Cross is here! - 2022 Cyclocross Discussion

Great question!

If you are using trainer road the main career page can give you an idea.

Here is an example of a punchy or power rider.

If you don’t use trainer road or don’t think it’s all dialed in yet then think about the riding style you do best in.

If you are great at doing short punchy climbs and then a recovery down the next side that’s a sign of a surge rider. Another sign is able to generate a lot of power very quickly to cover gaps in a group/race. One of these riders however have a very hard time with long grind’s. Think of a long straight flat at a high but not max power, do you suffer like a dog?

A sweet spot rider is someone who can as I said before ride at a high power for their ftp, they typically can’t accelerate to save their lives but can diesel back on.

First race of the season. It was…interesting to say the least. I channeled my inner Nate a little bit unfortunately. Day started off poorly by snapping my saddle in pre-ride during a remount; carbon body S-Works Power. Hopefully under warranty. 20 minutes before the race so no time to go home for a new one, I managed to tape it up enough to hold for the race, albeit with some sagging. Thought that was the last of my issues for the day but it got worse. Had a good start and lead out most of the first lap. Fast course with one technical forest section. Coming into the barriers I had trouble unclipping my right foot and basically rode straight into the first barrier and almost went over the bars. The crash managed to pull my right foot out, but also ripped off the cleat. I think the bolts were loose and when I tried to unclip, it just rotated, then came out with the crash. Found the cleat in the grass after the race. So raced pretty much the entire race with one working cleat and the other foot slipping around. Couldn’t really put out the power I wanted to. But, with all that said, I got 2nd place so not a terrible day. Gave me some confidence going into the season that my fitness is where it’s supposed to be.

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I will admit I don’t use TrainerRoad much, just grab a workout I want to do or use it if I’m indoors. So maybe I do t fully understand the progression level.

You are absolutely correct though with power curves and that’s a great way to explain it.

You can look at your power curve and get an idea if you fall off hard under the curve from you low time power.

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Wolftooth and a couple other brands make a 1x chainring that goes on a 2x crank, a lot of people locally run it. Another option could be buying a 46 tooth cx ring and keeping it 2x with a 34/46, make sure you buy the bolt covers that are needed for the smaller 46 ring.

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Unless you have some serious clay like mud, you shouldn’t have any trouble with your front derailleur. The last 20+ years of Cyclocross World Championships have been won on 2x bikes, some in horrible conditions, so you should be fine.

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Depends on how often the rider gets a new bike in the pits.

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Exactly. Not hard to keep your drivetrain running when youve got a fresh bike every lap!

My vote for 1x comes simply from one less thing to think about. When im at 200BPM and feel my heartbeat in my eyeballs, the last thing I want to think about is an extra gear pairing. All I want to think about is “make it easier or make it faster”…one click this way, one click that way.

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Sure, if you have a 1x bike, great. But the poster was asking about using a 2x bike as that is what he has and some folks here are acting like 2x and cross don’t mix. My point was that 2x has been and still is used extensively in cross without significant issues except in very some very unique conditions.

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Mud is not exactly “unique conditions” in cross…

You can use a 2x bike, of course. But saying the pros do, so it’s fine, is a bit of a wrong conclusion. They also have a full pit crew and can change bikes every half lap. If you only have one bike, it’s worth being a bit more careful.

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Dang @CaptainThunderpants that’s some dedication to finish with a single cleat!

For my non-svelte weight, the only carbon I’m using on my bike is the fork. After I snapped a seatpost I decided that metal was the way to go for the components.

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Haha the only guarantee in cross is that if you can break something, it’s going to break in epic fashion!

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I would argue that mud that is bad enough to stop a front derailleur is unique, at least where I live in the midwest. I will try and make my point 1 more way. I have raced cross for 20 years on a 2x bike and never had an issue. IF I were setting up a new bike 100% dedicated to cross - yes, I would choose a 1x drivetrain. But if your bike is already 2x, and you want it that way for gravel, etc., it is very likely that you won’t have any problems.

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Looking to pick a set of tires to set my gravel bike for CX, it will be my first season racing. Had ordered a pair of Schwalbe X-One Bite but 2 days later they said actually we don’t have those… So have an opportunity to rethink my choice. As a beginner, should I go for a mud tire like the X-one bite for all conditions or consider something else like: X-One Allround, Challenge Grifo, Challenge Baby Limus, Vittoria Terrane Mix or Maxxis All-Terrane? I don’t see the PDX World Cup tubeless version available.

They also have the watts to actually need a big ring.

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I’m Madison-based so I’ll be racing a handful of the Wisconsin CX series races, and maybe hit a few of the ChiCrossCup races on the North side. This is my second season racing cross and I am STOKED! I feel fit, and have been going to CX practice weekly for the past month - a local bike shop here (Neff Cycle Service, if you’re ever in town) puts on a weekly practice at a different park around town and it’s great technique-building.

Goals:
Finish top half of the pack in every race, like I did last year.
Do at least one double-header (Women Cat 4 + Single Speed)
Be an enabler for more women on the start line!! #cat4crossbaybee

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Where are all the race reports from the weekend? Nobody race CX?

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I raced cat5. Had an asthma attack 1/2 through. DNF. It twas a bummer.

Did you race @stonerider ? How’d it go?

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2 races 2 DNF’s for me so far this season. Race this weekend was 90% singletrack, I ended up getting 2 flats. Was able to fix the first one and keep going, but the 2nd one did me in and I pulled the plug. Hopefully I find some better luck next weekend!

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Good luck next weekend. Are you going to change anything? Tire pressure, etc?

Yeah I went lower on the tire pressure than I normally do, and I think I paid for it.

I’m a heavier rider and always weary to go below 30psi, but that felt like I didn’t have enough grip during my pre-ride so I went down to 25 at the start and that was probably a mistake.

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