2012 JGMCX Clinic and the start of 'cross season.

Last weekend officially kicked off cyclocross training for me and the rest of my fellow racers.

photo courtesy of brokenspokephotography

We all gathered at the Johnathan Gantz Memorial Cyclocross Clinic in lower York County. This event was put together by the area's hugely recognized cyclocross racer, Sean Mealey who was a close friend of the late Jon Gantz. Entry fees for the day supported the York Area Mountain Bike Association membership drive. These guys keep our bike trails alive!

Mealey planned out the day, called out the troops, drafted Bad Andy to come down and advise us on the ways of the Jedi for 'cross. I believe there were around 35 cyclists who showed up in respect for Gantz; honor for cyclocross and to cherish throwing down on all this biking.

We ran drills covering the basics of carry, shouldering, running with the bike, and took a soft pedal lap of the course that Mealey designed for the day. We then broke for lunch and returned for a few more skills sessions and gathered for the final activity; the team relay which proved itself to be a blast. (2 laps per rider, 5 rider teams w/no stacking of talent)

photo courtesy of brokenspokephotography

Me and Owen Brenneman (our jr team racer) waiting our turn to be tagged for the relay portion of the day. This guy is 10 years old and just oozing talent. So proud of him! This season should be another good one for Owen and watching him race motivates me to work smarter yet have fun with it as to prevent burn out.


Flip to my garage...with one bike repair stand holding the Oltre and the other repair stand holding the Cavaria 'cross frame, I proceeded to swap the parts from the Oltre to the Cavaria. Much like a surgeon would perform an organ donor transplant, I carefully inspected the parts on the Oltre, cleaned and service them if needed. Then attached them to the Cavaria 'cross frame.

In small way I was not ready to disable the Oltre. It's been a wonderful year riding that bike and can honestly say that this summer had to be the best season I've had on the bike to date from a training, racing, and even at a social pace riding perspective. I'm not 100% ready to sell the Oltre and get a new Bianchi XYZ but seeing what is on the laptop for the new 2013 Bianchi Product Range, might make the sale a bit easier. All I have to say for now is...Sempre Pro perhaps?

From 2012 Bianchi Cavaria SRAM Red

Following the plans of last year's build up of the Cavaria for 'cross season, I'm running Campy Ergo cables but changing over to FSA cantilever brakes for the season. Why? Why not, just trying something new. The TRP CX90 brakes performed well last season. In the same sence, we had a very favorable 'cross season with regards to weather conditions on race day. This year, my internal almanac says we're not getting off so easily. I'm requesting more mud clearance, hence the jump to canti brakes. 

After basically unbolting the bars on the Oltre and then securing them to the Cavaria, I pulled the rear derailleur cable out of its housing and installed it for use at the front derailleur. Yes I'm a bit stingy but these cables saw zero moisture this year so why get rid of a good thing. 


Needing a new rear shifter cable and housing, I turned to the Delta Duracoat Teflon shifter cable and Shimano's SP41 shifter housing with brass ferrules. The new housing was then installed at the rear derailleur with a SRAM mandatory housing length of 36cm for proper shifting quality and two sections of housing went up at the bend past the seat post clamp. Again, the shifting reliability/quality with this cable and housing combination will blow your mind with how good it works. Even when running this set up on the Oltre and showing that bike to dealers who were cynical about SRAM's front shifting, were amazed by how great the shifter feels and operates.

Enough chest pounding. The bike is finished, Challenge Grifo tires are hanging in the basement, waiting for Tacchino in September. 

'cross on!

A-class ALX 730 wheels, post 'cross race season.

Wheels are often over looked, yet often over obsessed about for the wrong reasons. Thanks to the guys at Just Riding Along Bike Shop for keeping mine rolling through 'cross season last year!

New SRAM Red, does it taste better?

After spending 2011, flicking away on SRAM's top shelf Red build kit, there's a new version launching this season. You can grab the announcement....here!

This isn't the first mention of the parts giant, making severe changes to their top level kit. Blurbs on the Twitterverse cropped up from the likes of @ryantrebon, pro cx racer and my 6'5" idol. (Hey, us tall folks need someone to look up to...or look at, depending on your height.)



Photos and a video of a newly shaped brifter silhouette, brakes, crankset got many salivating.

Having ridden Shimano on the road since '88, a handful of years on Campagnolo, and what I can describe as my most product year on the bike from a training and racing perspective in 2011, my Red build kit ran flawlessly. Now some of that might be due to having a top notch mechanic (ahem!). Because of this, there weren't many tools put to the build group over the course of the 2011 season.

Having been on Campagnolo Chorus before moving to Red, I was already used to a slightly noisy drivetrain and a more communicative shifting system. When I say noisy, I'm referring to the slight buzz that resonates from the idler pulleys on Campy's rear derailleur while pedaling down the road. Communicative, in the sense that when you shift the rear using the PowerDome cassette, there's no mistaking your high gear selection. Personally, I like that. Some cyclists...meh, not so much. Terms like clunky have been tossed around to describe this characteristic. I'm guessing these are Shimano users who have become accustom to the shifting traits of Shimano and need to remember that SRAM is SRAM and Shimano is Shimano; so stop wishing SRAM is Shimano and make a decision based on open-mindedness, not long term complacency.

The features of the upcoming Red kit seem to have addressed concerns of operating noise as well as the firmer shifting tension at the crank by using a Yaw design for the front derailleur. Maybe it's my long leverage fingers but shifting at the crank has had zero issues. The ergo controls have been very comfortable and the ability to 'ham fist' shifting during cx racing was an eye opener last year.

Clicking off shifts, bouncing across grassy fields and single track on Sundays, last fall during the MARBRA Super8 Series, reminded me of why I like SRAM on my mountain bike. No mis-shifts, no skipping or chain dumping on the front (no I didn't run a chain watcher during cx races), just flat out, gear banging like Jenson Button in his McLaren.

From Bianchi 1885/ SRAM Red

On the road, my first experience of contesting a sprint finish at the local Wednesday Worlds was an eye opener. Honestly I was a bit gun shy the first time I needed to reach for another gear while in the drops, at top speed. I flicked the wrist, cringed slightly for what may happen, then, snick! Right into the next gear with no hesitation or self destruction-over the handlebars- FAIL. Confident inspiring. Love it.

The GXP bottom bracket has been terrific. The way the crank shaft engages against the non-driveside bearing in order to unload the driveside bearing has allowed me to run the same bottom bracket all year, through training, road racing and a season of cyclocross. I did develop a clicking sound at the 2 o'clock position of the crank, after my first cross race. This was remedied by removing the crank and the bottom bracket dust shields, cleaning the seals of the bb and installing everything with a fresh skim of Park Took grease. Noise gone!

I'm excited to try the new group. Will it make me dislike the generation of Red I'm on currently? Not sure. I can see the ergonomics being my favorite improvements due to my bear paw size hands. The newly designed front derailleur has sparked my interest too.

2012 is looking to be another exciting year for us bike geeks.

Schooley Mill recap.

Over to the race page....[more]

MARBRA Super8 Ed Sander Memorial recap.

I'll refrain from an apology for being tardy on the entry of the Ed Sander cx race which happened two weekends ago...but hey, I don't feel tardy....

A.Brenneman Photography

We rolled in with the trailer early with hopes of getting a spot in the team tent area which we did. Nice. After unpacking the gear, hitting the registration tent and catching the tail end of Mike Brenneman's (above photo rider) field finishing up, all of us on deck for the 10am push off, slipped into something more comfortable.

Photo courtesy of C.Sherdel.

Me, Evans, Sherdel and McCready pinned our numbers on the left-side and promptly started our OCD pre-race rituals. Despite the temps hovering around 29*F that morning, it felt great to warm up on the trainer under the bright morning sun; no wind. This race was kissed by blue bird skies just as the other MABRA Super8 events have this year; at least the ones I've attended--missed Hyattsville and Winchester, :(

After 30 minutes of trainer time and a water bottle of jet fuel, I swapped out the rear trainer wheel for knobbys and reset the tire pressure as any good boy should. Evans was still unsure of his bottom bracket which seems to have felt the wrath of another local 'cross race gone Belgium the weekend before. Yikes, later this proved to be fatal on his first lap, forcing our man Evans a mechanical and a DNF. Better luck next time mate.

The Ed Sander's venue was beyond comprehension when explained to me at first. Holding a 'cross race at a lily pad farm seemed to raise more than just my eyebrow. The course flagging tape wound its way wearily between large, deep ponds which are used to grow lily pads. Honestly, I thought it was pretty rad once I got the first lap under my belt and it sunk in where I had just ridden through.

Back to the start. The four of us lined up and I'm back again, near 100th on the starting grid. It would be nice if we were staged like F1 according to your qualifying laps, not your ability to stare at the Bikereg.com web page ready to pounce on the register now button, but I digress.

The whistle blows at less than 30 seconds to go and the drag race starts up the long road section to the first left turn into the grass. It's funny how things unfold at the start, the adrenalin spikes and things go into slo-mo. Half way up the road which everyone was doing a swell job to not crash into each other, I realized the course tape extended 3 feet off the road to the side and no one was seeing this. At that moment of clarity, I clicked off another gear and tore off into the grass, around gobs of racers, and got back onto the road in time as the field pealed off the pavement onto softer terrain.

My first lap saw the usual bottle neck of cyclist at the hard left turn into the mud pit; I ran it the first lap. Second lap, tried to be a hero and pedaled through the muck which burned off way too many matches I was saving for later, laps 3-5 I ran that section like a nervous doe during opening season gaining much ground on the others who decided to have a pissing match with the pit. [By the time the Masters 1/2/3 field went off with Clark and Mealey, this section of mud was 50% drier.]

A.Brenneman Photography

Shane McCready moving through traffic during the first half of the race.

A.Brenneman Photography

Chris Sherdel on the pavement section of the course, eyeballing the first turn.

I really was enjoying the fast corners; probably the fastest of corners compared to the other races this year. I feel that a couple of psi less in the rear would have yielded a faster lap time on the grass yet bogged things down on the long stretch of road up to the finish line. That's the tricky thing about 'cross racing; finding that balance of tire pressure for on and off road.

A.Brenneman Photography

3 laps to go I caught Sherdel and we did a little tempo work on the climb to the finish area. It felt good to ride with a teammate for a bit...guess it's the roadie in me speaking...?

I love the MC work that went on at ESMCX. Mostly because I got heckled BAD by the dude. I have a habit of loosing track of 'laps to go' during the race. Hell, with a murder yourself attitude when riding, the memory is the first to go, right? On the grassy mid-field climb near the announcers area, I took in a huge gulp of air and shouted out to the guy, 'How many laps to go?' He shouted back over the PA, 'Man, if you can talk, you ain't riding hard enough!' Damn, tough crowd here, I thought. Luckily Mealey was at the next corner and yelled back, 'One and half, this half and then one more...go, go!' Love everywhere, haha!

After attacking the road section every lap, I chalked up a 29th place finish out of 84 riders that started. There was a dozen or so no-shows which was easy money in the promoters pocket since those dudes DNS'd. I'm pretty happy after starting near the last line of the start. My kill points for this race have bumped me to 5th place out of 217 guys in my division of the MABRA Super8 series-- happy, happy.

A.Brenneman Photography

Our junior racer Owen, drilled it for a 3rd place finish in the Juniro 10-14 age division. Nice work from the kid who the announcer claimed 'weighs no more that a fifth of liquor'. 12 more years he can have that victory pint.

A. Brenneman Photography

Great effort man! And congrats to his dad Mike Brenneman for being that 'cool dad' who takes him racing. They have a ton of fun with the rest of the family cheering from behind the tape.

The Masters 35+ 1/2/3 field is fast, smaller in size than the Masters 35/45+ 3/4 I race. Sort of the difference between a cup of diner breakfast coffee versus a doppio-- condensed and powerful.

Clark and Mealey lined up down the road and I stood craning my neck over the tap to catch the drag race that was about to start. Bam, in a flash there were up the road and tearing into the grass.

A.Brenneman Photography

Clark Evanitus grinding away in the grass. This guy is like a diesel, bottom end power that keeps spooling up.


Clark on the short power climb, exiting the mud pit area. I envy his field as the pit was drier by 1pm when his class went off; more ride-able. 11th overall for the day.


Our Team Director, Mealey tackling the climb, post-mud pit which then led to a sweeping left into the barriers/run up.

A.Brenneman Photography

Mealey pushing it up the climb after the barrier section. This part of the course burned the most matches-- mud pit to barriers to steep run up. 17th place overall for the day.

A.Brenneman Photography

Like any good day of racing, we all look forward to relaxing, recovering and review the events that unfolded from the side of the course. The Mens 1/2/3, Killer Bs, women's field all provided copious amounts of entertainment as we gobbled down food and and enjoyed a cold beer.

A.Brenneman Photography

This race season I learned that me and Mike B (left of me in photo above) have so much in common from our youth it's scary; yet never crossed paths. Funny how racing brings people together who you never knew growing up. This makes you realize how small the world truly is once you start sharing stories of yesteryear.


Packed up and heading home. Thanks for the great efforts guys!

A.Brenneman Photography

The team Keystone Velo 'cross guys. (l-r) Shane McCready, Evans Rohrbaugh, Chris Sherdel, Mike Brenneman, Owen Brenneman, Clark Evanitus, Will Mahler and team director Sean Mealey. I'm blessed to have a great crew around me.

Keystone Velo and DCCX wrap up.

I'm working backwards on this post as the photo album below has already been Tweeted.

None the less, here's the embedded version.

This Sunday, the Ed Sanders Memorial in Adamstown, MD. Race #5 of the MABRA Super8 series.

Enjoy!

2011 DCCX 'cross race/Keystone Velo

Up, up, up!

Clark knows how to throw it down @DCCX. It's hard enough to race in the Men's 1/2/3 field let alone get moto on along the front straight like this.

Nice work mate!

Granogue, the Tower of Power.

Last weekend was the ever popular, ever growing, Granogue Cross race, located in the state of Delaware. This weekend event was not part of the MABRA Super8 series therefore team attendance was thin.

Mike Brenneman and Chris Sherdel did kit up and pin a number on for the KVC/Simplicity team.


Mike B putting his head down and running the course. I'm starting to think that other than Mealey, he's logged more cx race starts than anyone else on the team!

Chris wasn't so lucky for his race though. The Masters 35+/45+ came to abrupt end when a pile up on the concrete straightaway, left two racers on the ground in need of serious medical attention. One was Life-lined out and the other had a cab ride to the hospital in an ambulance. Not good; that group's race was done.

Next week is DCCX. Larger turnout for Keystone Velo, praying my form comes around by then.

Photo caption contest.

Tachinno Cross race 2011. KVC-Simplicity Cycles racer, Clark Evanitus in the barrier section. There's a lot going on in this photo.



Give me your best caption for what's happening in this shot and win a Bianchi Oltre Cycling Cap if I choose your caption! { kvc team excluded ;) }

Enter your comments in the comment section of the blog post. Good luck!

Youth of Today.

Race number two brought some of the Keystone Velo guys to the Winchester Cross race. Regretfully I didn't line up for this race as the long drive and some family commitments keep me home bound but our Bianchi Zurigo racer, Mike Brennaman and his son Owen, pinned on a number the event.

Mike is one of our 4s racing for KVC p/b Simplicity Cycles cross team and his 9 year old son Owen races in the Junior field. Yes folks, 9 YEARS OLD! Mike has put together a small framed trail bike for his son with drop bars and canti's and 32c nobby tires so Owen can get dirty and bump shoulders with kids who are an average of five years older than him.

I'll keep this post brief as the video is what we're focusing on. Questions are delivered by our Team Director, Sean Mealey.


Oh yeah, here's a photo of Owen remounting at Tacchino Cross, last month. Owen has been out to our 'cross practices and his level of focus for a kid his age is inspiring.

People say you'll never forget your first.

The Tacchino Cross race marked the first race for the team last weekend. Yeah, I'm a week behind on the post but when you're trying to rustle up everyone's pre-books for the 2012, things get crammed near the end of September.

We had a six pack of guys from the Keystone Velo Club p/b Simplicity Cycles at the event. Three of the six guys raced cross last season. The other three were green; me being one of the newbies to the cross scene. I've owned a cross bike, rode it as a commuter bike back in my shop days but never pinned a number on my side and decided to red line it for 45 minutes.

Located in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, Tacchino was what some have described to me as one of the most technically challenging courses in the area. The weather was cooperative..errrr, let me say, not the typical Belgium junk weather but the course was wet and slippery from the storms the day before.



Mike Brenneman (above two photos) was representing the Cat 4 field and had an early start time of 0830. Our team director talked me and two other guys into doing the Masters 35/45+ 3/4s, mostly because of the later start time. And seeing as I had a two hour drive to the race, took his advice.

Me, Chris and Shane pinned on our numbers and rolled to the start 15 minutes prior to launch. The field was huge; 125 starters. It was then when I found out that you are staged at the start of the race by when you register for the race. Let's just say that I didn't register too early being moved up a class four days before the event, ended up sitting back in 100th something spot, along with Chris and Shane.


Chris Sherdel after closing the door on the rider behind him. I think Chris rode better than he expected. Hell, the guy is an Ultra-marathoner and a mountain biker on the weekends. That's a toxic cocktail of potential if you ask me!


Shane McCreedy (above pix) rode a solid race as well. He has some good low end power too from those soccer playing quads. A good mid-field finish by Shane and Chris.

I won't lie, I had some butterflies in my gut entering my first cross race but as usual, clamped down on them and squashed them underfoot once the gun went off. A paved start leading into a 30 degree turn to a grassy straight, did little to spread out the field. At this point I knew it was going to be a challenging morning working my way up through the already strung out field in front of us.

During the first lap I jockeyed a couple of times with Chris and Shane and honestly it felt odd to pass them. I'd attribute this feeling from the amount of time I spent pack riding at the local training crits and doing a couple of sanctioned races on the East Coast. This time it was every man for himself for all 5 laps.

The corners were definitely slippery and off cambered. The straightaways were long and the section between the straights were littered with punchy corners. Lot's of accelerating; on the gas, brake late and then off the gas. There was a hellish run up with a telephone pole as a barrier at the bottom of the hill and then another pole 10 feet from the top. At the top was DJ AA's tent playing the beats and what I could determine; a dude and a keg pouring bevies for the spectators enjoying that part of the course. I wanted a hand up from there so bad, not a sole willing to help a brother out. Damn.

Two barriers flanked the food concessions area which provided a level of entertainment on each lap; Duval consuming fans, screamed each lap for me to bunny-hop the barriers. Not this year guys...

Proper tire pressure is your friend at every race. It's the easiest thing to over look and sometimes the hardest thing for amateur racers to understand. I weigh 180lbs in the buff so I decided to roll with 30lbs in the front and 35lbs in the rear of the clincher Grifos. I was very happy with this pressure and how well the Grifo tires worked on this type of course. As the race unfolded, I realized how much mountain bike handling skills crossed over into 'cross. And if you aren't a diesel, you need to make up time in the corners.

As each lap clicked by, I could hear our DS, Sean Mealey yelling updates to me. At the third lap I hear heard him shout that I was closing in on another group of riders. That would explain why there wasn't much traffic on that 3rd lap. Despite feeling like my head was going to pop off from my heart rate being pegged the whole time, his words were encouraging so I continued to dig deep; i.e. don't get out of the 46t ring unless approaching slow off camber sections or traffic in that area.

With two laps to go, I closed in on a guy after rounding the first 160 degree, rising muddy turn to the right. He stops pedaling and launches his pre-race meal over the course tape. Yuk! I'm closing in fast and he hits the brakes and launches another protein spill, this time his bike has come to a complete stop. At this point a guy rolls past him, around the 90 degree left but looses speed when watching the gory display of exhaustion. I lean into the bars a bit and pass them both with out missing a beat.

The last two laps reminded me of racing this summer in Annandale, VA during the Wednesday at Wakefield races. Fast, hard, no spots to take a breather and technically complex. One lap to go and I'm trying to see straight, keep the mistakes to a minimum and keep the wheels turning. My mouth is dryer than I've ever experienced. It's not tradition to have a water bottle during this short 40 minute race. Imagine eating handfuls of mulch in the middle of the summer; yeah, that dry.



Two laps then becomes one lap to go and I'm up in traffic again in the last hillside before crossing the pavement to the straightaway finish. By now I'm running on fumes, loads of dopamine, and blurry eyed from the sweat running into my contacts and me not blinking enough for fear of missing a line through the last few corners. I reach for the drops, lower my head for one last sprint down the straight, and......done.

Mens 1/2/3


Clark in the foreground and Mealey in the back approach the final bend before the first set of barriers near the food concessions. I aspire to keep up with these two in the future.

Barrier time! Mealey flows like water according to Bruce Lee.




After the barrier section. The dynamic duo are back on the gas looking for some kill points.



Clark tackles the off camber section after the concessions/barrier area. Again, much hairier than it looks when you're riding it as apposed to spectating.



Mealey in the drops as he slices one off in the corner. Keeping low and balanced is critical through all the off camber sections.



The six amigos? Four Zurigos, a Carbon Cross Concept and my Cavaria Red litter the ground after our first team showing of the season. The guys were all smiles with regards to the handling of their new Zurigo bikes.

Takeaway:
Having seen my wife give birth to my two beautiful children, her pain and all through pregnancy and child birth, only to finish delivery with the comment of, I'd do that again......

Cyclocross, I'd do that again.

Thanks to Mike and Chris for the photos.

Cross season is here, what have you neglected to service on the bike?

This entry is about one of the most neglected parts on a bike if you ride Mavic wheels; the freehub.

My Ksyrium SL wheelset has seen pavement since springtime of this year; riding and racing. The freehub needs service at least two times a year so I figured it was due before my first cross race of the season.


This one has been cleaned out and is ready for lubrication. Removal if pretty straight forward if you have any technical abilities. Get a 10mm and 5mm hex wrench and Phil's Tenacious Oil, for starters.

Use caution when pulling the freehub body from the hub. The engagement paws will want to spring open and potentially fling their micro size springs across your workshop. Habitually, I'll remove this part with the wheel on the floor, slowly. That way if they do pop, the fall is a few inches instead of a few feet off the workbench and then bouncing to who knows where.

Clean the f/h paws, sealing gasket at the base of the hub, thrust washer (as seen on the 3 way wrench in the photo above) and the inside of the freehub body with a mild degreaser. Then follow with a skim coat of Phils Tenacious Oil on the white collar of the freehub and all the parts you've cleaned. Just a skim coat, don't soak it! You're better off using your finger to spread the oil on the parts when in doubt of how much coverage is necessary.

Assemble all removed parts, don't over torque the hardware. Ride the wheel and then go back and do a slight adjustment of there's lateral play at the wheel. The sound of the freehub will be noticably quiter due to the new lubricant. When the oil breaks down a bit, the wheel will become louder. In this case, quiet can be good so you can sneak up on that wheezing guy in front of you on the next climb.

Bianchi Cavaria frame and fork weight.

For all you gram counters out there.


This is the fork you get with the frame set, not the complete bike. The full bike comes with an aluminum steer tube. The weight as shown is for the uncut fork.


61cm frame weight. That's a seat tube length long enough for some guys to jump through like a hula hoop, on the run ups!

2012 Bianchi Cavaria- SRAM Red.

I'll be having a go at it this 'cross season with my latest build.

Enjoy the photos below.

2012 Bianchi Cavaria SRAM Red

2012 Bianchi Cavaria frame/fork, 61cm
SRAM Red build kit w/Force braze-on frt der
TRP CX-9 brakes
Thompson Masterpiece seatpost 31.8mm
Thompson stem 130mm
Deda Newton h.bar classic bend
A-Class ALX730 tubeless wheels
Hutchinson Bulldog CX tubeless tires 34c w/Stan's Sealant
FSA Super Road rings 46t & 36t w/SRAM Red crank arms and GXP bb.
Crank Bros Eggbeater 3 pedals
Fizik Arione
Campagnolo shifter cables and Gore housing
SRAM cassette PG 1070 11-28T
SRAM chain 1091R

OPTION WHEELS:
2011 Mavic Kysrium SL
Challenge Grifo Pro 32c

Bianchi Cavaria stage 1.

Hmm, Stage 1, sort of sounds like a hop up kit for a Subaru STi. Not exactly.


Chunky, chiseled and coming to a MABRA Super 8 event near you in 2011-- the 2012 Cavaria 61cm, yeah, it's that big!

2012 Bianchi Carvaria with SRAM Force.

You can pretty much connect the dots on Google Maps, or at least place your push pins, and see that cyclocross racing is blowing up in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern states; from Philly to the Carolinas.

Every year events seem to be drawing more and more racers in the men and women A/B groups, single speed, worse drag queen category; none the less, people want to dip their toe into the CX Pool of Goodness. With this growth, dealers have been getting on board with our Zurigo Apex bike which launched at Interbike last year. It's big brother, the Carvaria Ultegra rolled in with it's super clean Ultegra 6700 kit, Fulcrum wheels, carbon frame and $2700 price tag; proving itself as a bike well suited for the dirt, as well as the 220 lbs cyclist who needs something 'sturdier' for the strada.

Cyclists this side of the Mississippi are very loyal to what they put on their CX bikes and while attending any race, it obvious that racers want SRAM components. I started my campaign with the office in California last year, for an update to the Cavaria with an obvious change in mind in to the bike spec.

Even though I've been riding SRAM Red all year and really like the weight and performance of the build kit, I've become a closet fan of SRAM's Force groupo as well. There isn't much of a weight difference between the two kits...I'm recall somewhere around a 1/4 lbs difference but don't quote me on that. Eitherway, Force has the mid range bike kit market locked down so it seemed natural to have it on the next generation Cavaria.

Photo courtesy of Bianchi USA Inc.

Enter, the 2012 Carvaria Force. (Pricing on this bike will be released in August.) I am super stoked on this bike. It's nice to see it go from something scratched on paper in a bar at last year's Interbike to popping out of production for this years CX season.

The other update aside from the SRAM kit is the introduction of the Tubeless Ready wheel set on this bike. Wheels are a very sensitive topic for many racers and bike fans. You can only please some of the people some of the time... so in this case we're offering the cyclist a chance to ride Road Tubeless on their cyclocross bike with the A-Class ALX-730 hoops. The bike will be coming though set up with tubes in the tires so if you want to convert the 34c Hutchinson Bull Dog tires, I suggest you visit your local bike shop and get two cans of Hutchinson Fast Air to start the conversion process. I'll soon know if the tubeless air valve is included with the bike build as spare parts; a vital piece for running tubeless wheels.

I rode on this exact wheel set earlier in the season and really like them. Yes they were set up for road, not dirt. From a riding perspective, I was impressed by their 1560gr weight for the pair and the level of grip Road Tubeless tires exhibit when riding. I was getting away with 90lbs of pressure in the tires and I weigh 180lbs at 6'5" tall. They're hand build wheels using DT-Swiss Aero spokes so if you pop a spoke, they're not some crazy proprietary spoke that a shop won't be able to get hold of for you. I've also been holding onto a pair of the Bulldog CX tires for my ALX-730 which I plan on using for my pit wheels for the upcoming CX season.

Avid Shorty 6 brakes and an FSA Energy Cross crank handle the stop and go portions of the Cavaria Force. Continuing with the cockpit bits are the Bianchi Reparto Corse branded seatpost, stem and handle bar that shops have become familiar with on our bikes this year.

When a sample hits my stand, I'll be sure to get up some photos quickly.

2011 Bianchi Zurigo shake down write up.

Bart at South Park Cycles has a few Zurigos at the shop. He's put some laps on this new 2011 model and here's his take on the bike.


Now tried and tested is the Bianchi Zurigo Cyclocross bike. For $1599 you get an aluminum frame, carbon fork and Sram Apex shifter and drivetrain kit. First impression was the bike handled great. The bike held a great line whether on off camber downhill or climb. I spent about and hour and a half on this stead and this was my first real ride on Sram drop bar components. I had no issues adapting to the shifting and the Apex shifted flawlessly. The other nice touches to the bike are the additional bar brake levers and the ability to add racks to either the rear or fork of the bike. This is not just a great reasonably priced cross bike but also a versatile commuter or touring bike as well. These also have been added to the rental fleet.

Thanks Bart!