I am reaching that strange point where I am getting ready to be in between bikes as I liquidate one to move on up to another. last weekend was the Slick 50 and it lived up to its name. What just aboout got me was not the icy trails that we had to navigate on our way out of town. Rather it was the fast descents that required functional brakes once we got out to Eden Prairie/Minnetonka hills. Even really well set up cantilevers are really only useful for slowing you down, not stopping. Up until now I have relied on my geared CX bike to pull road duty, and it works ok. However the consequences for not getting stopped in CX race and on the road are very different. At this point in my life stopping has become important.
That being said, I have also listened the voices and reason of numerous people and I decided that it was time to just move on to disc brakes on the CX bike. I do not believe that cantis are dead or that disc brakes will ever be better than road calipers, but rather that they offer me more utility for the things that I do on a bike. I acknowledge that there is a weight penalty with disc brakes, but the level at which I race it is really just a wash.
I have also been dinging up a lot of rims with the really crappy road conditions. The imperative to have true wheels is much less when your are not relying on lateral and radial rim integrity for friction.
I have also been in a bit of a weight weenie haze, and that can be a bit too expensive when you start destroying 1500 gram wheel sets at a rate of more than 1 per year.
So that means that we are on to a new standard. stand by for more.
 |
| Jasper is reaching that age where his athletic ability has exceeded his level of coordination. This morning he had a busted lip to match what was going to be a nice shiner |
 |
| This has to end eventually. |
