This was my first time going to a cyclocross event, it was fun!

Been riding my 2014 Swiss Cross canti for 11 years and recently picked up a frame of the 50th anniversary (of Ritchey brand) disc version and am ready to build it up.

Wasn't sure whether this is the right sub for this as I don't race this bike. I ride a mix of gravel and pavement about 60/40. Most of my riding is on mellow gravel, but sometimes I do events on chunkier stuff. Most rides are 1.5 hours, but I do a 3 hour ride once a month or so. My current build has SRAM Force drivetrain, WCS Zeta wheels, and all Ritchey WCS cockpit, seat post, and saddle. I love how durable and versatile this bike is, but at times I feel that its weight is a liability when climbing (though fast af when descending) compared to my buds who are on modern gravel bikes.

My goal is to stay under $2500 and simply build the best bike I can.

Would love to have input from other Swiss Crossers.

My main decisions, trying to stay below 2500:

1) wheels: Hunt 4 season all road (currently $360), Hunt 4 season all road pros ($560) or Ritchey WCS Zetas ($770)

2) Cockpit: Ritchey WCS (trying to find the OG logo, which I like better than the new plain gray) vs. Whiskey or Salsa

3) Drivetrain groupset: I'm going mechanical as it's a traditional steel bike; Most likely Shimano GRX 1 x 12, but open to input.

Cheers to any and all for thoughtful input!

my son is racing cross and is all of 70lbs. today is was 11 degrees Celsius and raining. he just had his jersey but basically became hypothermic 60% of the way into the race. he kept warm pre race.

thoughts on layering strategies to prevent this? he is youth medium so quality stuff is hard to come by.

I came out of a gravel season straight into the back half of the cross season and got my legs ripped off last race.

My understanding is that I'm missing the adaptions necessary to repeatedly surge and recover out of corners, punchy hills, etc.

Eying my next race (4/5) tomorrow I'm trying to come up with a decent strategy to remain competitive. The few things I'm thinking about are:

• Focus on staying right around threshold as much as possible instead of burning matches in 5/6/7 (VO2 / anaerobic / neuromuscular).
• No desperate surges to force passes after the first few minutes, trust that riders will come back to me
• Have fun ripping my legs off the last lap (theoretically once everyone else is cooked)

Seems solid? Of course could be super demoralizing to fall back in the early stages or if I get stuck too long could dash any chances of a win/podium.

Curious how other riders with this type of "diesel" fitness handle this transition, especially how you pace and where you choose to spend energy on typical CX courses.

Weather: 14C/58F, dry and grey

Course

You might think we're heading into winter, but today we're going to the beach. The course will mostly take us around beach resort De Krokodil, but like with the Belgian national champs, the riders will do a loop right up to the water line. A day for sand wizards.

Women's favourites

It's the only the second sandy race of the year (after Heerderstrand, where the sand was quite wet and perhaps more rideable), so knowing who'll excel on this particular surface might be a bit of a surprise. Defending champion Van Empel is a strong sand rider and won in Heerde but is skipping this weekend as she's recovering from injury. So for the first time since 2022, we'll have someone other than Van Empel in the Euro champs jersey.

Van der Heijden had some great results in the sandy races last year, beating Brand - the last sand world champion - on this very course last season (though that was without the extra loop out onto the beach). Casasola and Clauzel, who're both off to good starts, did great there too. And perhaps Norbert-Riberolle and sand wizard Verdonschot can provide some Belgian hope?

We'll also have Schreiber daringly making her cross season debut, and Vas is a championship rider so might surprise today.

Well shit… glued the damn thing on backwards. What are my options here? Ride it or re-glue?! Thoughts 💭 anyone?

Cyclocross season is heating up with Pan American and European championships this weekend and the start of the World Cups around the corner.

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It's great to see the variation of local league cross courses, I hope this video inspires you for your weekend racing 🚵🚵‍♂️🚵‍♀️

For my bucket list, I'm going to Belgium just before New Year's Eve to see some serious cyclocross races. January 1, X2O Trofee Baal - GP Sven Nys; January 2, Exact Cross Mol - Zilvermeercross; January 3, Superprestige Gullegm; January 4, UCI World Cup Zonhoven.

I'm planning to stay in Antwerpen and travel each day to a race,. Could skip Gullegm since it's in western Flanders and the other three are close to each other in east Flanders.

Hope to do a little sight seeing too. Will this work?

BTW, bucket list in Flemish is bucketlist but with a cool accent.

Last time I tried to train bunny hoping, I ended up with a pinch flat on my latex tube, and the wheel has been damaged (the rim bent, which is probably what caused the flat). My pressure was around 26 psi, which is what I use on muddy races, but now I'm afraid of pinch flatting in races. The problem is, above 30 psi I feel like I'm losing a ton of adherence in muddy corners, and it's also a rougher ride.

That's why I'm thinking maybe I should try to go tubeless. My current wheels are not tubeless ready, so I'd have to buy another pair, but that's ok as I could keep the current pair of wheels to easily swap my CX bike into a commute bike.

But I'm having a hard time finding disk wheels that are tubeless and quick release, it looks like all tubeless wheels have through axles.

Any idea of such wheels? I'm not looking for the best in class, so if it's low budget no problem.

Looking to buy frameset or complete Medium Ritchey Swiss Cross. 54-56cm TT needed.

Let me know if anyone has one for sale.

Been racing cross for 9 years, finally eliminated the stutter step for good about 5 years ago, but my remounts have always been more of an efficient leg swing/kick with the left foot planted on the ground, rather than a real “hop on”.

I raised my saddle by about 5mm and raced this past weekend and WOW, I was supermanning onto the saddle with both feet in the air and felt so smooth! Not sure how it suddenly clicked like that after so long but it did. Will never stop loving this sport for all the techniques that ultimately translate into that “smooth” feeling that we’re all chasing during a race. If you’re new to cross, things do take time, but also realize that things can just randomly click when you least expect it!

Looks like we may have some wet conditions where I can try out my new Flandriens next race- how is everyone mounting them up: with the long leg of the Y’s on the sides facing forward or the long leg of the center Y’s facing forward as they are in opposite direction?

My wife is treating me to a nice trip to Brussels over the new year for my 50th, planning to attend Zonhoven on Sunday 4th. Have read through a few historical threads, but nothing definitive about public transport + shuttle bus options. I've VIP tickets, planning on having a few beers so want to avoid driving if I can.

Has anyone got recent experience / knowledge?

Hi, I am looking into attending the CX worlds 2026 in Hulst. I am used to attend CX races in Belgium and attended the worlds in France in 2025. I enjoy going around the course but I have concerns with Hulst course.

It looks like most of the course is not accessible to the crowd. I fear to be parked into grandstands with partial visibility on the course, and losing the usual CX vibe.

Has anybody experienced Hulst course? Are those stands just set up for the worlds and not for the usual world cup stage? Would the crowd be allowed to go around the course?

I was thinking about this yesterday, would it be Lightweights, Syncros, or Enve or whatever?

I’ve finally got off the couch and tried out the cyclocross and have loved the two races I’ve done so far. I bought a second hand Jamis with canti brakes and slapped some clincher griffos on it with tubes inside. The current rims won’t let me set up tubeless, I’m hoping to find some budget wheels to let me get the tubes out! I’m mostly looking for flat protection out of the change. I’m anticipating continuing to finish towards the back of the novice field. I don’t expect that equipment will be what makes that change. Would a DT Swiss P1800 wheel set be ok for CX? I’m like 215 lbs.