Cyclocross World Championships - GO LEWIS!!!!

The Cyclocross World Championships are on tonight. You will need to find a friend with Foxtel (or be lucky enough to have it yourself) and switch over to the Eurosport channel around midnight.

I am working night shift and there is Foxtel there so I there will be a one-man-lion-of-flanders-flag-waving-cowbell-ringing party at Brisbane airport tonight.

Most exciting thing is that there will be an Aussie in the mix too. Lewis Rattray will be our first representative for a long while. Good luck Mr Rattray.

What Did You Get For Christmas?

I know Christmas is still 3 days away so just go along with my early celebrations.

I went to the LBS this morning because my wife wanted a new saddle - as it turns out she had taken my cross bike down the day before and got this done.

All the parts swapped off my old frame onto a new Crux!!! The running gear is 9 spd 105 so looks like I will be doing some upgrades.

Here is the bike before the new frame.

I am so stoked, I have the best wife ever.

BO Gear Backpack

Not purely cyclocross related but worth a mention is my new small backpack from Brisbane Outdoor Gear. I have been hassling Dave for one of these ever since he mentioned he was working on them. I prefer riding with a backpack as opposed to a messenger bag. I will mainly use this when commuting to work, and seeing as I try to carry as little as possible this bag will be perfect.

 

The bag has cleverly contoured shoulder straps that feel like they disappear when in a riding position. Inside the bag there are multiple pockets for separating out all your stuff. The standard bag has no padding in the back but the one I got has a custom pocket for adding high density foam. Dave can also add other custom pockets inside the bag as per your requirements.

Check out the BO Gear website for more cycling bags, tool rolls, foot straps and pouches then you will ever wear out.

Retroshift

As you can probably tell I am very much a tech head. I love trawling the net and finding what is newest, lightest and strongest gear. On my morning cruse through the fixed.org.au forums I came across links to a new product from Retroshift. 

They are basically a way to run traditional down tube shifters on your break levers. The advantages are that they eliminate mud jamming up your shifters if you crash, they are also cheap to replace if that same crash destroys the shifter.

You can shift up or down the whole cassette with one swipe.

They have also been proven in race conditions.

Go and check out the full review including pricing at bikerumor.com

Chain Catchers

A chain catcher is designed to stop your chain falling off when you shift down from the big to the small ring. They also help keep your chain in place when you ride over rough terrain and when dismounting and remounting. Chain catchers are an inexpensive upgrade (depending on which one you buy) that offer insurance that is hard to beat.

One of the cheapest on the market is the Deda Dog Fang. I run a very similar chain catcher on my cross bike - just a knock off I found on eBay for $5.

If you want to go more upmarket (and I suspect in weight) go for a K-Edge model. They come in about 8 different configurations including clamp or braze-on and one that sits between the bottom bracket and frame, like the one below.

This one, is a cyclocross specific model that can be mounted higher on the seat tube away from the a flared bottom bracket.

Check out the K-Edge website for all their products.

There are also examples of home made chain catchers using cable ties (is there anything they can't do?)

Cheap and awesome, a chain catcher will save you time and you won't even know it.