Springtime Criss-Cross

I generally enjoy the Utah winters, especially now that I have snowshoes to tromp around in the back country. Like most other Utahns I'm rather tired of Winter by the end of January. That makes February a very long and tiresome month; I've long held that February is the worst month of the year. Winter is still here, but its not new, or fun or even pretty anymore. It's old, cold, and the snow is no longer pretty and white, it's gray and brown, filled with mud and sand, the dregs of winter. Along comes March, with it's first hints of Spring. Now, I learned long ago not to succumb to the temptations of March for it's attempts at spring-like weather are more like the song of a siren. You'll be drawn into a sunny 50 degree day only to have a hearty winter storm blow in the next day, covering your springtime plans under slushy snow. Making your dreams and everything else soggy, cold and useless.

Around the end of March, beginning of April, Spring decides to show up and stick around. Of course there is often a snowstorm that sneaks in there but it's usually not too bad. I have a love hate relationship with Spring. I need sunny days, too many cloudy rainy days and my SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) kicks in. Utah is nearly the perfect place for me. Utah is the first or second state in terms of most days with sunshine. That all changes in Spring. I like not having to water my lawn, but the clouds and rain can get a bit much.

The other thing about Spring is that it feels like it should be time for cyclocross. I've had about 4 months off now and it seems like it should be time to get back to it. The weather is perfect for 'cross. Cool weather, rain, mud, all the stuff that makes up a good cyclocross race. It just so happens that some like-minded gent in Colorado has the same idea. Next weekend I will be traveling 6 hours to Eagle CO for the Cult 'Cross race. This annual race has been occurring since 2008, though this will be my first time attending. Though this is a race, it's geared more toward having fun, which saves those of us who didn't hit the trainer nearly as much as we should have over the Winter (oooh how I hated that trainer). This will also be the first race for my new bike, hopefully she can take the beating. It's a bit of a drive just for a "fun" race, but I have an itch that needs to be scratched. Hopefully the mountain bike trails will be clear of snow soon and I can get some good riding in until October when the embrocation will flow and I'll hate myself for 45 minutes of lung searing death on a bike.

My Stevens Carbon Cyclocross Bike

I had this post written about 6 months ago and just never got around to putting it up on the ol' blog. This post is dedicated to my cyclocross bike. I've referenced it before, but I wanted to document the effort I put into actually building up the the frame I originally purchased into the awesome race machine that it is today. The details contained herein are probably not of any interest to anyone other than me so don't feel bad if you're bored to tears.

I have 6 months of riding the Stevens under my belt and I'm as happy now as the day I first rode it. I know bike geometry is a personal thing, but for me Stevens really nailed it. My Stevens Carbon Cross bike is hands down the best handling bike I've ever ridden.

Firstly the Stevens frame and fork are fantastic. I've never had a hint of fork shudder even under heavy breaking. It rails through corners with the perfect mix of road and 'cross geometry. This frame has been ridden to a number of national and world championship victories.

I added a 46 cm Salsa Bell Lap handle bar, very wide and has slightly flared drops to add to the bike handling when in the drops.

SRAM Rival shifters with Force derailleurs.

TRP Magnesium EuroX brakes; very light and get the job done.

Thompson Elite seatpost that I picked up with the WTB saddle from Kyle at SBR; thanks Kyle.

FSA Gossamer crankset, re-purposed from my motobecane.

Gore Ride-On sealed cables to gunk doesn't clog things up partway through the season.

Vuelta Tubular wheels

Vittoria Cr

oss XG(all around tread) and XN(file tread) tubular tires.

There are minor stories for some of the acquired parts. I had originally planned on using all of

the parts from my old Motobecane, with a few upgrades. I needed a wider handlebar

but after buying it I realized that my old stem was a different size so I had to buy a stem as well. Then I realized that the seatpost was too small and I needed a wider seatpost to fit my frame. I stopped by SBR to see what it would cost to order a new one and Kyle just happened to have the exact seat post that I wanted to order. He no longer needed it as it came from his recently replaced mountain bike and didn't fit his new one. It was topped with a nice WTB saddle that just happened to match my bike well. He cut me a sweet deal for the pair.

I bought some nice brakes, mostly because I had a little extra in my bike building budget and they were nice, light and worked well. So I ordered the TRP EuroX brakes. I was execting the white and red versions but white and gold showed up. I'm not a big GOLD kind of guy, but I went with it, especially after I got the chain I ordered and it was gold too.

I bought a set of GORE Ride-On sealed shifter cables in the spring. When I was at the Dealer Camp event taking photos for Cyclocross Magazine

I spoke with the guys running the GORE booth. I told them how much I liked the shifter cables and the set me up with a set of their new sealed brake cables for free. Along with being sealed to keep the grit and grime out the housing

has been made stiff so there is less give when the brakes are pulled and it gives a better feel for the brakes. I haven't tried them yet, just got them on so we'll see.

Also at the Dealer Camp event I stopped by the Sinclair booth to talk to the Stevens guys. I told them that I liked their bikes so much I bought one. I commented on the fact that they now stock the bikes with a fork mounted cable hanger for the front brake. I told them I'd been looking for one, but they're really hard to find. The guy I was talking with gave me his card and told me to email him. After doing so I had the free new cable hanger in my hand within a week. Those guys rock.

I wanted to go with white bar tape and hood covers to go with my mostly white bike. My Clammy Chamois teammate Josh hooked me up with some awesome Lizard Skins bar tape real cheap. I bought some Hudz aftermarket hood covers to complete the setup.

After using SRAM shifters at Interbike I was ruined on my Shimano Ultegra 6600. I bought the SRAM Rival shifters. Scott from SBR was upgrading to SRAM Red so I picked up his lightly used Force derailleurs heavily discounted.

I've written at length about my Vuelta tubular wheels and Vittoria tubular tires. Needless to say they are light and strong and aside from the Stevens frame, they're my favorite part of the bike.

So there it is, my Stevens Carbon Cyclocross bike.