BB/VP Bar-B-Cross

Across the board, everyone associated with ChiCross has been stepping up their game!

1) Beverly Bike Vee-Pak put on a great event with awesome free BBQ
2) The event was run as well as any I've participated in. Thank you to all the ChiCross volunteers
3) The course was a perfect mix of power and tech sections. The park was a gem in the south side
4) Racer turnout remains high which increases the level of competition

This has been a great year of CX racing, and we're only through the 4th week!

Each race I appreciate my Lynskey ProCross and Reynolds wheels a bit more. After racing CX on clincher wheels with a 20+ pound bike for the past couple seasons, I’ve seen the light.

This is my first top shelf race bike and it is a rocket! I’m stronger than last year and this bike allows me to push the envelope when cornering and accelerating out of corners. Several of us on the team have bikes built in the mid-16 pound range. It’s nice to know that equipment wise, I’m on equal footing. Fitness and handling will decide the race. Let the best man win.

Ted and I both got call ups for the Cat1/2/3 race. It’s nice to get front row seats. After the start I was about 5th heading into the trees for first time up the hill. The group clogged up as expected and that gave the first couple riders all the leash they needed, never to be seen again.

I dropped my chain later during the first lap, but with Ted’s help worked to regain a few spots. I finally caught the OTHER Tim. I enjoy riding around with him for encouragement. Tim's a pretty popular guy, so even though people weren't cheering for me, I got a boost hearing my name.

We kept challenging each other in our attempt to reach Hemme. During the wooded hill climb on the previous lap, TimB stalled on some roots near the top. The next lap I darted in front of him before the woodchips, rode it clean and had the gap I needed. I chased Hemme for a couple more laps, but couldn't reach him and finished 5th.


Iron Cycles had another great turnout, representing in the Masters 30+, Cat3, Cat3/4 Women, Cat1/2/3 and Cat4 (in that order)
I had a great time cheering for everyone and I’m already looking forward to Carpentersville next Sunday

DeKalb CX

This weekend the team traveled west to the city of DeKalb for round 2 of the ChiCrossCup. Half Acre put together a great race with a course that was unrelenting, allowing very little time for recovery. The course had plenty of technical features such as off camber turns galore, but with the soft grass and false flats, horse power would rule the day.

In the 1/2 race Tim made the break in the first chase group. With the complacency of having a pretty decent race last weekend at Xterra Nationals, I lacked the desire to put myself through the pain of staying on Tim's wheel and settled into my own pace. In hindsight, I kind of regret it because Tim said once you get into the draft the pace eventually settles down and it is not as hard as you think it would be.

I settled into the second chase group with Greg Heck. We took turns pulling lap after lap, but kept giving up a few seconds each lap to the group ahead. Our only hope was to reel in straglers falling off the pace up front.

Two to go and we are finally about to catch someone ahead. Unfortunately I roll a tire and get gapped. Oh well, the rest of the race I ride alone. In the end Tim finished 7th and I was 13th. I think we both have enough points to get a call up for next weeks race, so that's pretty good.

Tim's been off on some secret training plan, but whatever he is doing, it's working. Everytime I ask him to come out and ride he looks away and mumbles something about being busy at work. There are rumors that he's doing VO2 max intervals on the recumbant exercycle 4 days a week.

In the 4A race, Russ A.K.A. Crash, showed quick improvement and finished 7th. He should be close to getting a call up next race too.

For the 4B race, Matt Daniel put down the wrench and put out notice he can drop the hammer too. A great start put him at the front of the pack and he finished 6th.

Overall it was a pretty good day with Iron Cycles representing in nearly every race.

Storck's are in!

Friday we received the much-anticipated Storck delivery. Not everything showed, some of the frames aren't due for a month or so, but we now have a 51cm Scenario C1.1 built and ready to ride.

The C1.1 frameset is lighter and stiffer than the Madone, not to mention cheaper. If you want carbon for everyday training, the C1.1 is pretty much impossible to beat.

We also have a super-fly 55cm Fenomenalist built with SRAM Red and Reynolds carbon wheels and a PowerTap. With all that business goin' on, it's still weighing in at 15.2 lbs....whoa. This frameset could easily be built up to 12.5-13 lbs any day of the week with off-the-shelf parts.

We will soon have a Vision Light in stock, the Storck aluminum frame. "Aluminum" you ask? Yes. This is the Storck crit machine. Light, stiff, aggressive, fast. Plus you won't have to cry yourself to sleep if the Vision Light hits the ground in a race. Retailing at $900 for frame, fork, and headset, it's a lot easier on the pocketbook than say a Fascenario, and still a race-worthy frame. Thinking about a Cannondale CAAD9? Give this Vision Light a ride first and see which is the better frame.

Want to test one? Come in! Scheduling a ride would probably be best so we can ride along and guard you from popporazzi.

We're famous!

The Storck demo event went awesome at the shop, and we made it onto the Storck Demo Blog. I think that means we've "made it". Right? Come on, right?!

http://storckdemotour.blogspot.com/2009/08/iron-cycles-chicago-il.html

The first of many Iron Cycles Racing wins!

In the words of Tim Yuska, our first race winner. The team has been around for roughly 2 weeks, the uniforms aren't even in, yet we are starting on the right foot!

Take it away Tim:

Tour of Elk Grove - Cat4 recap

My first 1st + the best prize purse of the season + primetastic solo ride = Perfect day

The Race: On the first lap Ben Widoff did his usual mountain bike hole shot start and picked up a couple guys willing to go with him. Beginning from the third row, I stayed in the pack. After a few laps the breakaway had taken down their second prime and I worried that they would be able to keep adding seconds to their lead. Knowing that a break a four working together would have a good chance to stay away, I put in a big dig near the start/finish to leave the pack and bridge up. After joining I took a few seconds to recover and moved to the front for a pull.

Everyone was willing to work as able, but it wasn’t very coordinated. Rain had started to sprinkle by the next time the prime bell was rung for $75. We cautioned each other to take it easy through the turns and watch for slippery pavement markings. I knew that Ben W. would jump for the prime, he’s stolen a few from me this year, so I beat him to the punch by jumping first and held off his charge. $75, sweet! My first ever successfully contested prime. Our break of four was now down to two. As we hit the apex of the 180degree turn, I’m thinking of how Ben and I can work together … and then Ben slides out on the wet pavement.

Go! Go! Go! Go! My mind is screaming. I shift a gear and exit the corner like I stole something. Each lap you are able to look across the divided road at the chasing pack to see how close they are. I don’t remember how much time I had left when I went solo, too busy looking at my stem, burying myself, rather than checking the clock. I prayed that they would ring the prime bell each time I passed the start line. I picked up another $25 dollars and a few laps later another $50. Each time through the 180degree turn it looked like the pack was closing in, but I must have been quicker entering and exiting in the slick conditions to maintain my gap. The final lap bell rang and I knew it was all or nothing. I shifted down another gear … and my legs said “Hell No” so I shifted back and kept my cadence up. With 400 meters to go after exiting the final turn I knew I had it won. Now what, I’ve never done this before!?!?! With 50M to go my hands were still stuck to the bars, afraid of being that guy who wipes out before the finish. I finally muster the courage to post up and give a big shout. Man that felt good!!! I need to do that more often

The reflection: I’ve learned a lot of skills and met a lot of great people from different teams this summer. These crits are a tough riddle. Being strong is not enough to win. Tactical thinking, positioning ability and DETERMINATION to win is a huge asset. A mental slip will cost you several positions and possibly a win. I know that I still have a lot to learn, but I submitted my Cat3 upgrade and have been approved. I am preparing myself for another learning curve, but look forward to pushing myself against better competition. For now, I’m heading back to fat tires and dirt. I have a couple big mountain bike races, Ore2Shore and Chequamegon, before ramping up for Act 2 of my season with Cyclocross. Hopefully it ends as well as Act 1.

Tim

John's family Schwinn Tandem Town & Country

Every so often I get the opportunity to work on a really cool bike, which is not always the latest carbon race bike or the bike with the most gadgets or pivots. Every summer I look forward to seeing what challenges “wheel” through the door.

If I could describe the experience, it would closely resemble how most of us feel right before a birthday, or the night before Christmas. I love working on bikes, its something that I have done for most of my life and can easily see myself doing happily for the rest of it.

So from time to time I get to work on a bike that reminds me of what this whole professional bicycle mechanic thing is all about. It might be a bike that I have to pull completely apart from bearing to brake. It could be a bike so out of control expensive that, even in my dreams I could never afford it.

Or, it could be a bike that just looks cool.

Ed's Turner Flux

Our buddy Ed is a true cyclist through and through. He loves sweet bikes, awesome beer and hanging out at our shop. He came to Iron Cycles with a little project in mind revolving around a Turner Flux full suspension frame. Now, to fully understand just how excited I get about building a Turner we have to track back about fifteen years to my very first bike shop, The Single Track Factory. This is the part in the story where both Wayne and Garth warp us back in time.

The Single Track Factory is a killer little shop in the heart of my hometown of Denver, Colorado. This was the first shop that I ever walked in to where I felt welcomed by the way cool guys that worked there. I think that this initial impression that clued me into the idea that a bike shop can be fun and exciting to visit. So, a few visits later I had somehow convinced Brian, the owner, to let me work there for the summer. He took me under his wing and taught me everything I would ever need to know about bikes.

A few years went by, in which time I’d gotten into racing downhill and slalom and survived a few bike trips to the far corners of the States. However the bikes that I had been riding just didn’t feel right. I had officially broken my first downhill bike in a crash that should have taken my life, but instead left me with a concussion that I swear has made me see double ever since.

Every summer STF provided technical support for the Fat Tire Classic in Winter Park. The coolest part about the Fat Tire Classic, aside from the riding, was the dirt demo. The Single Track Factory would always find some way to get the coolest companies to let us borrow bikes for this event. It was there that I first set my eyes on a Turner. Turner was building bikes for all the fastest pros and was holding their ground against other companies like Intense and Santa Cruz which were all cool bikes too. For some reason I had just never seen a Turner in person let alone ridden one. I had plastered a million Mountain Bike Action Magazine pages to my walls with some rider railing some perfectly groomed trail on a Turner. I was boarder line obsessed with owning an Afterburner DH.

Turner had lent us three bikes, an 02, an XCE, and an RFX. I remember just how anxious I was waiting to jump aboard any of them. Because I was more into the gravity bikes at the time I was dead set on riding the RFX which was considered a “long travel” machine. I was in love from the first pedal stroke. The bike had amazing acceleration and gobbled up just about anything I could throw it at All of the reviews I had ever read, all of the rumors and hype, were right on! I had never felt more confident on a bike in my life and was certain that my next purchase would be a Turner.

Ok, back to Ed’s bike. So my life long obsession with the Turner brand has led to a rather exaggerated excitement when I get a chance to build one. Ed’s Turner Flux is an awesome example of why…

This four inch travel trail machine is built for serious speed. From the Mavic Cross Max SLR wheels to the Tune Bar ends, no expense was spared! We built the bike up with a mix of Shimano XTR drive train components to keep the shifting super smooth and precise. The Truvative Noir cranks are among the lightest and stiffest carbon triple, mountain cranks out on the market, not to mention some of the sexiest!



At Iron Cycles we love to see Sram made components on just about any bike. The Avid Juicy Ultimate brakes are some of our favorites. I have thrashed a pair on my all-mountain bike for over two years now and they work as well as the day I first installed them.

Of course I’m a fan of both the Thomson X2 stem and the Elite seat post. If you ask me every bike should have these parts on them. Thomson stems and posts are light, durable and are made with the highest tolerances you’ll find anywhere.

Fox has possibly the most fine tunable stock suspension components I have ever found. We equipped Ed’s machine with the F80 RLC which has both rebound, compression and lock out feature for those long climbs out west. The coolest thing about this fork is that you have 100% control over how this thing performs. Some of the best racers in the world use this fork because of its features and its incredibly low weight.

Chris King makes some of the best headsets hands down. Not only does King back up their headsets with a TEN year warranty (not that you’ll ever need it) they perform flawlessly for years. In all my years as a bicycle mechanic I’ve seen more frames fail than King headsets. Come to think of it I’m not sure that I have ever seen a King headset fail. It’s in the name.


With the bike finished we sent Ed out for a ride. I don't know if he was just being nice, or if he really meant it, but as far as I can tell, it was love at first ride.