Rexburg Idaho Cycling

Friday, September 30, 2016

From Rexburg Races: Updated Links to Cube Info and Registration

Here is the updated link to our Cube Page: http://rexburg.org/pages/the-cube-cyclocross

And to the registration page: https://www.raceentry.com/races/cube-cyclocross-race/2016/register

Thursday, September 29, 2016

Madison Composite HD

Thanks to Scott Galer for this great photo. You may notice that the group is a little smaller than last week due to potato harvest. Joe decided to reshoot the photo today since several people were missing last week, but still failed to get everyone together.

Tuesday, September 27, 2016

From Kelson Custom Cycles: DNA Quiver Killer Insider Discount

Many of you have experienced the unparalleled feel of a custom Kelson bike- whether its the timeless feel of a steel or titanium frame or the pro performance of a full carbon machine- Kelson Bikes is still committed to building the best bike possible to fulfill and exceed your expectations. We have been up to a lot in this last year, and we wanted to let you in on it-

With the latest improvements and shift towards disc brakes for road and CX, is it possible to have one bike that will perform well with road/CX/or gravel tires? These where the questions I was asked in the Spring of 2015 sitting around a conference table at DNA Cycling. 'Oh, and could you make it so that it could clear up to a 40mm tire? (Chimed in one of the gurus of gravel riding) I would like to ride singletrack on it every so often...' Sure....Why not! After all, it is becoming more frequent to see someone "multi purposing" their CX bike for road fondos, gravel grinders, and various events.

(Burke Swindlehurst likes to go where no man has gone before- and with his very own Quiver Killer- here you see him riding the Wasatch Crest Trail in Utah- I guess drop bar "mountain bikes" are all the rage now!)

BUT, there was a lot to consider:

A good road bike is stable at high speeds and can carve through the apex of a corner quickly. Typically, those attributes are a result of a good combination of head tube angle, fork rake, shorter chainstays and wheelbase, plus bottom bracket heights that lower the center of gravity.

(Seth Bradley of DNA crushing dirt and asphalt in Italy on his Quiver Killer)

CX bikes have required longer chainstays (typically 425mm) so that larger tires can clear the frame and still have room for chainrings. High bottom brackets have been the norm for varying reasons, one being pedal clearance on off camber hills. With the added height of the modern tubular CX tire and pedals with improved clearance, we are seeing a shift towards lower bottom brackets similar to road heights(around 70mm).

Gravel racing is becoming ever so popular and for good reason...It's big fun! Linking ashphalt, gravel, dirt and occasionally single track together into a epic loop is not uncommon in the various gravel events poping up around the globe. Road racing skills, CX and MTB all apply in a gravel race. Racers are encountering events like the Crusher in the Tushar that features over 10,000 feet of climbing in just 70 miles or events like Rebecca's Private Idaho where the top finishers are approaching average finishing speeds of nearly 20 mph. Not only do course conditions vary drastically from each

event, but the same event might be perfectly smooth one year and tooth rattling the next. I have seen gravel races won on mountain bikes and road bikes

and everything in-between.

Keeping all three styles of bikes and racing in mind, a checklist of key features was compiled.
1-Responsive quick turning- Shorter chainstay length (412-415).
2-Stability at high speeds- trail measurements from 58-61mm.
3-Bottom bracket drop of 65-75mm
4-"Connected" climbing-shorter chainstays and improved weight distribution
5-Clearance for at least a 40mm tire.
6-Broad range of gearing options either 1X or compact 2X
7-Light weight 900-1050 gram frame weight
8-Torsionally stiff with some vertical compliance.
9-Interchangable drop out inserts for different axle standards.

The result after a summer of careful CAD designing, CNC machining molds in house, (not to mention a lot of restless nights and long hours) was the DNA geometry- AKA "Quiver Killer" born. A bike that does have the capability to perform well on the road and CX course plus adapt to destroy any gravel race. Of course each frame is custom, so top tube, seat tube, and head tube lengths vary for each individual rider. We also layup and build all the tubing in house using the finest materials, fiber orientation and number of carbon plys are all taken into consideration according to rider height/weight. Carbon fiber and the ability to manufacture tooling in house has allowed us to "shape" tubes to fit the desired frame and component clearances while maintaining the geometry we prefer rather than compromising on geometry for the sake of a tube to clear a derailleur or fat tires.

"Insane, both up and down. 18 miles of pavement, 5 miles of singletrack and nearly 5k feet of climbing. I couldn't be happier with the bike.
Plenty stiff in the BB, climbs like a road bike (just like I'd hoped!) and is amazingly compliant vertically..the dampening on rough surfaces is above and beyond anything I've ridden without some sort of actual suspension"
-Burke Swindlehurst (RD for Crusher in the Tushar)

So, whats the good news? For now, we are offering a discount on the initial launch of the DNA Quiver Killer. The first 5 people wanting a full custom Quiver Killer will receive $1000 dollars off a FULL CUSTOM frame, ENVE cyclocross fork (12mm thru axle) and Chris King Inset 7 Headset. The total price of this insane bargain for a full custom frame/fork/headset being $4200.00. The other good news? If you are still eating up what you see here, we are offering limited stock size quantities for $3500.00- again, including frame, ENVE fork, and Chris King Headset. The stock sizes are basically a small (52 cm), medium (55 cm), and large (57 cm)- but order quick, these are limited to two frames per size.

Thank you for your time- keep riding strong!

Please get back to us with any questions or comments regarding the quiver killer, thanks for being such good customers and future customers!

Dan Griffin

Production/Workflow

Kelson Bikes

Tel:208-403-1193

kelsonbikes.com

(Remember- as beautiful as these custom bikes are, they were meant for hard riding and should be RIDDEN)

From Morris: Women's Mountain Bike Racing

We have all been very excited with the results of the Upper Valley Composite Mountain Bike Team. All riders have given great effort and should be proud of their accomplishments. I will focus specifically on the girls this week even though the boys have ridden equally as well. The girls are few in number but include Ashlee Puzey, Adael Ashment, Ketti Christensen, and Morgan & Emma Hurst. Many of them have stood on the podium at each race. That in itself is impressive, but even more impressive is they are pioneering the way for future girl racers from the upper valley. It is tough to break out of the mold of what we think are traditional women's sports in Rexburg and Sugar City and excel in their first and second years. The great thing is that all but one of the women racers will be returning to the NICA league for the next few seasons. These early years will give them experience to fall back on in the future. We have enjoyed watching each of them compete and grow with each race.

Sunday, September 25, 2016

Why is Jay P's So Hard on Tires? Kellen Has a Theory

Three gravel events that locals have participated in quite a bit: Crusher in the Tushar, Rebecca’s Private Idaho, and Jay P’s Gravel Pursuit are all similar in that they feature substantial climbs and extended downhill sections. Here is how I would characterize the prominent feature of the descents.

Crusher: washboard

Rebecca’s: angular rocks embedded in the road surface

Jay P’s: large ruts, often perpendicular to the direction of travel

Tire failure is fairly common in all of these events. Intuitively, I would say that tire issues should be most common at Rebecca’s, intermediate at the Crusher, and least common at the Jay P’s. The number of flat tires that I saw at Rebecca’s this year seems to support that hypothesis. However, based on an unscientific sample of the Rexburg crew, I think we have had more tire problems/tire problems per mile at Jay P’s than at either of the other two.

Kellen offered an explanation that seems very plausible to me: bunnyhopping. He and I are both pretty sure there is more bunnyhopping at Jay P’s given that nature of the obstacles. Presumably, the hard landings are causing more pinch flats for people running inner tubes and bead burps on tubeless tires than the rocks and washboard encountered elsewhere.

We are curious to hear your feedback. Do you believe that tire trouble is actually a bigger problem at Jay P’s? What do you think about the bunnyhopping explanation? Does someone have another explanation?

Saturday, September 24, 2016

Jay P's Gravel Pursuit 2016

Jay P’s Gravel Pursuit, which offers 60 and 120 mile options, is on my short list of favorite events. Median times for the two distances are around 4.5 hours and 10 hours. All of the Rexburg locals opted for the 60 mile option again this year which, especially this late in the season, is a good call in my opinion. Everyone had a solid day on the bike. It is probably no big surprise that Shae managed to get onto the podium.

We started the day in cool misty conditions. It was 33 degrees at the top of Baker Draw. Leaving Pond’s Lodge on the Old Chick Creek Road, there were a lot of deep puddles and standing water, but the recent rain made most of the course much smoother and faster than in previous years.

Today was the day that my Clement MSO Tubeless tires finally let me down. I popped a bead on my front tire on the second descent of the Chick Creek Road. My CO2 froze solid when I tried to deploy it and I was mostly unsuccessful in reseating the bead. I limped in to the finish on a mostly flat tire.

I guess it goes without saying that gravel racing is hard on equipment and on balance we were lucky today to not have a mechanical failure that prevented anyone from finishing.

Thursday, September 22, 2016

Madison Composite Team Photo

There are high-quality versions of this photo pending. This is a quick one that I snapped with my phone. Good luck to Madison Composite at Magic Mountain this weekend!

Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Tonight! Watch Live: 2016 CrossVegas UCI World Cup Live Streaming Video - Cyclocross Magazine

Update: I am sorry to overpromise on this one. The live stream is blocked in the US. The event is not streaming on NBC Sports Gold. Apparently NBC Sports is a different app. Seriously?!

http://www.cxmagazine.com/watch-live-2016-crossvegas-uci-world-cup-live-streaming-video-geo-restricted

TNR Moving to 5:30

Beginning next Tuesday, September 27^th, the Tuesday Night Ride will be moving to 5:30 to take advantage of the available daylight. Please help spread the word about the time change.

Tuesday, September 20, 2016

Standard Journal coverage of Grand Charge NICA Race

National Interscholastic Cycling League: Grand Charge race #3

Monday, September 19, 2016

Targhee HS Race

Thanks, Morris for the photos
What a weekend we just had at Grand Targhee! Hope everyone had as much
fun as I did! I was extremely proud of everyone's efforts on their bikes
and thankful to all the volunteers and families that helped make this
weekend run smoothly. I was also stoked that Hal Miller (Mr announcer man)
pointed out that our team was cheering the loudest, and that we were
cheering for EVERY team! Nice work! Also rad that our team got 6th for
the day! Our best team score yet! Joe Hill

Nairo Quintana Receives a Hero's Welcome in Bogota | Cyclingnews.com

Big countries like the United States have won so many things we feel entitled and/or get tired of it. Winning a major sporting event has more meaning in a lot of other places.