By Jacob Miller
There are many details that go into every cyclocross bike to help riders go faster and defeat the challenging Jingle Cross course. One biking team made sure it was ready for the physical conditions of the World Cup track.
Cannondale Bicycle Corp., a team based in Boston, had five cyclists compete in the World Cup event this past weekend. Three of them raced in the women’s World Cup and two in the men’s.
“Because of the conditions, we changed the gearing quite a bit from what we normally would run, because it also has the big steep hill, Mount Krumpit,” Cannondale team manager Stu Thorne said. “We want to be able to stay on the bike and ride as much as possible, and you don’t want to have to muscle through everything. You want to be able to keep a decent cadence.”
Riders get to decide which tires they will use for their races. Cannondale has four options: knobby, intermediate, universal, and one specific for dry and flat grounds, to get maximum speed.
Knobby tires have more resistance and can make a cyclist slower, but it provides excellent grip in the muddy sections of the course. Intermediate tires, on the other hand, are not as aggressively uneven as a normal knobby tire. Universal tires are multipurpose tires that are good on most surfaces.
Riders rarely change their treads during the race.
Cannondale coach Tim Johnson can be found around the course, and Thorne stays near the pit so he can communicate with the mechanics.
Some adjustments riders might often make is to their tire pressure. Harder pressure allows the bike to take on sharp rocks and curbs while avoiding tire puntures. Lower pressure gives the bike better traction.
Cannondale’s bikes have a single ring in the front of their bikes. Most street bikes have two to three rings. This makes their bikes more efficient for races.
“Right now, we don’t have to run a front shift mechanism, it’s just a single brake lever,” Thorne said. “It’s less complex, which means things don’t get broken, it’s lighter, and still functions in a similar manner.”
The World Cup races began at 3:30 p.m. Saturday.