One-Eyed Wonder: CX-V
What I have always loved about Mountain Biking is the immersion into the woods; the sense of solitude that comes in the wilderness that is lost entirely in the convenience and hustle of the cities I’ve always lived in. What I always hated about Mountain Biking is that my mountain bike never feels enough like my road bike.
I was but a budding Velominatus when I discovered Cyclocross, and from the start it seemed like an incredible sport that offered all kinds of opportunity. My dad came home from a trip to Europe with an aluminum ALAN under his arm and from that moment on I was hooked on the idea of a road bike that could go off and have fun in the dirt. At the time, CX bikes were a rarity in the US market; the closest thing I’d seen to a CX bike at that time were John Tomac’s bitchin’ drop bar mountain bikes and the frankenstein Bontrager MTB that a buddy converted into some sort of zombie with a touring bike’s fork and 700c front wheel mounted on the rig and a 26 inch rear wheel with a weird skinny tire.
Nevertheless, my limited budget historically poured into the road bikes where my heart has always been rooted and a CX bike always seemed to fall just into the s-1 range of Rule #12 compliance; whether s in this case happened to be my pursuit of the sensation of rhythm, harmony, and flight to be found only on smooth tarmac or, currently, the chair of the Budget and Planning Committee – on which I hold an influential but non-controlling vote.
But Fate, the Velominati Community, and @Cyclops’ lifelong dream to learn to braze a bike frame changed all that one day last January when a box appeared on my doorstep containing a custom-made steel Cyclocross frame. The dust was blown off the brain cogs which get remarkably little use these days, and Il Progetto for my CX bike started in earnest. Marko took up the role of Graveur Sensei and PNW CX Legend Josh Liberles of Veloforma took up the role of CX Sensei. Parts were shuffled from bike to bike, various components were aggregated from odd corners to fill in the gaps and make substitutions where necessary, and slowly but surely the Nederaap came to life.
My old Dura Ace 7700 nine-speed group-san was immediately selected as the ideal mud-clearing drivetrain; somehow Campagnolo seems much better suited to the civility offered by the road (even in Rule #9 conditions) than the neanderthal environment of Cyclocross. In the Velominatus Budgetatus conditions we find ourselves in, this meant the Record 10 group was moved from the TSX to the rain bike, and the TSX the current target of Progetto Old-School and has donned downtube shifters and lies in wait for some period-appropriate brakes. Old wheels were repurposed from the commuter bike (which now temporarily lies in wait of new bits and pieces) and a secret project for new racing wheels for the CX-V waits to bear fruit. (Some of you who are paying attention may already be onto the source of these wheels.)
All this was done with the knowledge that @Cyclops, however obsessive-compulsive, built this frame in a spare bedroom and my expectations were set accordingly. This would be be a rideable frame that held a huge amount of sentimental value and would be fun to take out to the local races and inelegantly beat people with and say things like, “Yeah, this bike was built by a crazy person. And I beat you with it. And I suck at Cyclocross. Feeling good about that?”
But last week, as the last part for the build arrived (a pair of top-mount brake levers which I understand will cost me massive Look Pro points which I hope to make up for with Not Crashing As Often As I Otherwise Would points) I put the thing together and took it for a spin.
First pedal stroke, hey this feels OK. Next pedal stroke, yeah, this is not bad at all. A few hundred meters later, I realized I felt like I was riding one of my bikes. I half expected the frame to fall apart first with the introduction of my hefty arse and second with the unleashing of my considerable artillery, but this bike doesn’t just ride like a home-made bike, it rides like a real professional, great bike. Emboldened, I collected my kit and headed out to the local park to play around and see how it faired on its native terrain.
Riding it down to the park and the singletrack that is strewn throughout it, I was compelled to determine if it could survive some manner of trauma. Armed with my incompetence as a Cyclocrosser, I had no alternative but to crash-test the frame by bunny-hopping a curb at about 45kph. My plan worked flawlessly; I jumped at an oblique angle, went a little short, landed the back wheel sideways on the curb and became the lead character in my own stop-action animation film as I dumped hip-first into the cement sidewalk like a sack of potatoes. Ancillary observation: I’m amazed at how resilient the V-Kit is, this being my first crash in it.
Test completed and satisfied that the frame was unharmed despite crashing hard enough to require some serious wheel-truing upon my return home, I headed into the singletrack with the confidence that the frame was both smarter and stronger that I am. You can’t put a price on that kind of knowledge.
As for the top-mount levers which I’m sure to be berated for, I’ll make you a deal. As long as I’m too inexperienced to know better and as long as you can’t crush Katie Compton, I’ll happily disregard your advice. As soon as one of those two factors changes, I’m all ears. And for those of you planning the “Cyclocross is about minimalism” argument, I expect you to post photos of your single speed CX rig to support your case; anyone making this claim and riding a rig with gears will be disregarded wholesale as a poseur.
Footnote:
This frame was built as a first attempt at what @Cyclops plans to become his own frame-building company. At the time of building, the company lacked a brand, but he has since settled on Deacon Bikes and he will be opening his doors to business for the 2013 season. Thanks @Cyclops, this thing is amazingly awesome.
[dmalbum path=”/velominati.com/content/Photo Galleries/[email protected]/CX-V/”/]
@SimonH
I believe in riding a bike in the big ring; not photographing it that way.
As the article indicated, these are repurposed wheels…and they don’t seem to have faired well after the impact with the curb as they have quite a hop in them now, I’ll have to spend another bit of time downstairs working on them…but more critically, some CX-specific wheels are coming along and I will make plenty a big hub-bub about them, don’t you worry your purdy little head.
@Oli
Agree completely. Both the front and back are tool long, but I’m going to leave them as I’m having a bit of trouble getting them adjusted right for the moment…those V-Brakes move more than I expected…but once I sort out how they work exactly, I’ll cut them down. This is unacceptable as-is!
@RedRanger
Canti’s are notoriously bad at stopping the bike and noisy; they also require a cable stop which usually forces the rider to raise the bars on the front end for a hanger.
V-Brakes run the cable right down to the brakes themselves, so you don’t need to worry about that. They’re really jacked to adjust as I mentioned before, but I’m sure its mostly because I’m learning about them.
@RedRanger
Not a bad question at all; the Arione would be a bad choice because of the running CX mount a skilled rider does. The Arione would result in an unpleasant peak in a place that would find it unwelcome.
@Beers
They came with the brakeset – the TRP Mini-V CX 9.0:
http://www.trpbrakes.com/category.php?productid=1040&catid=185
@Ron
I crashed on a cement sidewalk, full speed – so not grass…Just fall – don’t worry about it. Honestly, if you’re going to crash and you’re scared, you’ll hurt yourself more because you’ll be stiff. If you’re relaxed, you’ll be more flexible and less hurt.
Crashing sucks, but its like everything else in cycling; just do it and when it hurts remember the pain will go away. No sense worrying about it. Focus on the ride, the terrain, the corners, the roots coming up, relax and ride the terrain as well as you can. And, if you crash, so be it.
And remember: look where you want to go, not where you DON’T want to go. Don’t look at the trees along the trail, look at the trail…
@frank
I know a perfect place to keep a second bottle, loser.
@Cyclops
On the boss you should have installed? Marko pointed me at some nice drill-in versions that you pop in with a rivet gun.
*runs, ducks, and hides*
Man, this is making me want a cx bike sooooooo bad. Thanks a lot fuckers.
I have taken my road bike on singletrack before (I was riding gravel on the top of a local hill/nature preserve and it was getting late/dark and I still had a 30 minute ride home, so the quickest way out of the park was the mountain bike trails…), but I was a bit worried about messing up my bike. Thankfully I didn’t hit any roots full speed.
And of course I’ve ridden on a bit of gravel, but I worry about going down random forest service roads and such because I don’t have the best tires for it, and even with my second set of wheels the largest tires I can use are 25mm. A cx bike would solve that problem.
@Cyclops
Fantastic job. As someone who’s had a long-standing back-burnered wish to build a bike or two, I’m both impressed and jealous.
@Frank
Beautiful build. Forgive my neophyte aesthetics, though, but it feels like it needs a white seatpost to me. The black just seems odd against the white stem. (Nice job on customizing the stem!) Feel free to tell me to shove off, though; it’s your bike.
I picked up a LeMond Poprad last spring primarily because of its low bottom bracket; at 197cm, you’re right, we need that center of mass as low as possible. Mine’ll probably be built up more as a winter road/dirt road machine, though. Fair warning: I head there’s some running involved in racing CX, and not just to the next Paris-Roubaix viewpoint…
Can I ask: how are the brakes?
@frank
Blasphemer!
@frank
If you get totally frustrated with the mini-v’s, which I have kinda been (every time I tweak em something changes and I have to re-adjust 3 other variables), the ultegra cx brakes are an awesome design- they stop with near road caliper strength, they don’t flare way wide and scrape ur leg dis/remounting, and did I mention they stop the bike? There is some potential for chatter without a hanger of some sort, especially in a long head tube application.
Velomi-Order form:
57 flat top tube, standard road geo, midnight blue bike with silver baby sparkles.
(Or orange, your call).
CC details 0907************** exp **** **
@frank
@Cyclops
Gents, that is a thing of beauty. Cyclops, you are to be congratulated on your efforts, and I trust that your fledgling business will flourish.
Now for the curmudgeonly bit;
But last week, as the last part for the build arrived (a pair of top-mount brake levers which I understand will cost me massive Look Pro points which I hope to make up for with Not Crashing As Often As I Otherwise Would points)
Top mount brakes are useless weight., unless you are a hipster. I can’t imagine any situation that it would make sense to be riding on the tops when in the terrain that this bike is made for. As you were suggesting before, designing the frame to have lower centre of gravity is important to ensure that you have traction when you need it (ie. cornering, braking). Being on the top of the bars effectively negates this. Think about where your hands normally are when you’re cornering at speed. Not on the tops, I’d hazard. You would even notice a marked difference in your perception of stability between having your hands in the drops as compared to on the hoods.
These brakes irrevocably remind me of these:
Most of us are old enough to remember how useless these were.
wow, this bike is beautiful. Congrats on setting up a great ride.
Had not seen or heard of those running stickers, but I’ve had this on my car for a few years, courtesy of my mate Ross Schnell when he was last here in 2010…
Top mount brakes: useless. I rode the NZ Singlespeed MTB Champs race a few years back on my Tricross SS, on a real mountain bike course. The top mounts never got touched. There is way more control on the hoods (although after 40km my hands were fucked for a week).
You have a lot less handling control when you’re on the tops, your hands are too close together to get any steering stability. There’s a reason mtb bars are getting wider and wider, and it ain’t because CX is having any influence!
@brett
anti-darwinian success story?
Hate the super wide bars on mine and the other 29ers i’ve ridden. Transmits way too much torque, makes me wistful for a 26er (650b?)
But yeah, not a fan of the extra levers; but i also dont have a non-average body habitus necessitating accomodation/compromise. Just a better engine. But Ryan Trebon, of similar habitus and a former mtb champ, hasnt got em on his current rig.
Then again, let the boy have his fun!
@gaswepass
How wide are your bars? 710 is about minimum these days, I can’t believe we used to ride on less than 600!
Compare two French XC legends, Olympics 12 years apart…
650b is gonna be big. 26″ is on borrowed time.
@scaler911
What’s the deal with the numbery thing ? Is this some fad for people to put running distances on car stickers ?
What do they choose – their longest distance
Frank – ouch, didn’t realize it was onto the sidewalk! Watching where you want to go…it is little things like that which I’ve been learning long after I started riding cross that have really help out, and fast! Since I’ve ridden very little off road my cornering and general handling aren’t great. Yup, as soon as I picked up that one – see where I want to go, everything felt better. It’s amazing how small adjustments offer huge gains.
Oh, and if you get carbon tubular training wheels I’m going to be really darn envious. So just stick with something pedestrian, alright.
ChrisO – it really is a nightmare, regarding the numbery thing. I’m not going to even get started. I can’t believe how many people spend a few hundred dollars to gear up in order to “run” a 5k. Fuck, run it barefoot and in your underwear. Running and trys are generally late-in-life grasps at becoming athletic. Why didn’t you start twenty-five years ago? Sports are fucking fun and help you feel better! And now at too many parties I go to I have to hear some person who can’t walk in a straight line and chew gum at the same time discuss their training and diet for the upcoming try…ahhh! (I’m all for people exercising and getting healthier, but I strongly dislike the “I’m going to do the Boston” mindset. Just do it because it’s fucking rad, not to carry on and impress strangers.)
brett – wow! Who is the 2nd French dude? That guy has some serious Double Guns!
Really awesome bike! I have a question for all, though, about building up my CX bike. I have a Lemond Poprad in the Cannibal paint scheme that I just love. I removed the top brakes but switched out the chain rings to a 53/39 combo a few years go as I was using it for commuting and not racing. Now I am going to race it and wonder what chainring sizing most CX’ers use?
Also, should I put the top brake handles back on? (I know what Frank has done with his rig, just curious as to the generl consensus).
Last question: My poprad is disc brakes but now that I have my 28 spoke HED C2 Belgium tubular rims with Chris King R45 hubs, I want to run those. Is it very hard to convert to canti brakes from the disc brakes? Will I need a new front fork?
Sorry to hijack the thread, but it just really inspired me to get my CX rig race ready ASAP!
Cyclops, Frank: she’s a beauty that stands out in a crowd for sure!
@ChrisO
Ya. I started noticing these stickers that said 26.2 or 13.1. I thought they were references to bible verses or something (on a side note, people in Portland like stickers on their cars, myself included). Turns out they refer to running a marathon or half marathon. And I see them fucking everywhere now. So I went ahead and ordered that 0.0 sticker today.
@scaler911
Well I did a 96 once – off road – when we were training for it we used to use mountain bike route suggestions as running courses. Tangential to CX frames I know and I wouldn’t put that sort of sticker on my motor.
@scaler911
@ChrisO
I’ve even seen a few now that say 226.3 or whatever (I think I added up the right distances) for Ironman.
@frank That CX bike reminds me of Gulf Gasoline — in a good way! Classic color scheme!
@mouse, @brett
Impressive that both of you can beat Katie. Nice work!
But seriously, they’ve come in handy several times already, though I’m given to understand the kind of technical rooted descentes with 1 meter drop-offs is not common on a CX course, so in race conditions I can see where they might not be very handy.
@mouse – useless weight? Seriously? I have let farts rip that weigh more than those things, not to mention the bike is made of STEEL, she’s not exactly a lightweight princess. That’s the most weight-weenie-hipster-lame thing I’ve heard since…oh, well before you were born!
@brett
That top photo just looks sooooooo cool to my eye…Riding off road these days, it seems like the trails are all cut a lot wider etc; the single track I used to ride and race was through dense forest and just barely wide enough for the bars – riders would catch their bar-ends on the underbrush all the time and superman off the trail. In that context, narrow bars made loads of sense. Back then, a dedicated MTB trail never existed, they were converted/shared horse trails or motocross trails or hiking trails…including the crazy climbing you had to do in that context.
But these days it seems wider and the course is graded for a mountainbike – including the climbs which have nice sweeping switchbacks. Also, with the suspension people are riding, it seems like everyone rides right over any obstacles and not around it like we used to on the old school stuff – in that case wide bars lend less risk and lost more stability.
But I’m with @gaswepass on the weirdness of it; the 29er I borrowed last summer was nearly impossible to climb on technical terrain with; the wide bars were weird when pulling hard on them and the high bars meant the wheel was coming off constantly. All skills to learn to control that, but there is always give and take.
Buck – I can give the first two questions a go. I raced last year on 42/38 front, 12-26 rear. That was fine for me on the courses in central NC. I’m not a He-Man but do tend to push a big gear more than spin.
I’ve never had the top brakes on my cx bike, just the SRAM Force set-up, therefore I can’t so they aren’t nice, but I’ve been just fine on my FSA SLK cantilever brakes without any top levers.
Definitely get that bike back out and running. Even if you don’t do any racing it’s awesome to have a cross bike – rain days, commuting, light trails, etc.
And heck, if you are going to be down near West Point for long, there has to be TONS of riding along the river, in the state parks (Harriman is really close, right?), etc in that area that would be GREAT fall/winter riding on a cross bike. The grit and salt on the roads gets to be a bit much, aside from the temperature, ice and snow in NY.
@Ron
Thanks! That was my feeling for the first two questions. Put the CX chainrings that it came with back on and leave the top brake levers off.
Now to figure out how to fit it with cantilever brakes so I can run my HED wheels!
Hopefully I will be living here for at least five years. The road riding is mindblowingly awesome!!! So gorgeous and soooo hilly! I am just loving it!
@brett
Whatever came stock on my giant 29er hardtail. But I also rented a 29er spesh epic full susp, and felt the same thing. There may be an ergonomic advantage in the loose stuff for going way wide, but boy. IDK, when one combines technical terrain w/ wild stuff i find it sends a tremendous amount of torque my way. Then just demo’d a pivot 26er on real trail (pure coincidence they were there) and thought, wow! that is nice control. Doesnt roll as fast thru, but felt more controlled. So I agree that 650b could be huge if it all delivers on both fronts.
@Buck Rogers
@Buck Rogers
A 46-36 chainring is a popular choice for CX – YMMV.
As for the top-mount levers – I’ve been told there are a group of riders that can make effective use of them but for most of us…it’s just extra weight. The only time I’m on the tops in a race is on a long (for CX) non-technical climb.
So let’s break down the top-mount usage. We’re all agreed that we’re not on the tops in anything technical so that limits their use to coming into a set of barriers. You check your speed coming in (easily done from the hoods, it’s what you’re doing around every corner already), unclip your right foot and swing it behind the back dangling behind your still clipped left foot, right hand comes off its hood and onto the top tube 2/3 down, unclip left foot, pick bike up and go – with your left hand still resting comfortably on it’s hood and still perfectly capable of braking should the need arise – but you should have already scrubbed all the speed you didn’t want coming in, right?!? Joey need to be OK.
I get the desire – practicing in the park, maybe tooling around on the tops, getting off your bike at speed and then back on – you feel like you could use some control and brakes are all about control. But if you don’t install them you won’t miss them.
@Buck Rogers
Honestly, if your Poprad has discs I would just stick with those. If you want better wheels, get some new ones. Now that disc brakes are legal in CX I see no reason not to run them if you’ve got them. You’ve got much more clearance for muddy courses as well as better stopping power. Canits may win for tradition’s sake, but for performance disc is the way to go in my opinion.
@Buck Rogers, @VeloVita
There also may be some issue with hub widths switching between the two; the CX standard has not been fully determined so you may have 135mm axle width on your bike if they went with the MTB standard and not the road standard.
Josh told me after it was too late that the Ritchey CX forks suck and that they’d be all chattery. With the Mini-V’s its under control, but just barely. Get a different fork for sure if you’re replacing the one you have.
As for chain sets, I’m riding my road double 53/39 and I’ll stick with the 39 for sure as it is only slightly bigger than a 38, but I’ll go 46 on the front as I find myself in the big ring crossed a lot as I change from a fast grass section to a steep climb; the 46 would be much more forgiving for that and I think the 46×12 would be big enough for most cases.
But I know almost nothing.
@brianc
The point on cx chainrings, to be clear, is not very much about actual teeth, especially if you have a 9 or 10spd cassette w/ broad gear range (I like 11-28, but I am still trying to climb well for my weight). The key is the narrow gap between chainrings , so 48/38, 46/36, 46/38, whatever- it is to minimize shifting difficulty in the muck in a short race.If u do your best sheldon brown, actual chainring teeth not as important as cassette teeth for range. some people go 1×10 instead of 2×10 to “eliminate the possibility” of front dropping chain by using chaincatcher and no derailleur. 1×10 types usually use a 38-40 up front- have to remember that a cx course frequently will have pavement as well as flat double track; you want a gear to take advantage of that.
the poprad/fisher presidio frameset family is some awesome american made steel frames for cx, have fun!
@buckrogers
does your fork have the posts for cantis? if not you may very well be able to trade your current fork to someone attempting to do same thing, or yeah, just buy a new or lightly used one. check out the canti vs mini-V discussions if you want even more to obsess over. Just be prepared for the huge degradation in braking power as you abandon disc for canti. Also, if u do go canti, look to see if you can find a front adapter to eliminate chatter. Mini-V do not require this.
@VeloVita
Yeah, but I have a really good pair of CX wheels that I bought for ParisRoubaix and now really want to run them for CX exclusively. I am planning on building a new road set of wheels for my road bike this winter. So I want to dump my money into a new set of road wheels and tuen my tubular HEDs into CX only wheels as I do way more road than CX.
But I totally see your point as well. But, if at all possible, I will switch out my Lemond brakes to canti or mini-V brakes (whatever they are!).
Thanks for all the replies!
BTW Frank, do you have a total weight on the bike as it sits?
@Buck Rogers
If’n it’s a disk frame, are there even brake bosses on the rear triangle for cantis? You could replace the front fork if it doesn’t have bosses but if the rear doesn’t your only potential option would be to have a framebuilder type braze some on. Don’t know if that’s feasible or more economical than another wheelset.
@Nate
I checked and the frame has a hole in it for rear cantilever, or standard, brakes on the frame. The front fork does not have any though. Looks like I will need a new fork to make the conversion.
@Nate
@Buck Rogers
The Poprad discs I’m familiar all came with what I believe to be Wound Up CX forks without canti bosses and the from the extensive research I’ve just completed (Google image search), the Poprad disc frame doesn’t have canti bosses – so basically, you’re fucked if you want to run cantis or mini-vs. You ‘could’ buy a new fork and then have bosses brazed onto your frame, but at that point you’d really be better off buying a new frame if you’re set on running the tubular set up you’ve got. Also @frank is right, your Poprad may use 135mm rear spacing for those disc brake equipped wheels, but you’d have to measure – I do think I recall that they were 130mm though. I still think a new frame is a better option.
@Ron
Julien Absalon…
@frank
So far off the mark…
The bike looks amazing. Cyclops, you’ve got us standing in a long, long line. My graduation present might just go towards your kid’s college fund, when the time comes. Love the details – amazing.
@Ron
And the typical cyclist isn’t a midlife-crisis office/middle-management type? With the cost of cycling equipment and the time requirements, cycling isn’t as accessible to younger folks. Might be different in elsewhere, but the majority of customers I get at the shop are above 40 years old, and our best-selling sizes are L and XL. That majority also brags that they “need” the fanciest bib because they ride “long hours” – that usually means 3 hours – and they believe they deserve a discount because they’ll “advertise the brand” among their even slower, fatter buddies. Pretty much the only cyclists my age that I know are competitive riders like myself, either sponsored, parent-sponsored or, in my case, self-sponsored. And the decision to delay studies by another few months to get a decent bike was a painful one which the weekend-warrior office guy doesn’t have to make. At 21, you’d rather sleep in on Sunday after a night out rather than wake up at the crack of dawn to beat the heat and the picnic traffic – at 41, you relish the chance to escape the kids. While they’re out on a Saturday enjoying clear roads and company, I work a second job at a restaurant. While they sit in their aircon offices, I suffer through traffic and heat to escape the city during the week – and that’s far too much to ask of the general young population.
Running, for that matter, is significantly cheaper – I just got a pair of top-level CX racing flats for $65, which would buy my a single Vittoria Open Corsa (they’re equals in their respective sports, after all – fast, light and fragile contact points with the road). Cushioned trainers cost a bit more, but even then: $100 shoes, $20 shorts, $15 shirt and you’re done. Even the insanely overbuilt (and shit) Mizuno Prophecy is $200 – less than my cycling kicks – and even the fanciest shorts (if Nike ever makes cycling bibs with their newest Swift fabric, I’m buying the entire factory!), compression socks and shirt won’t run more than $50 each. You can run properly in a city park, whereas cycling in the park is about as lame as it gets.
Fact is, even after this rant against middle-aged slowpokes, I’d rather have people try to get athletic again in their forties than resign and stay fat. The half-marathon sticker makes me snicker every time I see one, but that’s not because a half-marathon is a joke.
@Buck Rogers
A hole? I’m confused. Like for a rear road brake? Canti bosses are posts, not holes.
@Buck Rogers
These are what you need to run cantis or mini-v’s: check out the fork and seatstays:
@VeloVita
Che bel mezzo — you have one of them?
@VeloVita
simply put, if you are going to race cx, unless you have 2 sets of cx wheels (one for the pit in case one flats), there will not be another wheel for you from neutral support. rim brake wheels are the order of the day unless you bring a pit bike or wheel set of your own. or just call it done when u flat, you’ll have one hell of a set of stoppers to be sure!
another plastic cx rig; obviously not ready for race day that day with the cage on there; don’t worry it was removed so I could abuse the rig properly
The blue and orange scheme is very striking. I’ve noticed that a lot recently with a more muted blue, such as Baum:
Or BMC used light blue even more prominently:
Where did it come from? The most classic example is Steve McQueen’s Ford GT40:
I’ve decided that my next bike will use this color scheme (I don’t know when). Light blue frame, Orange Chris King hubs, orange spokes too.
@Nate
Sadly, no – but I wasn’t about to post a crap bike as an example. We’ve got a guy in our local CX series with one though – its absolutely gorgeous – he races in full Zanconato kit and passes out cupcakes adorned with the Zanconato ‘Z’. Not at all affiliated with Mike, just a happy customer. To me that says a lot. The HUP United bike on the Zank homepage is, in my opinion, one of the two most beautiful CX bikes ever (the other being the red/cream Richard Sachs)