Gnarliest place you've ridden

RickVaughn

Active Member
View attachment 48972 You can really improve braking ability on a drop bar cx type bike by adjusting the angle of the brake hoods. On my road bike the brake hood tops are nearly parallel to the ground. On my cross bike I point the tops of the hoods up at an angle, which gives your palms something to push against during heavy braking and puts your wrist into a neutral position. If your hoods are level with the ground your hands end up sliding forward under braking against the web of your thumb and you get that feeling that your hands are going to fly off the bars. Point those hoods skyways for better control.

thanks for the advice. I rode Tourne yesterday and definitely felt like my hands were gonna slide off the bars. Gonna play with the cockpit a bit
 

Magic

Formerly 1sh0t1b33r
Team MTBNJ Halter's
View attachment 48972 On my cross bike I point the tops of the hoods up at an angle, which gives your palms something to push against during heavy braking and puts your wrist into a neutral position. If your hoods are level with the ground your hands end up sliding forward under braking against the web of your thumb and you get that feeling that your hands are going to fly off the bars. Point those hoods skyways for better control.
Good tip. Thanks for this last season. 100% recommended for CXing and singletrack with drop bars.

My hands burn on the roadie going down to Greenway from G.W., but not worth the dopiness for short sections of road.
 

wonderturtle

Well-Known Member
You ride gnarly place on a cross bike until you realize it is stupid.
.

True dat.

Got a cross bike about a month ago and riding it at various parks near me. For me, most of my local parks (huber, hartshorne, Tatum, bayonet, holmdel, etc) are doable but then certain trails (rocky point) just get to the point of being too much (not gnarly just too much stuff, roots, logs, etc to deal with on a cross). I can see how Lewis Morris could be fun to try but all the roots and rocks would would get tiresome for me after a while.

The thing I like about the cross bike is that it makes lame places like Tatum, for example, more of a challenge. For example sandy sections or mowed field edge (that the MTB just rolls over) get a little hairy on the cross. Real wheel slides a bit around a sandy turn...gotta manage it. Hit a rooty section (that the MTB would just roll over)....gotta pick a pick a good line and shift your center of gravity as necessary. Better workout. Just something different.

Not to mention that cross is a lot better on the roads ;)
 

RickVaughn

Active Member
True dat.

Got a cross bike about a month ago and riding it at various parks near me. For me, most of my local parks (huber, hartshorne, Tatum, bayonet, holmdel, etc) are doable but then certain trails (rocky point) just get to the point of being too much (not gnarly just too much stuff, roots, logs, etc to deal with on a cross). I can see how Lewis Morris could be fun to try but all the roots and rocks would would get tiresome for me after a while.

The thing I like about the cross bike is that it makes lame places like Tatum, for example, more of a challenge. For example sandy sections or mowed field edge (that the MTB just rolls over) get a little hairy on the cross. Real wheel slides a bit around a sandy turn...gotta manage it. Hit a rooty section (that the MTB would just roll over)....gotta pick a pick a good line and shift your center of gravity as necessary. Better workout. Just something different.

Not to mention that cross is a lot better on the roads ;)

this is exactly how i felt, it completely changes how you view a trail. rode Tourne the other day and said, "i didn't realize there were so many rocks here." Looking forward to trying LM for sure
 

jimmy g

Member
I've ridden my cross bike at Nassau a bunch of times super fun plus it's not too far to walk out if you get a flat. If you have tubes you will get mucho flats
 

jimmy g

Member
do people use tubes for cross? I would assume every one is either tubeless or tubular. the potential for pinch flats is soooo high otherwise
On my beater wheels which I ride on the road and on trails I have tubes My race wheels are tubulars. Still not sold on tubeless for cross or just to lazy to convert
 

Robson

Well-Known Member
I routinely ride a cx bike in rocky north jersey parks. It's not as fun as riding a full suspension 29 but certainly helps improve line choice and smoothness.

Definitely put on 40c's and go tubeless.
North Jersey? Like Ringwood???
 

Mr.Moto

Well-Known Member
Like CX bike on Skyland??? Good luck!

Some year's back I met a guy at Lot C who came to the area for the 5 Boro bike tour the next day. He wanted to get some biking in but didn't know the park so I offer him a tour. He pulled out his CX bike which is the only bike he brought. I tell him about the terrain and he says he is fine with riding anything. I took him on the Skyland loop and he cleans the whole thing. Blew me away.
 

Robson

Well-Known Member
Some year's back I met a guy at Lot C who came to the area for the 5 Boro bike tour the next day. He wanted to get some biking in but didn't know the park so I offer him a tour. He pulled out his CX bike which is the only bike he brought. I tell him about the terrain and he says he is fine with riding anything. I took him on the Skyland loop and he cleans the whole thing. Blew me away.
Wow....
 

RickVaughn

Active Member
Some year's back I met a guy at Lot C who came to the area for the 5 Boro bike tour the next day. He wanted to get some biking in but didn't know the park so I offer him a tour. He pulled out his CX bike which is the only bike he brought. I tell him about the terrain and he says he is fine with riding anything. I took him on the Skyland loop and he cleans the whole thing. Blew me away.

too bad none of it rubbed off on you!! guess i have a new goal for this season. hell, i can't even clean that loop on my FS
 
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