Hey Lee,
Been following your site for long time. Finally have a question for you. I recently moved from Boulder to Ann Arbor, Michigan. Not much here to ride my trail bike on, but I love to rail my Marin Cortina CX bike on the local singletrack. I was living in Boulder this past summer and cracked the Cortina at the headtube. I think riding Betasso and Marshal Mesa often was a bit too much.
Marin replaced it, but I am thinking about getting something else more appropriate for my style. I mostly ride trail (typical ride currently is 5-10 miles road with 15+ miles tight, fast singletrack). I also go on the occasional road ride, and I use the bike to commute a few miles every day. I entered my first CX race this past weekend and had a blast.
I remember seeing a few of your posts awhile back about riding trail on CX. It is fun! Naturally, one factor I’m considering is frame material. Been thinking about steel (see http://www.cotic.co.uk/product/x#). However, I have never owned a steel bike. My understanding is that steel would be heavier, but more damp, stiff, and durable. Better for trail riding on a CX, no?
Any other suggestions? Do CX bikes with better trail geometry exist? What would that be? Fork material? I’m thinking 1×9 set-up; bigger tires (currently running 32s), wider bars, maybe disc brakes, but I like the simplicity of cantis and we don’t have much for hills here anyway.
I appreciate any advice. Thanks!
Joe
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Yes, my backyard pump track is finally underway. The property is steep, the contour promising and the trees intriguing. I’ve been too busy to tackle this on my own, so I’ve engaged The Man Himself—James Hall, the best shaper in the northern hemisphere, soon returning to the southern hemisphere—to help make this dream real.
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Some crazy bug likes to switch this site’s comment settings. Comments are re-enabled. Rock.
Hi Lee,
Russ [my husband] and I were messing around at Arastradero, a local openspace area in Palo Alto. He was taking pictures of me, and I noticed how bad my body position was. After that, I started working on it, and we ended up with this picture.
Please let me know what you think. It took me a while to be able to do that again after a back injury (inflamed L5/S1 disc) with lots of PT. A few people told me that’s how I injured my back, but that body position does not put much pressure on the spine as long as your core muscles are strong enough to support yourself like that.
You’ll also see that I’m heavy feet/light hands too 
Thanks for teaching me. I’m constantly learning, and I love that
-Anne
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While driving from Boulder to SLC today:
- Planned this weekend’s training sessions.
- Rode some sweet Santa Cruz trails.
- Won Survivor.
On Saturday I taught a bunch of Colorado high school kids and their coaches how to ride safer/better/faster. This was the first official event of the Colorado High School Cycling League.
Yes: We are teaching high school athletes how to rip on bikes. The revolution is on, baby, ON!
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Save money and start ripping today. Order the electronic version of Mastering Mountain Bike Skills 2nd Edition for just $21.95.
Click here to order from Human Kinetics.
Hey all, don’t forget my public at the CU Research Park in Boulder this Saturday. It’s a great chance to learn titanium skills at an aluminum price.
The class runs noon to 3 p.m. and costs $50 with a copy of Mastering Mountain Bike Skills. We’ll cover all the basic skills—position, braking, turning, bumps—then do whatever the group wants.
Click here for more info and to sign up
It’s my job to wring out my new 2010/11 Enduro Pro Carbon, and I take this job seriously.
Today I rocked another local benchmark ride: Hall Ranch in Lyons, CO.
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Another Sea Otter is in the books. I’m parked in front of my brother’s house in Marin resting up for the long drive home. Thoughts:
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