Old bike in xc races

[Mike Muz]

Re:

I think it depends on the course. Not ridden at Minley Manor yet, but I did ride the Brighton Big Dog 6hr race this year, as a solo rider for the first time. Been retro pairs for the last three years.
With bigger wheeled bikes, I can get away with more, so go faster in technical sections as a result. It does feel cumbersome sometimes on climbs, but that's just down to it's bigness. A 26er would be twitchier on some parts of that race.
When I rode pairs at Bedgebury last year - a dedicated xc course, not used for anything else - I took a 26er and a 29er, and lap times were the same. That was a flat, twisty course, with no steep/off camber or excessively rooty parts.
I do get the impression that courses are more and more set up for modern bikes, with big wheels, long travel - by comparison - forks and dropper posts.

Mike

 

[Splatter Paint]

Re:

I've ridden the Minley course many times, rigid beat the s*** out of me, but with my ~100mm travel full susser no problem. For me, on that course, over 6-12 hours suspension is king - even with a 2-4lb weight penalty. Hats off to you doing it single speed!

In a team environment at Mayhem though, I was only 30s slower over a ~40 minute lap on a 22lb fully rigid steel compared to a 26lbs ti retro hard-tail. Any kind of suspension makes it more forgiving, so I'd say a well set up Clockwork would be pretty good in the Gorrick races.

About 10 years ago I raced the Brass Monkeys winter series on an Orange Prestige with Pace RC35 and loved it

SP

 

[Mike Muz]

Re:

Single speed and rigid! :shock:

Hard bugger!

Mike

 

[Stodgy]

Re:

Interesting insights. Horses for courses I guess.

I'm not that hard! Only did 3 laps do 25 miles and still knackered. The fat tyres soak up a lot of the roots and SS is fine bar a couple of steep lumps - it's quite flat round there. Proper hard man is the 12 hour single speed winner who did 112 miles!

Weighed my clockwork. Frame, fork, headset and BB come in at 3.34kg or 7.36lbs which is pretty good.

 

[Fatal Swan]

was wondering how my orange clockwork C1994 would do if I built it up with light parts?

Weight-wise you might get an idea from my build of a '94 Dyna Tech here, where I was aiming for something similar: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=292714&start=30. The frameset weight is probably comparable to your Clockwork and it's got a mix of modern and retro parts with most of them more or less as light as is cost-effective or practical for the function. It had slicks in its last incarnation at 8.48kg but would still come in around 9kg (sub-20lbs) with a set of lightweight knobbly tyres on, Conti Twister or Panaracer Trailblaster maybe. If I was racing it I'd probably be looking for a lightweight set of early 2000s forks like a Manitou Mars, which wouldn't be a great deal heavier than the rigid steel fork.

 

[Stodgy]

Re:

Wow, that is light! Not sure I could compete with ti, but shows you can get it quite low.

Tyres are always a problem. Are there any current production 26", lightweight and good tyres available these days?

 

[Mike Muz]

Re:

Schwalbe do 26er versions of their funnily named tyres, they're pretty light

 

[tufty]

Re:

Not the lightest by any means, but I like the Vittoria / Geax Saguaro and Barzo (26x2.0 and 26x2.1 respectively), pretty quick and relatively high volume, they ghetto tubeless up a treat, too.

Schwalbe are still listing 26" for pretty much all of their XC tyres, too.

 

[caemis]

Of course Panracer Dart/Smoke Re-Issue, reasonable light and really good or Onza Canis/Ibex a bit heavier but still a good tire.

 

[Stodgy]

Ok, so I threw a few bits onto the Clockwork frame tonight to see how it would look set up for my 6'1" height. first impressions are it looks and feel tiny, but is light without the bits on.

To be honest, when perched upon it, I don't think I could ride it! It is more stretched than my road bike and not unlike an extreme Time Trial position. I must be getting old, although my 1989 vintage Marin feels very comfortable.

Here it is with the saddle at my height:

IMG_2593 by Sam Hodgson357, on Flickr