rubbish heap two

HTFU HTFU just HTFU

Soup - are those the Cannondale Hollowgram cranks? If so they go for like $500 used on eBay and are considered the BEST cranks in the game - among the lightest and, and definitely stiffest. I think they're BB30 only... Also, Cdales are nice. I need to get some better wheels on mine to really do it justice...

Joker, I wish :(

Soup - looks like you also got a fair bit of drop/reach with the bars you put on there. You ever consider compact drops? Seriously worth it for long distance comfiness in the drops/hoods. I'd put some compact drops on there to make the reach/drop shorter and less deep, then adjust stem length from there. FSA Omegas are like $30, 3T Ergosums/Ergonovas are equally inexpensive. Pic for visual explanation: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3570/3562397939_f8bf2e6655_o.jpg

I really don't see how you could ever blame geometry on back pain. It's a matter of fit, plain and simple, but in the mean time you can make your body more versatile to different bike positions through increasing core strength and stretching, especially the hamstrings.

Joker sighting. One of the best race photos ever IMO.

Ridleys are the most PRO for what it's worth.

Congrats Joker. You're on the front of sosovelo.com

Indeed, Joker. Got the lucky number #6 on the call up, so got to get lined up right behind all the guys with points. They mentioned the potholes on the opening stretch but I guess I forgot about them by lap 3, because I hit one covered by a massive mud puddle and caught an instant pinch flat. Decided to run it for the dignity, and I got a decent workout out of doing 1.5 miles of shouldering. All in all, loved the course. That off-camber super-mud section after the double barrier runup was insane. Real ass Belgium shit. I found out it was faster/easier to run it out the 2nd lap, rather than grind it out on the bike. It's weird, I've yet to have any problems in the local Eugene races but the two Crusades I do, I get messed up in both. Hopefully better luck comes my way for Barton... gravel is my favorite terrain.

http://www.brooklynmachineworks.com/site/bikes/gangsta/gang5.html Soup, you're usually on point but that ain't track geo. 40cm chainstays give it away, but so does the 73.5/73 ST/HT. I'm sure it's plenty stiff, but it's also overbuilt as fuck for that purpose. You can race whatever you want on the velodrome baring it's fixed/brakeless, but it doesn't make it optimal; a very fast cat 2 races a Surly Cross Check here and he's wobbly as fuck, no matter how good a cross/road racer he is.

Joker...... I'll see you at PIR this weekend!! It's possibly going to be the wettest, muddiest race of the year, sounds like. Don't forget to embrocate!

I mean, it is a trick frame. And trick frames are among the worst riding out there outside of doing barspins and bunnyhops. Also, Soup, I'm hyped on that bike, but more the components than the frame. Now Indyfab's CX shit... that's some nice shit.

For the record, EDGE pretty much makes the best carbon components in the game bar-none. Also, that Berthoud saddle is pure baller.

Nice. Wish I had tubbies..... I'm building up a tubeless wheelset at the end of the month and looking to drop about 1lb. in wheel weight (!) Gonna do the tried&tested Stan's 355 29er rims to Michelin Mud 2's. Hopefully by then it's full on muddy season up in OR :D

Nice job Joker! Glad to hear you didn't have any mechanicals or flats this time around. If I can make it, I'm doing PIR next week.

Yeah, I raced yesterday. Felt great, got 3rd. It's nice having home advantage on the course in Eugene, because the SS guys that come from out of town come in way undergeared because they're used to courses like Rainier and Alpenrose. I hear Sherwood is the bumpiest course of the year. Good luck ; I hate that shit. You guys need a good rain...

For Joker and any other Portlanders: http://pdxcx.com/

CROSS RACE TODAY!!! SHOW UP/THROW UP.

Word, I snapped a Rival shifter myself... I'm not sure if it's SRAM or what. Me and a good mechanic friend were actually having a conversation about it and he was saying how he says broken SRAM shifters the most, Campy the second most, and has rarely if ever seen a Shimano one. His speculation was that since the brake lever is obviously also the shifter on Shimano, and since it moves on impact when you crash, that absorbs a lot of the shock that would otherwise crack the body if it was Campy/SRAM. Interesting food for thought. For future reference, price checking through Universal Cycles can be a good bet if you didn't do that already. Some people talk shit about that place, but honestly, having a shop that carries a bajillion items and has a super efficient online inventory system is so awesome in comparison to all the local shops in Eugene that pretty much run their entire shop out of the QBP catalog and nearly always have to place an order when you need anything other than the most standard of components. Also, if you want to race on the cheap there's always SS :D

Gah... looks like we're both members of the broken shifter club now. What'd you have on there anyway, SRAM?

The rain is here and I'm actually kinda excited. Tempo rides in the rain is about to be fun... I'll probably still cave in and buy a trainer by December though. That or some straight baller rain gear, because the wool sweater underneath a summer jersey just isn't cutting it anymore for those 35 degree days.

Welp, let the records state I didn't race A's by choice but by necessity - missed the early train coming up from Eugene and had to take a later one and miss the SS race. So I was in a fast field working with a large gear, no idea what the course would be like, and no experience racing in anything above a 35 person field. So as far as that goes, I did okay. Anyway, the first lap was craziness, especially on that bumpy first part; I didn't go down in that hectic first lap but saw a few crashes form ahead. It's nice that cross crashes are so mild, though, as opposed to hitting the tarmac at 30mph in a crit... Anyways, I mostly did a lot of sucking, at least in comparison to fast dudes in the A's. I wasn't totally immersed in that mental 'I'm ready to drive myself into the gutter' mode today, which was all fine as I flatted about 4 laps in and called it a day. It's expensive commuting this far to race but the actual experience of people everywhere on the course cheering, your buddies shouting and going for high fives and cameras everywhere was surreal, I think only comparable to something like Twilight Crit/any big money downtown race. I'll be back for more, likely at PIR or Hillsboro, but definitely in the SS category where I belong :D

Guess I'm racing A's today, which means I'm gonna get my ass handed to me.

2 days 'till Cross Crusade. I'm prepping by drinking gin sodas :D

Word Joker. If it's dry, I'm running 42/16. It's been a great gear in Eugene but I dunno about Alpenrose... pretty much gonna be full commitment on every incline/acceleration. Well, we're still at the point in the year where races are 'training', right? USGP is what I'm really looking forward to...