Recently, I went to the Helen Wyman Cyclocross Camp. Whilst there, we had a chat about training, equipment and disc brakes in the peloton.
Firstly, we spoke about training. Helen was quick to acknowledge that she’s in a rather nice position of having all day, every day to train, but stresses that time-management of training can help you do more. Breaking up core training, for instance, can really help mentally.
Last month I went to Belgium to do core work with Quick-Step
As CX is such a demanding sport on its equipment, choosing what you send money on can be even more important than on the road. Helen believes that for those looking to get serious about racing, 2 identical bikes are much more important than one super bike.
Tyre pressure is also essential for getting grip in the mud. Helen uses a simple formula for setting the pressure. Take your weight in lbs, mine is 144. Divide it by 10 and this is your lowest pressure in a tubular. For me, that's 14.4psi. Adding 10psi to that gives you your max tyre pressure, 24.4psi for me. If you're using tubeless or clincher tyres, you'll need to add 5-10 psi to those figures to avoid burping or pinch punctures respectively.
Asked to choose one tyre for a whole British season, she chose the Challenge Baby Limus. This 320tpi tubular also comes as an open tubular (clincher) and features deep side knobs for grip in the sloppiest UK mud. The central section is slightly shorter than a full Limus for faster rolling, whilst maintaining mud clearing.
Check out our CX Bike of the Year 2016/17
With disc brakes having established themselves so well in CX, Helen is probably one of the best people to ask about their use on the road. Not surprisingly, she sees their biggest advantages in the muddy fields, not out on the roads.
Right, I’m off to buy an identical bike. This is the best chance I’ll ever have to get away with doing so!
and those stem bolts are far too tight, you should be able to turn them by hand!
So it's got to the stage that even a pedestrian can be responsible for a cylists death but not held accountable. The fact a retrial had been...
This is all standard stuff as we all know. What is worse is while they work on improving these existing routes they pretend like we don't exist....
As a large and heavy person who strides out when walking I have had people walk out in front of me from shop doorways without looking, some of...
Careful what you wish for tory boy.
Especially :- "the cyclist, Brian Fitzgerald, who works as a banker with Credit Suisse," He's not got a lot going for him - a cyclist AND a banker.
These days mate, if you say you're a motorist you get arrested and thrown in prison.
Generally "made from bamboo" means Rayon/viscose. It's not made from oil, but it can still make microplastics.
This increase is good news for the cycling industry it will drive people off zwift back onto rl riding and hopefully resume buying clothing and...
£2,299 seems like a bargain for a carbon bike, with 105 and disc brakes in the current market. and the purple colour is lovely