Awesome...

So stoked to wake up to the news that the Cyclocross World Championships are coming to Louisville in 2013. Not only that but the Masters World Championship is going to be in 2012 and just days before the big show in 2013. That is simply amazing! Louisville?? It seems strange that one of the cross "meccas" here in the US of PDX or the NorthEast didn't try to pull this off, but having raced in Louisville I have to stay they have their act together!! They are in the process of building a PERMANENT cross course, not some local promoter, but the city of Louisville.

While this is amazing news, will it really matter outside of the cross community? Are thousands of "spectators" going to trek to Louisville in the dead of winter to watch? Not racers but people who only want to go watch a World Championship. If there is a World Cup in Europe the weekend before the World Champs will all the US racers skip it? Otherwise the now "the Euros will have to deal with jet lag argument" applies to them as well. Hopefully this will mean that the Domestic race scene will extend past December and we can get some breathing room during our season.

No matter what happens I will see you in Louisville in 2012 and 2103, oh and the USGP next year and the year after...

Size does Matter & Friction is the Issue

The Blue Norcross is only the 3rd cx bike I have ever raced, or ridden for that fact. However, it is by far the best cx bike I have been on! First of all, the original paint scheme was great, with clean lines and metallic red on black & white. But, the colors did not match real well with the MWI kit. So, me being the guy I am, I had mine custom painted (green replaced the red). Oh yeah, all built up as you see it, this thing weighs nothing at just over 16 lbs without compromising durability with chincy parts.

My first ride was while pre-ridding the USGP Madison course the Friday before racing began. The stiffness of the bottom bracket was amazing with all the power I was putting into the pedals causing direct forward motion. Another primary enjoyment of the Norcross is the lack of fork shudder. In only one race was I able to make the front fork shudder, a great improvement over my pit bike (Blue CX6.5, which I also love).

I would talk about the Norcross and it's corning capabilities, but as all the MWI riders know, the bike is WAY better at corning than I am. I'm sure in no way did I push this rig to it's limits.

Geometry was comfortable for me with the ML size frame while riding, but the length of the seat tube/height of the top tube left little seat post showing and less stand over height. This is actually quite a bit different than my ML size Blue CX6.5. In fairness though, the only time I'm standing over the bike is at the start.

The other main complaint I have is mud clearance. We had a couple muddy races this year, Jingle Cross being the worst, were mud got really packed between the tire and frame at the seat stays and the "ledge" where the chain stays converge with the bottom bracket. I was running 34mm Dugast rhinos and was dreaming of more clearance at a couple moments during those races. I also noted that when running low pressures in the 34mm rhinos that I could get the tire to rub the frame in certain situations.

Another small issue is the water bottle cage mounts. In a full on race rig like the Norcross, I don't see any need for them. Period.

Durability was not an issue for me. As most of you know, I crashed this year, multiple times. Pavement, grass, mud, sand and wooden stakes to the face may have slowed me down and given me bumps and bruises, but the Norcross has barely a scratch to show for it!

Overall, the Blue Norcross is a GREAT bike. There are a few things I would change, but hay, we are all a work in progress. I would buy another Norcross in a heartbeat, just make sure to get your sizing correct.

If this works...

Hey everybody send me $150.....


Just checking. If you couldn't tell I asked everyone for their opinions/review of the Norcross frames we raced this year. I thought asking for money might elicit the same response....