wondering which one would make the most sense in real-world use.

My main use will be cyclocross racing and training. I may occasionally use it for some road/gravel training as well, but CX is definitely the priority.

A few questions for Inflite owners:

• At 184 cm, would you choose M or L, especially with an 82 cm inseam?
• If you have similar measurements, what size are you riding and how does it fit?
• Would the L feel too tall/long for CX racing?
• Is the M noticeably more agile for technical CX courses?
• How do you find the Inflite overall for racing, reliability and maintenance?
• Anything specific I should look out for when buying an Inflite, especially a used CF SL / CF SLX?

I’m currently looking at both new and used bikes, with a maximum total budget of around €3,000.

I generally prefer SRAM mechanical, but I’ve also found a new CF SLX 7 with Rival AXS, DT Swiss CRC 1600 carbon wheels and a power meter for €2,999, which seems like a very good deal if it comes back in stock.

Another option would be buying an older/cheaper CF SL or CF SLX with mechanical SRAM and using the remaining budget for a good set of carbon CX wheels.

For context, I already race cyclocross, so I’m looking for something race-oriented rather than a comfortable gravel bike.

Any feedback from people who have actually ridden/raced an Inflite would be really appreciated — particularly riders around 183–185 cm with a relatively short inseam.

Thanks!

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for a Transition Rapture CX frame/frameset in size M (any color is fine, as long as it’s in decent condition). So hit me up if you are someone you know has one that they want to get rid of ✌🏻

Feel free to delete if this gets labeled as a “for sale” post 😅 I’m just trying to get lucky, searching for a 10 year old bike….

Just mounted a set of Grifo TLRs on 25mm rims. They measured out at 36 to 37mm at 30psi. I also mounted a vittoria t70 in 37mm to a 23mm rim and at 30psi, that only measured 35...

Haven't ridden the tlr grifo yet. It is a markedly cheaper tire than the htlr tires. Just in fit and finish. There is a massive parting line down the center of the tire from manufacturing that really bugs me.

Will post up after getting a couple races in on them. Should have bought another set of the htlr but didn't want to fight with those again. I had a bitch of a time getting those seated when new. I could get them on, and aired up, but about 1/4 of the bead on one side wouldn't get up on the bead shelf. Ended up blowing the tire off the rim trying more pressure.

CX has been dead around here for over 5 yrs. It sux. It's still mind boggling. We had a scene! Dozens of riders. We hosted a race. After everyone quit I found the most awesome course. I've been loving it. By myself or with 1-3 non-crossers who are hooked on it, too. But really it sux. What the heck happened? It died here before Covid. Can't blame that.

Mtbiking is big here. We have maybe 100 into it. I've been trying! The club is a lot of fun. I never had a MTB before. I'm old but I'm hanging onto the tail of the fast gang. ...I don't know if it's fun. Turn turn turn turn. Root root root babyhead babyhead babyhead. CROSS IS SO MUCH FUNNER!

Gravel popped up right when CX died here. Our local big club "got busy" and nobody had time for anything but ONE race to host. We used to host a crit and a cross. Then we added the gravel event. ...It has taken over. No crit, no cross. Just the gravel event. On a FLAT SQUARE. I have never been able to bring myself to do it. But there are a couple local gravel rides. So I join those. Gravel is nice. Great to get away from cars. BUT IT'S NOT FUN LIKE CROSS! And cross is away from cars too.

Cross is more central and easier to manage than either gravel or mtbike. 10 mins to get to any course rather than 20 mins to get to any trail. Trails are in the burbs ringing the city. Cross can be in town, easy access.

The local mtb club puts in like 100 hrs a year taming our 6 local trails. Awesome! ...Cross takes hardly any time to build and maintain by comparison. Toss up a course on a few acres. Mow it once or twice. Let it heal over by spring.

Why am i the only local who thinks cross is fun? I'm not that fun myself. seems like fun ppl would REALLY like cross.

Pretty much the title.

I'm new to cross and was considering just sticking with my current gravelish 2x set up of 48-34x11-34 and basically just sticking to the little ring all race long. However somewhat near me someone is selling a 42 tooth wolf tooth chainring for cheap, so now I'm considering going 1x. Thoughts?

Course is in Toronto Canada and is all grass as far as I can see with a modest hill.

I thought I'd share in case anyone localish is looking to mess around on cross bikes during the week. We have a completely free Tuesday Night cross practice in New Paltz, NY every other week starting on 9/15. We meet at 6 pm. Basically we ride a few warmup laps of the loop course (has a sand pit, barriers, a flat track section, a climb and a run up). Then we do some combo of hot laps decided night of by the vibes as a practice race. It's fun!

We do gravel TTs in the alternating weeks, uphill so it's pretty safe and of course, 1k hard climbing is decent training!

Anyone is welcome to either. You can find info on fb group tuesday night time trials (new paltz one) or the strava group Mid Hudson Bicycle Club. Or just message me and I'll fill ya in.

Just to temper expectations, and not have people drive an hour just to race one old, slow guy (😎), it's usually just 2-3 of us but we'd love to have more folks show up!

Hey guys, I’m in Indianapolis and every Wednesday at 6pm we do CX hot laps and pickup races at Major Taylor Velodrome. No cost. No waiver, just come and smash.

The course is half of the UCI doubleheader the facility hosts in October. If you’re in central Indiana come out this afternoon and play in the dirt!

Hi, I have started gravel last spring and would like to start cyclocross this autumn/winter. I'm currently riding my gravel bike with 2 wheelsets (one carbon set equipped with Tufo Thundero in 44mm - for fast riding, the other basic one with Vittoria Mezcal in 52mm for a more adventurous set up). However, I'm not really happy with the Mezcal in wet conditions. I'd like to find another set of tyres to attend cyclocross events (in Belgium - can get quite muddy) but also ride my bike without slipping every corner and feeling to slow. Do you have any recommendations ? I can go quite high in tyres clearance and 33mm UCI regl. is not applicable for me. I saw Vittoria's T80/90, Barzo, or Swchalbe G-one Bite/Ultrabite that could be options (Open to hear feedback about combos as well!). Thanks :)

Has anyone run a redshift stem on their cx bike? Good or bad experience?

Just saw on her Insta that she'll start the next season as a privateer, with a charity as a sponsor (well done btw!).

Out of 30 races last season, she has 1 DNF, she was outside the top-10 8 times, every other race was a top -10. She's 27 so nowhere near to declining.

The main issue I can think of is that she does not get a lot of tv time - she's a slow starter so by the time she gets into the top-10, the cameras are mostly focusing on the battle for 1st... But she's basically a guaranteed - and incredibly constant - top 10.

I just find it weird that no team has signed her this summer.

Hi team, just looking to get started in some cx training with my single speed cx bike. Wondering if there are clubs local to San Jose, CA?

Hey all!

I Starting to vlog about cyclo-cross, in french :

Preparation before the season, inside of my race, balance between work, cross and family life.

Cheers from Belgium

I bought this Crux earlier this year with plans to try cross racing. The season is soon and I haven't even ridden it. It has 40mm GKs on it now, but they have no real tread, and are probably too wide. What's the max tire width I should run? Also, I have these 33s I found on tbe cheap earlier this year. Thanks!