cyclecross singlespeed

[montage]

Read sheldon brown's perspective on these for racing....but would the reality be that you would be dropped in the time length of a gnat's c*ck?

 

[montage]

Oh....and could I just stick some CX tyres on one of the old 1980's steel roadbikes for a cross bike? .... or would I be better off building up a mtb frame and using some rigid forks?

 

[RedBike]

I suppose it all depends on how quickly you can run?

If anything is steep enough to require a low gear then you can probably run it just as quick and in my limited experiance there's no many occations where you get to pedal balls out down hill.

 

[mr-marty-martin]

thinking about it you'll probalys get away with single speed

i no i only use about 4 gears on the back, the only time i didnt was when i was involved in a sprint finish...

 

[palinurus]

If there are any tarmac or hard packed fast sections gears are very handy- that big ring especially, otherwise I'd expect a singlespeed setup to work well enough as long as you are OK at running uphill and dismounting/remounting.

As for your 1980s steel bike: unless it has plenty of clearance for mud and can take canti brakes it won't be much use outside of early season races before the courses get muddy. An MTB would work better. If you are going to build a bike anyway then why not start with a secondhand cross frame?

 

[palinurus]

This article?

Singlecross

 

[mickle]

Check out the Peregrine;

http://www.singularcycles.com/bikes.htm

 

[Wigsie]

If you are going to build a bike anyway then why not start with a secondhand cross frame?

I actually want to do something similar to Montage but struggling to find a 2nd hand cross frame, found them to be as rare as hens teeth?

 

[palinurus]

Thinking about it I suppose it is probably fairly hard to find a S/H cross frame with the right dropouts for singlespeed use.

 

[montage]

Thinking about it I suppose it is probably fairly hard to find a S/H cross frame with the right dropouts for singlespeed use.

+ the cost

 

[mr-marty-martin]

not sure if this is posible, but if push comes to shove could you just runa normal frame witha normal cassette, put the chain in the gear you wish and change the chain length to suit, might need to use of a chain tensione, not sure

then at least you'll have the option of putting it in differant gears for differant courses, although a faff on more than likely getting the rite chain tension...

 

[palinurus]

Although there's always a chance of picking up a S/H Spesh Singlecross for a good price.

 

[Will1985]

I could convert my Pompino into a singlespeed cross bike....just need a freewheel and swap the road fork for the canti one.

 

[Young Un]

I could convert my Pompino into a singlespeed cross bike....just need a freewheel and swap the road fork for the canti one.

Do it WMCCL events are a good way to put yourself through immense pain laugh

 

[Dave5N]

Jesus Christ it's hard enough as it is. Don't take my gears away.