cyclocross

struggles

struggles

Likes Dirt
Thinking of getting an Avanti Circa 2 or a Merida Cross 4 disc.

Mainly to use as a commuter/general hack, but may end up doing a race or 2 on it.

Thoughts?
 
T

toby

Likes Dirt
Nice build Arran...

Be interested to hear how much flex and shudder you get with that fork. I have the same on my BMC and it can get interesting.

I have a set of Ultimates in the cupboard but haven't gotten around to sticking them on. Joins my list of things I didn't do in 2010. Have to say the TRP EuroX have gotten better... with the green Swisstops in you almost feel like you are actually slowing sometimes. :)
 
Pizzaz

Pizzaz

Likes Dirt
toby said:
Nice build Arran...

Be interested to hear how much flex and shudder you get with that fork. I have the same on my BMC and it can get interesting.

/QUOTE]

First time out it was awful... Bbut since then I've put in a stupid amount of toe-in and that's made it a lot better. Better being a relative term of course. Problem goes away on dirt though :)

Annoyingly i seem to have gotten some lateral play in the front (king) hub. Doesn't seem to bebgetting worse...just disconcerting
Click to expand...
 
tomacropod

tomacropod

Likes Dirt
Pizzaz said:
toby said:
Nice build Arran...

Be interested to hear how much flex and shudder you get with that fork. I have the same on my BMC and it can get interesting.

/QUOTE]

First time out it was awful... Bbut since then I've put in a stupid amount of toe-in and that's made it a lot better. Better being a relative term of course. Problem goes away on dirt though :)

Annoyingly i seem to have gotten some lateral play in the front (king) hub. Doesn't seem to bebgetting worse...just disconcerting
Click to expand...
Play is easy to fix - 2 * 5mm allen keys.

As for the shudder, best way to fix it is to use a fork-mounted cable stop which attaches to the hole through the crown. This stops the cable from tensioning under braking as the fork flexes backward, which is what causes the shudder.

Didn't race on the 42/13 today? Great gearing for that course!

- Joel
Click to expand...
 
T

thelankyman

Likes Dirt
struggles said:
Thinking of getting an Avanti Circa 2 or a Merida Cross 4 disc.

Mainly to use as a commuter/general hack, but may end up doing a race or 2 on it.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...
My work gives me a $1k bike for work use (I build bike lanes) and with a tiny bit of my own money I want to get the Avanti Circa 1. The build on it seems better than my Specialized tricross (nicer drivetrain but Spec cheapened out on the BB and wheeelset etc) so I imagine that the Circa 2 would be very nice then. I think I also looked at the Merida but it was going to cost too much and would have to put in too much of my own $$$ for a bike that I wouldn't own.

Would be nice to own a disc crosser so it is compatible with my 29er.
 
uhuforrest

uhuforrest

Likes Dirt
thelankyman said:
My work gives me a $1k bike for work use (I build bike lanes) and with a tiny bit of my own money I want to get the Avanti Circa 1. The build on it seems better than my Specialized tricross (nicer drivetrain but Spec cheapened out on the BB and wheeelset etc) so I imagine that the Circa 2 would be very nice then. I think I also looked at the Merida but it was going to cost too much and would have to put in too much of my own $$$ for a bike that I wouldn't own.

Would be nice to own a disc crosser so it is compatible with my 29er.
Click to expand...
I would take a close look at total bike weight before narrowing down options. Some of the lower-end cross bikes weigh more than my dual suspension MTB. Perhaps you could put the funds towards a better frame and have your own "bits" to change on it.

Just a thought

Roland
 
struggles

struggles

Likes Dirt
I checked out the circa 1 and found the weight to be pretty good.

It certainly wasn't heavy.

I am leaning more towards the Circa 2 than the Merida now as it has rack mounts and I should be able to get it at a pretty good price.
 
Antsonline

Antsonline

Likes Dirt
thelankyman said:
Would be nice to own a disc crosser so it is compatible with my 29er.
Click to expand...
Forgive my lack of certainty on this, but I think the compatibility will be from hub spacing (130mm rear on the crosser and 135mm on the 29er).

It might be worth checking out before you hop into the idea too much.
 
struggles

struggles

Likes Dirt
After checking out the Avanti and the Merida, I ordered the Merida.

Did some research on racks and you don't need rack mounts so I went with discs.
 
T

toby

Likes Dirt
tomacropod said:
Pizzaz said:
Play is easy to fix - 2 * 5mm allen keys.

As for the shudder, best way to fix it is to use a fork-mounted cable stop which attaches to the hole through the crown. This stops the cable from tensioning under braking as the fork flexes backward, which is what causes the shudder.

Didn't race on the 42/13 today? Great gearing for that course!

- Joel
Click to expand...
Easton EC90X doesn't have a whole through the fork for this arrangement... unfortunately. But yeah this is the way to fix it... also toe the crap out of your pads, which reduces your pads effectiveness hence less shudder (and unsurprisingly less braking).
I achieved a similar result to the fork mounted cable solution by putting a zip tie around my cable, level with the lower fork bearing. This seems to stop the cable tensioning and untensioning.

Cross bikes are a lot of work. ;)
Click to expand...
 
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struggles

struggles

Likes Dirt
Just got back from 2 hours of riding it on all sorts of stuff. Including 8kms of Cabbgae Tree singletrack.

I should have bought one of these ages ago.









 
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C

COR10

Likes Bikes
tyres for pea gravel

anyone got any tips for tyre choice to deal with WA pea gravel?
i was thinking either racing ralphs 700x35 or panaracer cinderx?
 
M

mooksy

Squid
my (relatively) new cx bike. Rides great! Has road tires on at the moment while im waiting for my road bike, but normally run racing ralphs on it.
 

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