Staff (Race) Bike Check: Chipps’ Three Peaks CX-ready Genesis Vapour

Our Analogue Editor is heading for his 15th go at the legendary Three Peaks Cyclocross race tomorrow.

While he’ll be aiming for his traditional mid-pack finish (if he’s lucky), that doesn’t mean that his bike is short on lessons learned from the previous editions of the event.

Chipps explains:

“When I did my first Three Peaks in 1995, it was on a rim-braked, steel Rock Lobster, with (Steve Worland recommended…) 95PSI in the tyres. I still punctured… Now, though, my Genesis Vapour has some special, Peaks-specific touches, as well as the usual quirks of a bike that gets used for trail riding and ‘cross racing too…”

Let’s dig in:

The Frame – Genesis Vapour

I’ve had this Genesis Vapour for perhaps six years. The Vapour CX was the brand’s carbon cyclocross race frame. Unfortunately, Genesis no longer makes the frame (or any carbon-framed bike) but this one is still doing excellently. It’s nominally a 54cm frame and it fits me well. The frame came with a fork and headset and I built it up from there with parts I had at the time and then over time, it’s been upgraded – mostly with the Three Peaks Cyclocross race in mind, as that’s been the centrepiece of my year’s bike riding for the last decade.

Quirky Touches for the Three Peaks

There are many bits and pieces that have found their way onto the bike with the Peaks in mind. Dealing with the more standard parts, the bike has most of a Shimano GRX groupset on it, mostly from the previous GRX (815?) wired Di2 groupset. So, I have GRX shifters and brakes, a battery in the seat post and a GRX front mech, while out back there’s, er, an Ultegra road mech, as there weren’t any GRX ones available at the time and I never got round to replacing it. This does limit the gearing (officially) to the 11-32T Ultegra cassette, so I’m keen to find something lower – perhaps looking at the new GRX RX825 groupset with its 10-51T mountain bike cassette out back.

When I’m not racing the Three Peaks, the Vapour is used on some pretty steep trails, so a wide range of gearing is appreciated.

For the double chainring, I actually downgraded to the lower 600-series cranks, as they have a lower 31T bottom gear, getting me just under a 1:1 gear ratio in bottom gear – essential for Pen y Gent lane, when you can actually ride a bike if the gearing is low enough. It’s not a 10-51T, but it’s as low as this bike can go at the moment. Even so, the front mech is jammed as low as it’ll get on the frame boss, still leaving a load of fresh air between cage and chainrings… Obviously the bike was designed by those Milton Keynes-based Madison flatlanders.

OK, before we go any further. Yes, I’m going to re-wrap those handlebars with fresh tape before the race, but for now, any Velominati purists will just have to suck up the horror.

The bar setup is particularly Peaks-based, as I have Shimano’s rarely-seen BL-RX812 ‘sub brake levers’ that even Shimano reps seem to have never heard of. They allow for bar-top braking from the tops, which is great on steeper slopes as you’re effectively shortening your stem by four inches compared to hanging on the hoods. They’re a right pain to install and bleed though, as the bike needs shifting through several planes to get all the air out of them. Once on, though, they allow pretty good (if wooden-feeling) braking from the bars.

Wheels and Tyres

When we get to the wheels and tyres, there’s some more Peaks-specific touches. The wheels are WTB’s carbon CZR range with i23 rims. In the rear, I have a CushCore rim strip and the tyres are, of course, tubeless. A far cry from the inner tube days of running 90-odd PSI… The tyres themselves are Kenda Flintridge in 35mm size. I say 35mm, as that’s what they’re marked as on the sidewall. However, they run large and are probably more like 38mm on the rim. This is compliant with the letter (and probably even spirit) of the official rules and they just give a tiny bit more comfort on the massively rocky descents of Whernside and Pen y Gent.

Homemade dropper post

And the final piece in the Peaks puzzle is probably the one that gets the most double-takes. mounted to the snazzy ‘Merry Christmas from Fabric Cycles’ saddle is an old gear cable, joined in a loop with a junction box and passing through a gap in the seatpost QR collar. This marks my full saddle height, so that I can drop the saddle for the worst of the descents and then raise it again, knowing that it’ll be exactly the right height. This can usually be done while pushing the bike and probably only adds 5g to the bike’s weight – way simpler and lighter than adding a dropper post, given that it only gets used about twice in the event.

They’re after my lucky charms

Like all racers (even occasional ones like me) I have some traditions and superstitions, some of which are based on experience, and some not. For my shoes, I’m a fan of the Specialized Recon for this event, as the flexible forefoot really helps with the toe-pointing you have to do on some of the steeper hike-a-bikes. They’re also super comfy, having been my main riding shoes for the last four years or so. I’ve brought them out of retirement just for the race, as there’s still a few more rides left in them.

And then I have my John North cyclocross medal. John was a local legend and a great friend of both me and of Singletrack. He also won the Peaks once. At his funeral, his relatives had put out all of his (many) medals and trophies and we were encouraged to take one or two if we wanted. So this medal is always in my pack for the race, and I’m always listening out for a ghostly Ben Kenobi-style ‘Come on lad! Give it some!’ heckle from Northie as I race.

And that’s about it, really. Since about 2019, my Genesis Vapour has been a proper workhorse and has carried me over Ingleborough, Whernside and Pen y Gent every time without any issues. Sunday will be my 15th go at the Three Peaks, and I hope it’s not nearly going to be the last.

Staff Bike Check: Heather’s Trek Checkpoint SL7

Staff Bike Check: Benji’s Calibre Bossnut (FFWD Upgrade Project)