I saw the shifting problems in person at Unbound and saw several ripped off RD’s on social media that were hanging from shift cables. And I’m not saying electronic was working perfect, everyone was skipping at times and lots of dropped chains as well. The mechanical stuff just can’t shift to the smaller cogs when the RD is loaded with mud. For the RD’s that were ripped off, I think that is more about UDH vs. traditional hanger than electronic vs. mechanical, but most of the electronic out there is SRAM UDH, so not surprising that most of those failures are mechanical.
There were top riders who struggled because their sram t type drivetrains were failing too though. The unique mud at unbound shouldn’t force everyone to ride heavy, expensive electronic drivetrains. Wouldn’t be at all surprised to find some people have totally trashed their electronic derailleurs. Cabled derailleurs perform just fine in normal wet/mud conditions. Single speed would probably be the best option there.
Lots of conjunctivitis, scratched corneas, some leg infections at unbound too. Maybe people will start to think twice after they pay for their new bearings and Dr bills.
I say this as someone who has been there done that with the ER visit after unbound. The busiest place in emporia!
Don’t you get a special badge for that?
Got the scars as a forever reminder of Kansas!
I see. Yeah that makes sense. The anchor on Sram Transmission is very robust. Much more than rd hangers. Thanks.
I’m sure it happens, but it’s pretty amazing how well these things hold up in deep water. I choose to carry my bike through the really deep water in the tunnel, trying to protect bearings and RD from the deep submersion. But plenty of people were riding and several falling in sections that resulted in their bikes being totally submerged. Pretty impressive engineering on all the bike electronics (power meters, shifters, RD’s, computers, etc.) to make it through that stuff without issue.
Yeah, but I’ve ended up in multiple races where the conditions are far from “normal”. This year at unbound was pretty sloppy and 2023 had more challenging mud, but I’ve done other races that were much worse than either (just not as long). Just look at the opening world cup XCO race of the year this year, stuff like that is going to push all components to the limit. My personal belief is that SRAM t-type electronic is the most robust option in the slop, but that’s certainly not established fact and everyone is welcome to their opinion.
And the reports of stomach issues are starting to filter in. With the extreme amount and duration of the mud, I was thinking about the cow shit flying around any time I was behind someone. Giardia can take a while to start showing symptoms, I wonder how many people are going to end up dealing with it. I’ve got my fingers crossed.
My SRAM Transmission drivetrains have been way, way, way better than any mechanical I’ve ever had. More reliable in every way, even in mud and water up over the derailleur and axles, and I’ve had no issues building up a light bike. Failures can happen to anything, but zero chance I’d go mechanical for unbound.
Love my Dura-Ace for my road bike too.
I’m with most others - it’s mechanical that’s on the way out and not the other way around.
This is true. I ran 2x mechanical at 2023 and a chain catcher. I almost DNF because of it and is a reason I moved to 1x (and I walked the 2023 mud). Most of the people I saw on 2x were having a bad time.
So I went to the bike shop today to check out the new Crux. It was funny because the sales guy said (jokingly) this is the bike that won Unbound. I replied “stay a while and listen”. 
In any case, running 2.2s on that frame in the back still seems like a bad idea to me. Also they couldn’t even order a frame by itself, and this is a high volume Specialized shop. I would like to go back and test ride it though.
Order it online. You can order for delivery in July right now. Cut out that middleman (who really wants to sell you a bike).
I would prefer going through a local shop. I am not serious enough at the moment to actually pull the trigger and I bet we get better colors in the next batch of frames.
I would ask them why you can order and they can’t. Seems odd to me
Please update us as to what you think about this. As a person that uses my gravel bike as a road bike, it would be good to know if I should just buy a 4 before they are gone or if the 5 will be good or better as an all road kind of solution.
I loved my Crux on the road, it was so much fun and the geometry of it fit my body type so well. FYI Crux 5 BB height will be really low (lower than a SL8) if you run < 40mm tires (i.e. 6mm lower than the SL8 for 32s).
I have been looking around for a 4 as a fun/trainer bike; slim pickings unless you want to get some uglies repainted or overpay for a used one. I also have an SL8 (my favorite bike ever), and it would be interesting to compare how it rides vs the 5 on the road.
Crux 4 is such a good bike, and I have given her hell for years, I just can’t see selling it when I do get a new “race” gravel bike. It will probably become my 2x mixed road/gravel ride, winter trainer, do it all bike.
Brendan Johnson’s eyes in one of the follow up videos looked like he baselined cow poop right straight to the cornea!
Watched the same unbound video yesterday and thought the exact same about his eyes!
Also watched Russel Finsterwalds Unbound recap and he mentioned the crap in his eyes was causing a 10/10 pain every time he blinked for a period of the race.
Watching all the post race videos, I was amazed by the number of people trying to ride in groups without glasses out there. Yes, it was nearly impossible to see anything while wearing glasses at times, but never did I consider taking them off with the amount of mud and grit flying around when riding behind others. It was an option when solo, but still a lot of stuff flying off the front tire.
Yeah, I’ll be curious to hear your review after trying it with smaller tires. Of all the bikes out there with modern tire clearance, the crux looks like the most road-worthy bike on paper. It’s one of the reasons I’m considering getting one, basically a crossover bike for less technical gravel and road use. And while the new crux may have “slower” handling compared to the old one, it’s hard to imagine it not being faster on the road given the aero focus.
I dont think you will. The Crux 4 is an incredible bike, especially for your rider profile.
Thanks for the report.
Schwalbe recently released the G-one speed in a 40mm tire. They are a bit hard to find right now, but I’ve got a buddy who is running them on our saturday team rides. It’s not going to be as fast as a GP5000, but it’s a fast rolling tire and pretty ideal for a gravel bike road setup IMO. I plan to get some at some point. I’ve run 32’s a few times on my Lauf and it’s faster with them, but 95% time I just roll 50+ gravel tires. They don’t suck that many watts until you are hitting high speeds and I don’t mind a little extra work. And our country roads suck, the big tires make riding chip seal and broken pavement a pleasure. I may never buy another road race bike, I just don’t enjoy riding them as much. I still have my aero madone rim brake bike that I pull out when I want to do a road race.