Old bike in xc races

Hello all,

I did the Gorrick 12 hour at the weekend on my rigid singlespeed. Good fun was had by all but I didn't expect to see so many expensive carbon whippet machines. My bike was a bit outclassed on the weight front so I was just wondering if anyone races a retro bike in xc races these days?

I've got a few retro machines, was wondering how my orange clockwork C1994 would do if I built it up with light parts?

Cheers,
Sam

depends how much you want to spend? Spend lots and possibly see 20ish lb area i raced retro and its all about the rider and a well maintained machine.

The engine is the important part.

Re:

Spend as little as possible of course.

I guess it really is the engine though but losing 7 or 8 pounds on the bike couldn't hurt!

Lightweight wheels and tires is all you should need. Everything else simply needs to function and last long enough for the race.

tintin40":2emca5jk said:

its all about the rider and a well maintained machine.

Click to expand...

This ^^^.

Fitness, bike handling skills, and big balls will benefit you more than a couple of pounds off the bike weight.
Depending on the course a retro bike might be just as quick, though ime they do lose out when things get more technical and steep.

Try it, would be interesting to give it a go.

It wasnt a race as such but the last Peaks ride saw us oldies out among a group of modern long wheelbase stan's fluid filled carbonated stuff.

They easily did the rocky descents by simply flying down as fast as possible whereas us noodly steel rigid 6spd folk came down in a more carefully controlled way (grimacing and white knuckled). The moderns were blowing Stan's fluid out of their sidewalls at the bottom and we passed them on the way up too as their bikes where no good at going 'up'.

If you are racing then you must be reasonably fit? decent lightweight tyres and wheels are where its at. Lighter wheels give you faster spin up and theres a formula somewhere that says you lose the equivalent xxlbs for every gram taken off the wheels. Good tyres will improve rolling resistance and are usually pretty puncture resistant.

Re:

Not too difficult to get a retro Ti/Alu frame rig set up for under 20lbs if you want to and most likely quite a bit cheaper than a modern.

Despite the fact it was a race, and I was in it, I was not racing in the real sense of the word. I just quite enjoyed the experience strangely. So as far as fitness goes, I get by; I was slower than some, faster than others and it wasn't machinery specific, but the bikes from the early nineties were pretty much XC bikes so must be quite good fun to hammer around on.

I was riding rigid and I don't think it really held me back that much as the tyres were quite fat. People were really complaining that it was a brutal course - yes it was bumpy, rooty, dry and hard-packed, but a steel frame, ti seat post, 3" tyres, etc took the edge off most of it. Maybe the older bike would be a bit more harsh? Who knows until I try it...

I did ride a mates modern xc bike the other week - carbonic, 10kg, racy geometry, etc, and it was the harshest, most uncomfortable thing I've ever ridden. A guy crashed at the weekend and broke his carbon frame at the seat tube, BB join - what's the point in making it so light it snaps? Very odd.

I must weigh my Orange frame and forks - will be interesting to see what it comes out at.

IIRC, most "somewhat affordable" (i.e. under 5 digits) XC race rigs are coming in at around the 10 kilo mark, that's more than do-able based on a retro frame without too much effort.

If I was building up a race machine, I'd probably go 1x10 or even 1x9, the lightest wheels I could build, with lightweight rubber running tubeless. Light, relatively modern forks (at least as recently as the late 200[x]s, 80mm forks were still available, and won't turn a retro race frame into a frickin' harley) and at least a disk up front. I might even be tempted by the alleged stiffness benefit of a "hollow tech" style bottom bracket, and to hell with its short lifetime.

That said, It's been a few years since I've been on an XC course - have modern courses been "tuned" for long travel, fully suspended machines yet?