Giro Shoe Restock and SALE!

With cyclocross season around the corner we want to show you how great a new set of Giro shoes can be for your season.  Come in and buy any pair of shoes and get a $25 gift certificate for your next purchase!

We have the Carbide, Privateer, Privateer HV, and Gauge in stock currently in just about every size.

The Giro Gauge, my personal favorite CX shoe, reviewed here.  EC70 carbon sole for $200.

The Giro Privateer, the workhorse of the line, reviewed here.  Zytel sole for $150.

And the bargain of the line, the Carbide.  With a great fit and a killer price tag, $100, hard to fault.

A Recent Visit to the ENVE Factory!

I wish I could say I were the one touring ENVE's factory, but the guys at Singletrack Magazine recently found their way over for a nice tour.  ENVE not only make killer forks and cockpit parts, but also makes many of the carbon tubes and lugs you'll find on US custom, hand-made bikes.  ENVE works directly with a number of builders to ensure that the perfect tube is chosen for each and every bike that builder makes.

Here are a couple of photos that stuck out to me, primarily because this is how my Independent Fabrication Cross Jester (cyclocross bike based on the Corvid road bike) was designed and constructed.  ENJOY!!

New Review: 2013 Felt F65x Disc Cyclocross Bike

You heard it here first, disc brakes are awesome for cyclocross.  OK, maybe not FIRST, but I've been pushing for disc since about 2008, but the frame and fork selection was lacking.  Currently components are catching on, but now they're behind the frames.  With many manufacturers rolling out brand new carbon CX frames this year to add to their current aluminum setups, and component manufacturers flashing a glimpse here and there of hydraulic setups, we know this is the way of the future.

For my first full-fledged attempt at disc CX I went with the Felt F65x.  Why?  It's the best thing that's readily available without going custom.  The frame is very similar to the F55x, so I know it'll handle well.  The geometry is dialed for me, so much so that my Independent Fabrication Cross Jester is based on the stock 57cm Felt cross bikes.

There's a lot going on with this build, so I'm going to take this in multiple entries.  First, let's cover the bike, we'll cover the pros and cons of the build next, and later cover the performance advantages and disadvantages.

The F65x isn't the lightest bike I've ever owned, but with alloy clinchers, disc brakes, alloy cockpit, a Quarq, 2012 SRAM Red, bottle cage, computer mount, and set up tubeless this bike still came in under 19lbs.  I assume a carbon equivalent with some light race wheels will come in around 17lbs, give or take.

The stock bike comes with a SRAM Apex/Rival build, Felt CX3R wheels, Avid BB5 brakes, and a nice SRAM S300 BB30 crankset.  The rear is spaced at 135mm, exactly what I think will be the de facto spacing.  The build is solid, and probably better than I would expect for a $1750 bike with such a nice frame.

The stock fork is a super-beefy Felt UHC model which offering some really great stiffness and a better than average ride quality.  Off-road the bike tracks very well, though when overgeared and sprinting on the road I am able to make the rotors rub the pads occasionally.  At some point down the road, I'll be giving the ENVE Disc CX fork a try.

Off the bat I clearly made a number of changes.  The 2012 SRAM Red is probably one of the first things many people will notice.  I'm smitten with it, but you can read my review on it here.  The addition of a Quarq was of course necessary since I'm numbers-driven, but it's a swap from my other bike anyway.  Seatpost became a Thomson because I just flat out trust their work.  The stem is currently a Zipp Service Course SL until a Thomson Elite X2 comes in, and the bars are Zipp SLC2 Short and Shallow which have been with me for 3 years and on countless bikes.

I kept the stock BB5 brakes on board, primarily because I forgot to bring the BB7's in when building the bike.  So far, the performance has been extraordinary.

Now let's talk about the wheel swap.  I wanted to keep this build "reasonable", other than the Quarq and Red of course.  I wanted to come up with a wheelset that can be put onto the stock bike and shed a nice chunk of weight, provide a huge performance benefit, and offer the best tubeless compatibility.  I've been using Stan's wheels since I started in mountain biking and have loved them ever since.  This year I managed to ruin a few sets of rims, but I'm chalking it up to bad luck.  From 2005-2011 I used either the 355 or Crest rim from Stan's with nary an issue.  In 2012 I ruined 5 total rims.  Bad luck or bad product?  I don't know, but since that bad streak I'm back to pure gold with them.

Here's the beauty of the stock Crest wheelset: for $530 you get a 1575g claimed (we've measured them to be far lower, but never higher) wheelset which shaves a full pound from the stock Felt CX3R wheelset.  The Crest internal rim width is 21mm vs the stock wheels roughly 17mm width, which means much better grip from your tires.  If you aren't familiar with why wide rims are better, check here.  The final HUGE bonus?  Tubeless compatibility. 

I'll cover the swap more in an upcoming post, but there is one positive that's coming close to being a negative: the wide rims have turned my Clement Crusade PDX 33 tires into a 37c monster!  The grip is out of this world from a knobby 37c CX tire, but clearance is an issue.  The fork is fine, tons of room.  The rear seatstays are begging a 40c tire, but the clearance around the chainstays is tight with a tire this big.

The driveside chainstay on the F65x with the 33c tires and Crest rims is about 5-7mm or so.  Clearance on the non-driveside chainstay is about 4mm or so.  I'm fine with the clearance on the driveside until it gets really nasty, but it's close on the non-driveside.  Of course, the bike comes stock with 32c tires on standard-width rims and offers ample clearance.  It's not until you really push into a tire that's measuring over 37mm that clearance is even something to look at.

There are a couple of solutions to this:

1. Ride away.  I gave the bike a few hard corners and a number of over-geared road sprints and never got the tire to rub.  The photos make it look slightly worse than it is, but so far it's been fine.
2. Run a 32c tire.  There are plenty out there, but the PDX is a favorite of mine.
3. Stan's probably has the best solution, the Iron Cross wheelset.  Coming in about a mm more narrow, I think that'll offer the breathing room to make me feel just fine about running this wheel/tire combo on this frame.  Plus, the name Iron Cross is just so damned good, you know!?

Tubeless setup with the Clement PDX, though not necessarily endorsed by Clement, was a breeze.  Literally, mount one side of the tire, toss some sealant in, mount the other side, inflate.  It was as fast as installing a tire with a tube.  Now you can run lower pressure without worrying about a pinch-flat, get better traction, and severely reduce the likelihood of a flat.

There you have it.  Disc CX is here and it's awesome.  Review on the performance from the brakes and the wheels are coming soon.  Until then, act now and get a disc CX bike.  Before you know it manufacturers will have tons of wheel options for tubeless and tubular, the brake options will be plenty, and you'll wonder why we didn't make the transition sooner.....damn you UCI!

New Review: Schwalbe Sammy Slick 700x35

I long for a good file tread.  One that provides minimum rolling resistance but good cornering grip.  Not asking for a lot, right?  Right.

I've long enjoyed the Challenge Griffo XS for training, but cornering with that is akin to riding road tires on ice.  The casing is supple so the ride is smooth, and man does it roll fast.

Not long ago I put a fair number of miles on the Clement LAS, which was awesome.  Great volume, very fast rolling, supple enough, and a nice shoulder that provided some great grip.  Come to think of it, my only complaint was that I was never able to set them up tubeless, but they weren't rated for that anyway.

So here I am, with a file tread I like, but that doesn't mean I should stop there.  Schwalbe's Sammy Slick appealed to me because of the shoulder it offers as well as the luck I've had in the past setting Schwalbe tires up tubeless.  I haven't tried that yet, but the tight bead of these tires I'm hoping will easy to seal up.

The tires are labeled as a 700x35, but set up on my Mavic R-SYS SLR's the casing measured a tiny 31mm, the widest point on the tread was a dismal 32.8.  Bummer since I was digging the idea of a 35mm tire.  Even more of a bummer, the tires are very short, meaning they have very little volume.  Advertised weight was 360g, mine were 325g and 355g.

On a very smooth course, I could see these tires being exceptionally fast.  Unfortunately, on a bumpy course the lack of volume would either force you to stay with low pressure and risk a pinch flat or raise the pressure and forgo grip and comfort.

I'm only a couple of rides into these tires, but so far I can say they roll exceptionally fast when the going is smooth.  The shoulder also grips quite well for a file tread, even when I was doing some hot laps at my favorite hidden gem along the North Branch Trail which offers up a lot of gravel.  The tires are pretty light, so they do spin up fast.

The Sammy Slick strikes me as the perfect tire for The Des Plaines River Trail or if you find yourself hitting some gravel roads.  You'd fly on a smooth and grassy cyclocross course, especially if that course offered some off-camber turns where most other people running file treads would find themselves slipping around.  Unfortunately because of it's narrow size and small volume, I wouldn't recommend these on a bumpy course where the risk of pinch flats would be very high.

This is What Spoiled Looks Like

Riding around these parts just doesn't get much better.  Roll from my house and I'm at the Des Plaines River Trail in 20 minutes.  Ride gravel north as long as I want.  Repeat.

Yesterday's weather was beautiful.  The trails were wide open.  Welcome back summer.

New Review: Surly Cross-Check Custom Single Speed

This one just rolled across my desk from Henry, one of our team riders.  We had the pleasure of recently building this piece up for him, and we think it turned out pretty awesome.  Read on:

Last spring I was looking for a singlespeed bike for some basic commuting.  Nothing too crazy, but nothing too plain either.  I wanted a bike that would be reliable and strong enough to take a beating on the pothole-laden Chicago streets, but still fun to ride and with some personality.  Although I looked at a few complete bike options, I was pretty much set on a Surly Cross-Check.  While it looked great and would be a perfect candidate to build up single speed, it also has semi-horizontal dropouts and thus can be built as a geared bike, whether for commuting, touring or even cyclocross racing.  Flexibility in the future was just an added plus for this already awesome bike.

I spoke with the guys at Iron Cycles and set a time to pick out components.  This was the first bike where I’d be picking essentially everything for the build, so Steven and I sat down at the shop to discuss options.  For anyone who has not done this, I highly recommend it at least once.  The simplicity of a single speed bike also makes it both easy and overwhelming to select parts.  This is because there are a limited number of items you need to buy for the build, but each part has nearly unlimited options from which to choose.
 
The end results were follows: an All City crank and chainring (which looked slick in black, with etched silver logos), a basic flat handlebar with dirtbike grips, and mini-V brakes.  One area I did spend some extra dough was the wheels, as I picked a set of electric blue Velocity deep V rims, with black spokes and hubs, wrapped in 25mm Conti Gatorskins.  Rarely would a chip of glass or stray nails would cut through these reinforced tires, so they seemed a good choice for worry-free riding.

Two weeks later everything was at the shop.  My wrenching skills are approximately limited to picking up an allen wrench to adjust a seat post, so I opted to have the new Surly built at Iron Cycles.  That said, I did want the opportunity to learn, so while Ben built the bike up he patiently explained everything he did.  I picked up a good deal and found that while the beauty of a single speed (or fixed gear) bike is its simplicity, there is still a fair amount of prep work and skill associated with building any bike.  I helped here and there with a few small tasks (though it depends who you ask – I may have slowed the process down) and after maybe 3 hours we were finished.  I took the bike home and was pretty excited to get to ride it the next day!

Fast forward just over a year to today.  I’ve not had a day riding the Surly that I don’t absolutely love it.  It has been completely maintenance-free, other than just lubing the chain and keeping the bike clean.  If I could go back to build this bike again I wouldn’t change a thing.  It’s my first steel bike and while I will stick with other frame materials for racing, there is something about the steel ride that has character and as I’d heard, kind of a soul.  As a rider you are not totally insulated from road vibrations, but they are dampened and the result is a comfortable yet solid ride feel.  The sensation of being connected to the road through your bike is definitely present with the Cross-Check.  I highly recommend considering this particular Surly if you’re in the market for a bike that is fun to ride, reliable, friendly to your wallet and flexible enough to be built up in several different ways.

Of course, this review wouldn’t be complete without a huge thank you and shout out to Ben, Steven, Brandon and Chase at Iron Cycles for the help, guidance and answering all my pain in the butt questions while building the Cross-Check.  You couldn’t find a better place to bring your bike or begin your search for a new ride, so look these guys up if you’re in the market or need any repair, fit or general bike advice.

NEW BIKE DAY! Surly Cross-Check Custom in Robin's Egg Blue

Surly builds like this are always a pleasure.  Starting with the complete build, adding small touches to make the bike yours without going over the top.  Much like we did with this bike, the Robin's Egg Blue Cross-Check today was all class.

The complete build is pretty sweet, but subtle changes like Arundel Gekko tape in white really brightens up the finish on this bike.

Fatties do in fact fit fine.  This bike was built with SKS fenders and 28c Continental Gatorskin Ultra tires, and there's still a ton of clearance.

Just sit back and enjoy the rest of the photos.  This bike is just so classy, so clean, and so ready for whatever the road brings.  This one is intended to be used on a roughly 20-mile commute each way, though I have a feeling it will be seeing far more miles than that.

IF and Alchemy at NAHBS

The North American Handmade Bike Show is one of my favorite times of year.  I wish I could have gone this year, but instead I spent about 72 hours straight on social media following photos being posted of the show.

Now that it's long-since wrapped up, we have a little info to share.  First off, Independent Fabrication came to the show with a killer new SSR Max (which we have scheduled to arrive on Monday), an outrageous single speed townie, an over-the-top Ti Factory Lightweight CX bike with disc brakes, and a pair of sweet mountain bikes.  More info can be found here.

Alchemy came away with a highly-coveted "Best Carbon Bike" award for their custom Carbon Aero Road frame.  Having had one in the shop in the fall, I can attest to the quality of the frame.  The design is beautiful, the quality is stunning.

*Alchemy photo credit to Cog Blog

2012 Focus Mares CX 3.0

If you've followed the US cyclocross scene this year, you've seen the Rapha/Focus team.  If you watched the National Championship, you saw the Focus Mares pull ahead of all competitors under Jeremy Powers to win the US National Championship.

I raced this identical frame last year, and walked away always impressed with it's unreal handling and stiffness.  This is a German race bike designed by a world-class racer, made in Germany.

BB30, tapered steerer tube, full-carbon fork, it's got everything any racer could need.

This is the "value" version with a Shimano 105 gruppo and Fulcrum CX wheels.  The 3.0 allows the masses to get into the frame that won the 2012 US National Championship.

Ti teasers....

Just a couple of shots to cap off the day. I'm guessing many of you are on your first day back from the holiday, catching up with days worth of work, and may need a quick shot of bike pjorn for a pick-me-up this afternoon....

ENJOY!