Cyclocross season is here!

Here at Iron Cycles we're nuts about CX. We love riding until we bleed from our eyeballs turning ourselves inside out on grass and in mud. We love a good hand-up and live for the next great heckle.

But in the end, CX has as much to do with the event as it does the gear. We love gear. Especially CX gear. Handmade tires, carbon wheels, race frames, it all gets us jazzed.

We put Ben on assignment this time when he hit the studio, not to get some killer shots of one particular build that we just completed, rather some of the really cool CX gear we have around the shop. There's more to come in the CX world of goodies from us, but here's a sample of what's kicking around right now.

First up comes a custom CX frame from Boo. Nick Frey, the founder of Boo, hand delivered this frame to the shop for us to test out. It's got plenty of road miles, a good number of miles in the grass, and some ugly winter rides under it's belt. It was originally built with some heavy training wheels and SRAM Rival, and weighed a respectable 19lbs. Once loaded with SRAM Red and some Zipp 303's with Dugast Rhino tires it came down to 16.5lbs.

Pictured here with a Ridley Python fork and Chris King headset:


The bike is made tube-to-tube with bamboo grown under the control of Nick. The tubes are cut and mitered to fit just for you, then the joints are wrapped with carbon.


The rear end is also made of bamboo, which provides an amazing feel. Very steel-like in it's comfort, the frame is very stiff and always willing to sprint.


Up next comes a frame that brings a lot of emotion with it. Not necessarily because of the paint or design, but more because it's limited in production and gears. Raleigh has now done a few limited edition runs of SSCX frames, this being one of them.

Team Iron Cycles will have a handful of guys tearing up the SSCX scene in the Midwest this year, and this frame will be the most popular.


Aluminum frame, Easton EC90x fork, horizontal dropouts. If you want no-frills, this is it. Pedal hard to go fast. Pedal harder to go faster.


Mix in a link to some beer and you have a real winner in a group of CX racers.

Last, and certainly not least, is a project that we're very proud of. A little work with Francois from FMB and we were able to land some custom FMB Grippo XL, SSC, and SSC Sprint tires with IRON CYCLES stamped on the side. No, we didn't add these aftermarket, these were made special for Iron Cycles by Francois.

Mounted up to a set of Zipp 202's, you're looking at a soft and supple, yet super-light and stiff race wheelset. Mounted to a carbon CX bike with SRAM Red and we were looking at 15lbs even.


So sick. Thank you Francois for your help on this project. Maybe some road tires for next year as well?

Again, this is just a sample of what we do. And a sample of what we can do for you. Cyclocross exists entirely for racing, but doesn't mean you have to be a pro to participate.

Want to try out some nice tubulars but don't want to spend $3k on some wheels, how about some hand-built alloy-tubular wheels in the $500 range. 90% of the benefit at about 15% of the price of the carbon wheels.

Get in touch with us to build you dream CX bike or your first CX bike, they both excite us the same!

2011 Yeti ASR-5 with SRAM X.0 and Fox

This bike was a commission from a very good friend of the shop. He came in with an idea of what he wanted the bike to be, where he wanted to go with it. We were then asked for opinions, and given a pretty loose leash to create something more fun to ride than look at.

At Iron Cycles we have a tough time creating custom rides like this one while ignoring the aesthetics, but this bike is function over form. It doesn't hurt that it's hot though.

Fox supplied the suspension, SRAM the transmission and brakes, King did the hubs and headset.

SRAM X.0 might have lost some of it's swagger with XX out and about, but without XX stealing the spotlight no one would hesitate to label X.0 as one of the best mountain groups out there. Setup is always flawless and simple, capped off by brakes that modulate well, stop incredibly, and have tons of adjustment.


RockShox Reverb seatpost comes in handy during the rough descents this bike will see in California. This is a rare part for us, very few long descents around here. But again the setup was simple and the bleed couldn't have been easier.

King headset, nothing but the best. 1-1/8" upper, 1.5" lower. Perfect fit, an industry-best warranty, and made in the USA. Can't be beat.

Kashima Coat on the RP23. This new coating makes the shock move much more smoothly, something immediately noticeable.

Nothing like a thru-axle to stiffen up steering. Combine that with a tapered steerer tube and this bikes just where you point it. Hand-built wheels are a great solution to a custom build, and this bike is no exception. A King ISO Disc rear hub laced to a Stan's ZTR Flow rim made for a relatively light and really stiff wheel. In the front the King thru-axle hub laced to the same Stan's ZTR Flow rim made for a bomber front wheel ready for anything.

In the end, this bike will pedal it's way up wherever it's pointed, and bomb down just about any line. We were asked for a do-it-all mountain bike, and when riding all over the country, we think we've accomplished what we set out for.

2011 Cielo Sportif with Shimano Ultegra

When building this bike, we knew we had a unique opportunity to create a completely modern yet retro bike. Starting with a hand-made steel frame and fork, we knew we were going for a thoroughly classic look. Yet, I knew before we started we wanted to include all of the great modern technology that has forever changed cycling.


STI shifting, clincher tires, and shallow-drop bars have changed cycling, and while we knew we wanted to incorporate all of these, we had to remain true to the classic lines of quality steel.

Ultegra 6700 seemed like a great choice to us based on it's flawless performance and satin-gray finish. It "hides" pretty well on the Cielo's Transit Gray finish.


Silver Thomson stem and post were simple choices because of their classic look and perfect performance. A bit more difficult to decide on were the Ritchey Classic bars, the finish was perfect though there was a debate on the reach and drop.

A Brooks saddle seemed like a choice that was perfect and had to be made to fit the motif we were working toward. The bar tape was up for debate for quite some time before we settled on Deda in an off-white color that matched the outline of the Cielo font perfectly.


Last on the list are the rolling stock, which took some time. But, once we found H+Son TB14 rims we knew we had a winner. With the classic look of an Ambrosio but the ability to use clincher tires we feel we found a perfect balance. Laced 3-cross to Shimano hubs with Challenge Parigi-Roubaix 700x27c tires we feel we have created a very modern yet classic bike.


Chris King has been in the bike game for a long time. Everyone knows about his headsets, and now their bottom brackets, but not everyone knows that Chris started way back in the day making frames. Now that Cielo and Chris King are back in the frame business, Iron Cycles is lucky enough to be one of only a few select dealers throughout the country.

Very few small manufacturers can get you a hand-made steel frame in as little as a few weeks, but Cielo can do just that. And at just $1900 for frame and fork, it's tough to beat. Custom touches like stainless steel fork ends and rear dropouts, engraves seat stays and machined headtube collars.

Available in 6 colors, it's also possible to customize the color of the logos as well if you fancy something a bit different. All "paint" is done in powdercoat, including the logos, no decals to be found here.

Looking to go a bit further? Cielo has a stainless steel version coming as well as a Sportif Racer version with a, surprise, racier gemoetry. Cyclocross as well as a Cyclocross Racer, and a 29er version are also available.

As built:

Cielo Sportif Frameset
Cielo Steel Fork
Shimano Ultegra 6700 Shifters
Shimano Ultegra 6700 Derailleurs
H+Son TB14 rims laced 3-cross to Shimano 105 hubs
Challenge Parigi-Roubaix Tires, 700x27c
Thomson Stem and Post
Ritchey Classic bars
Deda Tape
Brooks Swift Saddle

Total price as built: $3900

2011 Felt FA with SRAM Force and HED Wheels

Another quick update with a very interesting build. When working with a set budget, how does one allocate the funds?

Felt has done a great job of designing their new FA frame, and at roughly half the price of the FC, a great argument can be made for it. A tapered steerer tube/head tube (1-1/8" to 1-1/2"), BB30 bottom bracket, and full carbon fork for $850 goes a long way to giving you an excellent base for a race bike.


Going to the FA frame afforded this build some excellent component choices. This particular build went with SRAM Force which has almost all of the same feel and performance of Red, with only a very slight weight penalty. That slight weight penalty leaves a ton of extra cash in your pocket versus Red.
Another excellent choice this customer made was HED wheels. The C2 rim shape has become a favorite of everyone at the shop. We have a set of demo 2010 Bastogne wheels that have 6+ months of CX training and racing and 12+ months of road miles that includes tons of city streets, snow, mud, rain, and sand. The wheels still spin true and free while that wide rim shape makes them handle like they are on rails.


This build is something we're really proud of because it is yet another of those builds we would consider "signature". SRAM, HED, and Felt make for a great combination and one that many guys from our shop are currently riding on.

As built:

Felt FA Frame
Felt full-carbon 1-1/8" to 1-1/2" Taper Control Fork
SRAM Force Shifters
SRAM Force Derailleurs
HED Kermesse Wheels
Michelin Pro3Race Tires
FSA Stem and Post
FSA Omega Compact Bars
Fizik Tape
Fizik Antares Saddle

Total price as built: $3400

Lynskey Sportive with SRAM Red

Time to unveil what we've been up to over at Iron Cycles!

If you're anything like us, you like bikes. Riding bikes. Working on bikes. And looking at bikes. Sometimes we enjoy looking at bikes so much we spend hours scouring for the next build, something new, something hot.

Nothing works quite as well to quench our thirst for hot bikes like some true professional-quality studio shots. Lucky for us at Iron Cycles, we have two photographers at the shop who can take some amazing photos, much better than any amateur will come up with. Add in a dose of studio lighting and some photo editing and we end up with true bike porn.

With that, let's get on to the bikes!

First up is an XL Lynskey Sportive that Steven was gracious enough to demo for us (and you). Built with a Reynolds Ouzo Pro fork, a mix of SRAM Red and Force, and HED Kermesse wheels. Toss in some Thomson bits, a Zipp bar, and Fizik saddle, and I would dare say this is a signature build from Iron Cycles, something you'll see a lot of.


These photos are of course a bit self-serving as well. While we enjoy building them and riding them, we do sell them. So the series won't just have sick shots, no, it'll also have a true build-kit price. Of course, with all custom builds everything can be changed, so these are just examples of what we can do.


As built:

Lynskey Sportive Frame
Reynolds Ouzo Fork (discontinued, to be replaced with Easton EC70, EC90, or ENVE 2.0)
SRAM Red Shifters
SRAM Force Derailleurs
HED Kermesse Wheels
Continental GP4000s tires
Thomson Stem and Post
Zipp Service Course SL handlebars
Deda Tape
Fizik Antares Saddle

Total price as built: $4950

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!

WIG Street Straps IN STOCK!

These things are not easy to come by, but we have them IN STOCK!


Let me back up, though. WIG is a small company based here in Chicago, and when I say small, I mean one dude. Isaac is our go-to when it comes to all of our custom bag needs. Personally, I own two. The first backpack was a gift, the second came along when I felt the need for something to class it up a bit.

Isaac is a crazy dude, with a ton of layers. Great guy to chat with. Better guy to get some custom stuff made. We'd heard about Street Straps and even seen them on Isaac's own bikes (we've hooked him up with a Brooklyn Machine Works Gangsta Track and a Surly Steamroller) and were impressed.

We like to support local businesses, but when that business is making some of the best stuff out there it becomes a no-brainer.


It wasn't until lately that calls have been coming in on a steady basis for WIG Street Straps, so we were able to coax Isaac into hooking us up with a few pairs.

$45 gets you set up with some hand-made-in-Chicago Street Straps, but you'd best hurry, we're down to just a few pairs!

* Huge thanks goes out to Gavin for the photos.