raced with a tensioner the last few seasons, mostly over it. even the best tensioner is still a weak point when it gets muddy out, and the best way to tension (push-up) means it’s a fucking shitshow pitting out a rear flat.[/quote]
I’m not sure I understand how dealing an ENO wheel in the pits would be less of a shitshow. Not to mention you’d need to buy/build a second one.
Also, re: the eccentric caliper adapter thing, maybe this pic illustrates this better, but the frame is designed for the caliper to bolt directly to the chainstay with no caliper adapter.
If you don’t want to fuck with a tensioner I’d see what your eccentric bb options are as suggested above.
It’s possible you could get it in the ballbark with just an ENO, but I would not spend any money on it to find out. A loaner ENO/disc/29er wheel for research purposes is gonna be hard to come by though. Maybe hit up your shopbros and see who they know. If it does work at first it could be unworkable after some chain wear.
Probably a good situation for the dumb questions thread atmo.
I have a teammate who raced all last season on an eno hub without it slipping, for what it’s worth. He’s a super strong dude, too, and probably in the 175-180lb range so I’d imagine he’s putting down plenty of slip-causing torque.
are rim brakes really that bad? you can always do it mullet style with a disc fork, if you must. i would choose a reliable drivetrain and lack of general headache over rear braking performance gains any day.
also, re: practicing remounting, i find it way easier to do it smoothly at pace. ‘learning’ to do it at a walking pace doesn’t really make any sense to me - it’ll be nothing like doing it at a quicker pace, and i find doing it quickly makes it easier to throw my legs smoothly back around the bike without excess vertical motion. being a sissy pants about the thing is just a good way to learn bad habits atmo.
mostly set on what i want. raced canti’s and mini-v’s for enough seasons, ready to just adopt what’s inevitable future standard / what’ll easily work better in mud and fast dry races alike (is there really any debate at this point besides weight?). i’m trying to look a little more long term than just this season - if i’m going to spend the dime on fancy new wheels, would rather them be ones that i want to be riding for a nice handful of years on frames i can hold onto for equally long.
i can wait for sure though. if what i’m looking for doesn’t come around i’ll happily race mini-v’s on the kona again as work+school schedule is likely not going to afford me to go out and race 3 days a week like i could last year.
Late posting on this, but I’m a big believer in the stepthru down here in Crossrakis. Back in the PNW, I could certainly see not understanding the value, but when half the barriers are on putting greens, I’ve made some handy passes in with the step-thru, and I’m not even fast.
ian - wish i could say i was unfortunately. it was cool seeing you @ that oakland house party during last year’s SSCXWC.
b-roll: agreed. on our muddy ass races it’s almost an impediment more than a benefit. but i really think i can dismount equally as fast without stepping through on the dry as well, and i’m the kind of masochist who gets pleasure out of seeing the top speed via cyclometer i can dismount from concrete before running up a set of stairs.
Did the MFG preseason race tonight. Didn’t make the top 20 to advance to the next round but I think I wasn’t far off. Started at the back on purpose just to see what kind of progess I could make. Lots of improvement here.
Only a 20 minute race, but I could tell some of the guys I was battling with were starting to fade. I felt like I still had a lot of snap in my legs.
Finally feeling like the Shawver is getting dialed. Feels good man. Can’t wait to build up the tubs for it.
So I brought my floor pump as I usually do and several people asked to borrow it. No problem. That’s what it’s there for.
So dude rolls up and is like “Hey, can I borrow that?”. Sure man. Knock yourself out using my shitty pump. Then I looked at the guy’s bike. Brand new disc Moots. 60-something ENVE tubular rims and flat bar. Dude starts pumping, and pumping, and pumping, and pumping. Finally I look at the gauge. It’s over 80 and the the guy’s still going.
I notice the guy’s running Racing Ralphs so (trying to make conversation) I’m like “So how do you like those. I have some coming.” Dude is like. “They’re great. You can pump em’ up really hard. Really helps when you’re putting power down.” Umm… ok
Then I asked him about his rotors coz in the market for lighter rotors, so he gives me the rundown on the bike. Apparently it’s 15 pounds. I got to lift it. I asked him if he wanted to compare and dude was like “That’s ok. I’m good.”
Shine on you crazy rich diamond.
Highlight of the race for me was the dude who had at least 10 years on me on the 80’s road bike complete with had to be no more than 25s and fucking toe clips (which he never got into). I eventually lapped him, but it wasn’t easy to pass him because I was concerned he was going to eat shit at any moment (he didn’t while I was around him anyway). Saw him later and thanked him for being awesome.
