Cyclingnews Tech Probikes

Pro bike: Specialized CruX for Zdeněk Štybar

Daniel Benson — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 11:43:53 GMT

This appeared on Bikeradar This weekend Zdeněk Štybar ( Omega Pharma-Quick-Step ) is hoping to complete a hat trick, going for three world championship cyclo-cross titles in as many years, and he'll be doing so on a bike that he's only been racing for a month. The Czech racer already owns six world championship medals – he took two world titles as a U23 rider, plus bronze (2008), silver (2009) and two golds (2010, 2011) in the elite category – and has spent the past four seasons ...

Pro bike: Katie Compton’s Rabobank Giant TCX Advanced SL

Peter Hymas — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 15:08:33 GMT

Katie Compton made the jump from her small private program last year to Giant's massive, Rabobank-sponsored Dutch off-road team. The switch hasn't been without challenge, but it hasn't slowed America's queen of 'cross, who notched up her eighth consecutive national championship title this past weekend at Badger Prairie Park near Madison, Wisconsin. The American racer rode to a solo victory in the opening round of the 2011/12 UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup season, and she's followed that performance with ...

ProBike: Jonathan Page’s Planet Bike Blue Norcross SL

Daniel Benson — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 09:55:43 GMT

This article first appeared on Bikeradar . Jonathan Page is America’s European cyclo-cross stalwart . In Belgium, where he lives with his wife and three kids, the sport is all business, the courses are extreme and the racing is cut throat. His Blue Competition Cycles Norcross SL race bikes reflect the environment they’re used in—they’re built practically and to excel in the worst conditions. Page brought three Norcross SL bikes, from Belgium, to Wisconsin for the 2012 US ...

Pro bike: Todd Wells' Specialized CruX E5 OSBB

Peter Hymas — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 18:27:42 GMT

Todd Wells told Cyclingnews earlier this year that he wasn't at all upset about not getting a custom stars-and-stripes bike to celebrate his status as US national cross-country champion. He arrived at late October's back -to- back UCI cyclo-cross races in Boulder, Colorado with his Specialized CruX bikes sporting stock livery – only they were far from stock beneath the paint. For starters, Wells' alloy CruX has custom geometry to suit his lanky 1.88m (6ft 2in) build. The rear end is essentially ...

Pro bike: Geoff Kabush's Rocky Mountain Solo Carbon prototype

Peter Hymas — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 11:39:09 GMT

Geoff Kabush (Maxxis-Rocky Mountain) arrived at last Saturday and Sunday's UCI races in Boulder, Colorado with a new carbon fiber 'cross chassis currently unlisted in the Rocky Mountain catalog. According to team head mechanic Gary Wolff, Rocky Mountain supplied a few of these frames just for Kabush and might turn them into a production item but for now, they're team-issue only. Kabush's frame features most of the features common to modern 'cross chassis these days: a tapered front end, internal ...

Pro bike: Jeremy Powers' Focus Mares

Peter Hymas — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 21:11:52 GMT

Dressed in matte black (with hints of gloss), cream logos and pink accents, the Rapha-Focus Mares is the most dapper bike on the US cyclo-cross circuit. But it isn't just here to look good, it's also winning races under new team leader Jeremy Powers, who says its low, stout stance suits him. As his Behind The Barriers mini-series has shown us, J-Pow is a little bit different, and we know he likes to get down – Owwwooooo! Cyclingnews headed to the Rapha-Focus team service course in Loveland, ...

Pro bike: Ben Berden's Stoemper Ronny

Peter Hymas — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 16:29:29 GMT

Ben Berden is a traditionally schooled Belgian cyclo-crosser. Businesses from his home country, including brewers Ops Ale and Chaos Bike Shop, have joined forces with Oregon-based custom bike builders Stoemper and other US brands including the resurrected Clement Tires to bring him to the US to race a full domestic season. The idea was brewed with the help of David Alvarez, former marketing manager for Ridley Bikes, who now owns half of Stoemper. He's an American, an ex-pat of sorts who lives in ...

Pro bike: Lars Boom's Rabobank Giant TCX Advanced SL

Peter Hymas — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 14:17:01 GMT

The modified Giant TCR Advanced SL machines that Rabobank typically uses at Paris-Roubaix can already accommodate big 27mm-wide tubular tires for extra cushioning on the pavé. But for former cyclo-cross world champion Lars Boom , bigger is better. Boom instead decided to use his familiar Giant TCX Advanced SL carbon 'cross bike, which had more than enough room for the even more voluminous 30mm-wide tubulars he wanted to use to help him float across the cobbles. Team officials wouldn't comment ...

Pro bike: Georgia Gould's Luna Orbea Lobular Cross

Les Clarke — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 13:22:32 GMT

Bicycle company marketing folk love to push the latest and greatest technologies on the consuming public but when it comes to racing, it's still the rider that does the work and few examples demonstrate that old adage better than Luna's Georgia Gould. Gould's Orbea Lobular Cross does without most of the current buzzwords with its straight 1 1/8" head tube, threaded bottom bracket, and normal-sized tubing throughout - not to mention the full alloy construction - and yet the US mountain bike ...

Pro bike: Todd Wells' Specialized CruX alloy custom

Greg Johnson — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 04:50:39 GMT

With most of the top competitors now running full-carbon machines, Todd Wells' (Specialized) aluminum CruX seems like somewhat of an outlier – particularly since he rode a carbon Specialized last season and that design is still available. Digging a bit deeper, though, it quickly comes to light that the brand-new, all-alloy chassis is not only now the most race-specific platform in the company's 'cross lineup but Wells' particular machine turns out to a precursor for a next-generation carbon ...

Pro bike: Adam Craig's Rabobank Giant TCX Advanced SL

Les Clarke — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 05:10:23 GMT

American racer Adam Craig (Rabobank-Giant) is best known for his exploits on the domestic cross-country and Super D circuits but he's no slouch on a 'cross bike, either. After years of slogging through the mud on an all-aluminum machine, he's now on Giant's latest TCX Advanced SL carbon superbike and isn't looking back. In addition to being appreciably lighter than Craig's previous bike, more modern features like the tapered front end, press-fit bottom bracket shell, and the larger and stiffer down ...

Pro Bike: Ryan Trebon’s carbon Kona CX Major Jake

Greg Johnson — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 14:31:12 GMT

Ryan Trebon and fellow Kona Cyclocross Team rider Barry Wicks have always ridden custom bikes. It’s not that Kona’s stock bikes don’t perform, but rather that both racers are just too tall for them. However, that's all changed with the new CX Major Jake. In the past, Kona simply sized up their alloy bikes for the Twin Towers – “They made a stock 62cm frame,” said Trebon of his previous scandium Major Jake. “And they just enlarged ours by a centimeter in ...

Pro bike: Joachim Parbo's KCH-Leopard Cycles JPX Prototype

Greg Johnson — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 05:30:56 GMT

Danish national cyclo-cross champion Joachim Parbo (KCH-Leopard Cycles) has been sponsored for the past few years by Leopard Cycles and the cooperation has now yielded a prototype signature model for the 2010-11 season called the JPX. Parbo says one of the biggest differences from his old CX-1 is the beefed-up front end. Though the steerer is still 1 1/8" in diameter from top to bottom instead of the increasingly popular tapered format, the legs and crown are much bigger for more precise handling ...

Pro bike: Chris Jones' Rapha-Focus Mares

Greg Johnson — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 00:31:03 GMT

If looking good is half the battle, Rapha-Focus rider Chris Jones wins half of every race he enters just by showing up with the hottest kit, including his custom Rapha themed Focus Mares cyclo-cross bike. Jones’s bike is based on an off-the-shelf carbon frame that’s been painted in the black, pink, red, blue and cream colors of the Rapha-Focus team by Cycle Art in Vista, California – and it's a one-off. By the time the Rapha-Focus partnership came together, the team frames had ...

Pro bike: Tim Johnson's Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld SuperX

Greg Johnson — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 01:57:31 GMT

Current US national cyclo-cross champion Tim Johnson (Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld) has a new carbon fiber race machine this year that's not only substantially lighter than the aluminum models he's used in the past but according to him, also notably sharper and just flat-out faster than before, too. Cannondale's claimed 1,400g frame and fork weight for the new SuperX indeed undercuts the old CAAD9 aluminum model by a whopping 450g (nearly a full pound). Naturally, the total bike weight has dropped ...

Pro bike: Tim Johnson's Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld SuperX

Greg Johnson — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 01:57:31 GMT

Pro bike: Katie Compton's Planet Bike-Stevens Cyclocross Carbon Team

Greg Johnson — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 23:52:28 GMT

Katie Compton (Planet Bike-Stevens Bikes) had better like red, white and blue – because after scoring her sixth consecutive US elite national cyclo-cross championship last December she gets to wear the stars and stripes for another season and now has yet another custom finished race machine to toss into the garage. Aside from the spectacular paint job, the underlying Stevens Cyclocross Carbon Team frame is the same model as what she first started using last season. Claimed frame weight is ...

Pro bike: Katie Compton's Planet Bike-Stevens Cyclocross Carbon Team

Greg Johnson — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 23:52:28 GMT

Pro bike: Dan Timmerman's Richard Sachs-RGM Watches Richard Sachs cyclo-cross

Les Clarke — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 23:18:15 GMT

Richards Sachs-RGM Watches rider Dan Timmerman stood out from the field at the US cyclo-cross national championship not only for his mountain man beard but also for what many would consider his old-school rig, built around a classically proportioned lugged steel frame and matching fork. Naysayers would be quick to point out its heft - as it's roughly a full kilogram heavier than other elite-level machines at 8.72kg (19.22lb) complete - but Timmerman let his legs do the talking this year with six ...

Pro bike: Dan Timmerman's Richard Sachs-RGM Watches Richard Sachs cyclo-cross

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 23:18:15 GMT

Pro bike: Tyler Wren's Boo Bicycles BooCX

Les Clarke — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 15:27:00 GMT

Tyler Wren's Boo Bicycles CX is among scores of composite bicycles currently being raced in the upper tiers of cyclo-cross - only it's not just carbon fibre and actually comprises not one, but two distinct composite materials in its novel construction. Manmade carbon fibre is used for the joints and short sections of tube but the primary structure is instead provided by Mother Nature: bamboo. Boo Bicycles creator - and former U23 US national time trial champion - Nick Frey was first attracted to ...

Pro bike: Tyler Wren's Boo Bicycles BooCX

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 15:27:00 GMT

Ryan Trebon's Kona Major Jake custom

Greg Johnson — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 08:45:53 GMT

Unlike some riders that feel the need for radically upgraded gear year after year, Ryan Trebon (Kona) is on an identical frame to what he used last year and he's quite happy about it. In fact, the current US national cyclo-cross champion has been on Kona frames since 2005 and after years of tweaking and refinement, he feels it's a perfect fit both in terms of sizing and riding style. Trebon's Major Jake is a custom-built frame but aside from an extra centimeter of length in the top tube and seat ...

Ryan Trebon's Kona Major Jake custom

Sun, 13 Dec 2009 08:45:53 GMT

Todd Wells' Specialized S-Works Tricross

Greg Johnson — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 02:37:30 GMT

The US cyclo-cross national championships in Bend, Oregon is coming at a good time for Todd Wells, who is showing excellent form late in the season with recent wins at the USGP in nearby Portland and the double at Jingle Cross Rock in Iowa City, Iowa. Wells will be seeking his third stars-and-stripes 'cross jersey this Sunday but after a team switch from GT to Specialized earlier this year, he'll now be doing it on a new carbon bike instead of his usual custom aluminum machine. Specialized has supplied ...