My Ride

My cyclocross bike is a 54cm Javelin Primitivo. The top tube is effectively 53cm--giving me a shorter reach than my road bike by 2cm. With the slightly raised bottom bracket (1.5cm higher than the Amarone) it's just the right standover height. The frame is made from 7005 butted Aluminum tubing. It has S-bend seatstays and chainstays. All the cables are routed along the oval-shaped top tube.

I have a Zero 1-1/8" Cyclocross All Carbon Fork, which so far likes to chatter quite a bit. The Alpha Q CX is a bit out of my price range at the moment. Perhaps that will be a future upgrade? Changing very little from last year, I think I'll remain with the Mavic CXP-22 Rims laced to Shimano 105 Hubs. The came with the bike off eBay, so I'll use my Mavic Cosmos' as a spare set. They're up for a beating.

I plan to ride clinchers for a while unless I happen upon a pot of gold. I'll be using the Michelin Mud 2 (700x30c) when the rain starts and until then, I'll probably run the Ritchey Alpha Bite Trail Mix (700x35c). Whatever tubes I happen to have on hand will work just fine.

I picked up an old Shimano Dura Ace FC-7700 172.5mm crankset off eBay. I added a Shimano Ultegra FC-6500 42t, 'A type' chainring along with a pair of Rapuano Carbon Guards. Since I didn't shift once last year, I think the single ring setup will do just fine. It's simple, clean, and lightweight. It should eliminate the problem of dropping the chain.

The bottom bracket is a Shimano Ultegra BB6500, 68x109.5mm, English Spline V1 BB. If you're wondering about the single ring setup, I used a Sugino triple bolt set of 15mm backing nuts and bolts along with 3.5 mm spacers. Only a single carbon guard is put inside the spider. All else is put outside. Chain line looks to be fine this way.

I actually added the Time ATAC XS to my bike last season but only had the opportunity to try them out once. I didn't have them properly setup and I went on to my worst race of the season. This time, they're ready to rock and should do a great job of clearing mud.


Finishing off the drivetrain is an Shimano Ultegra RD-6600 SS rear derailleur along with an Shimano Ultegra CS-6600 12-27. The chain is my favorite: a SRAM PC-1090. Finally there's an alternative to Shimano's 10 speed chain and this one has a PowerLock--making it that much easier to clean up after a day in the mud.

The cockpit in all it's glory: A 44cm FSA Energy T handlebar (31.8mm) with classic bend. On the right I have a Shimano Dura Ace 7801 10sp STI Lever and on the left simply a Shimano R600 left brake lever. I made the mistake of getting used to the precision of Dura Ace shifters, so there's no going back now.

The cockpit is covered up nicely by a matching color of F'iz:k's silver Microtex tape. It's been great on my road bike so we'll have to see how it hold up to a season of 'cross. I picked up an extra roll to maybe give the bike some clean threads before Natz.

I have the same on my road bike and after hearing horrors of broken seatposts, I'll accept nothing less than a Thomson. This one is an Elite 27.2mm x 330mm. At the end is a F'iz:k Pave saddle with Cro-Mo rails.



Also the same as my road bike, I've got an FSA OS-115 120mm stem. The brake hanger is the ubiquitous Problem Solvers. The Cane Creek S2 headset is of the traditional variety, one of the reasons I like the Javelin. Jess is a big fan of the skink on the Cane Creek label.


I've yet to race on a wide profile cantilever, so this will be an experiment. But these Empella Frogglegs definitely give more clearance than an Avid brake lever. So far they definitely have less stopping power, but I'm still working on the adjustment. The brake pads are standard issue with Frogglegs and both the shift and brake cables are Jagwire Ripcord.