I'm trying to make up for the absence of a CX season by seeking the worst local muddy trails I can.
All good fun but my god the shifting goes to crap quickly.
Is there some factor that can make a drivetrain work worse in the mud? The guy I was riding with didn't seem to struggle, he suggested my derailleur was hanging lower but it's a fairly standard setup.
How do the hardcore CXers get around muddy drivetrain issues?
A pit crew! 😂
A lot depends on cable routing IMO, so not loads you can do about it
Singlespeed FTW.
It needs to be spotless and shifting well before the ride.
I was a one bike racer so in less muddy races I'd use something like gt85 on the mech and cassette. In really bad races, baby oil. It helped for a few laps. No worry of build up as an hour in the slop is a good degreaser.
Hmm, yeah, singlespeed did occur to me...
The chain is Putoline base with a smear of GT85, within the same ride it can go from great shifting, terrible shifting and back to great again.
I think it's big physical stuff like leaves and grass and stuff, so I guess my buddy just chose a better line through the crap. I just don't remember it affecting the MTB as much but maybe I didn't ride this sort of mud on the MTB...
I wondered if having canti brakes accumulating leaves and crap above the drivetrain might just be drip-feeding the crap back down on to the chain, have lifted the cables a bit to reduce cloggage...
That'll be a crud claw you're after.
Di2.
Disk brakes then?
On SRAM AXS and mullet cassette. Perfect shifting
As @ferrals says a pit crew and spare bike 😄
Once the rear derailleur gets really clarty you stop shifting before the derailleur gets munched. A poky stick is a useful thing to have about your person to poke the leaves and gunk clear. 2x set up scores double in comparison to 1x here. First off the rear derailleur is shorter so less likely to pick up crap. But not by much. Secondly if/when the rear derailleur gets clarted up you can still shift the front derailleur.
Salsa Stormchaser. You’re welcome
Disk brakes then?
Too late for that, couldn't afford to upgrade even if I wanted! Might just have been a stupid cable setup, I had the bridges skimming the top of the tyre...
Di2
Is not a cable thing, is a crud in jockey wheels/sprockets thing.
2x
Hadn't thought of that! Ironically switched to 1x for winter mud purposes but you're right, the 2x setup would be more out of the way...
Hub gear.
Secondly if/when the rear derailleur gets clarted up you can still shift the front derailleur.
Which is one reason I still like 2x on my fatbike. Rear mechs are prone to freezing in winter. Front ones less so.
Why are you having poor shifts. I MTB in all conditions and they just work. Change your cables.
Gevenalle FTW
Mtb mechs are generally stronger and the shift mechanisms simpler at the handlebar end. Mud in s road shifter quickly deterorates shift quality.
However from a mud in the mech point of view, as @shedbrewed said 2x is better. 2x9 or 10 better still as the bigger gaps on the cassette don’t get clogged so quickly.
In a race situation on one bike, think the long game and run the stinky stuff even if it’s a touch slower to keep the bike working better and faster overall
In a race situation on one bike, think the long game and run the stinky stuff even if it’s a touch slower to keep the bike working better and faster overall
That did occur to me! After all, I am trying to train (in the loosest sense) for racing so a bit of running practice wouldn't be a bad idea.
Will also experiment with re-fitting the 11-34 block and Ultegra RX mech, see if that gathers less crud.
Final option is to repurpose my singlespeed which was facing a winter of hanging in the garage, just needs a smaller front ring...
In fairness to the current setup, one ride was so muddy I managed to ship the chain from my Garbaruk narrow wide chainring, and those rings have some pretty tall teeth!
When I first raced CX without a spare bike it was usually first lap with gears and the remainder without. The accumulation of mud, leaves and twigs on the cassette often meant that you couldn’t use them anyway. Before clutch mechs MTB gears were just as bad - chainsuck hell.
Di2
Is not a cable thing, is a crud in jockey wheels/sprockets thing.
Sorry, I was actually joking.
I used to be a pro cx racer bitd, and the answer has already been hit on. We used to use 2x and my gearing was 48/41 at the front and 12-27 at the back, this meant that when really muddy you could stick it on the big blade and the chain would be at the top end of the cassette out of the way of the mud, unfortunately fashion has outlawed this in favour of tiny single rings and large range cassettes.
Also, our tubs were crap for grip until Dugast came along, so we has to run really muddy sections anyway!
Gevenalle BURD rear derailleur has a hugely uprated spring, I’ve never had an issue with shifting. Even when caked in mud. I run 1x10 with their shifters.
Hmm, relatively successful ride yesterday, changed the position of the cable hangers on my cantis which solved the clogging issue around the brakes. Wonder if that removed a 'reservoir' of crud that was dropping back on to the chain.
Had also taken chain off to re-coat with Putoline and after re-fitting tweaked the b-tension and cable tensions and right enough, it all seemed to work a lot better, so humble pie on my part for assuming it was all set up properly.
Would love to 'upgrade' to 10 speed kit and a smaller block etc. but have now invested too much in the 1x11 setup. Maybe for races I can fit the smaller Ultegra RX mech with 11-34 mech, a problem for next season at this rate!
In general though, my CX bike is living up to the old stereotype of a fast but fickle race bike, when it's working it's rapid!
20 odd miles of dank mud and gravel on Saturday:
Gevenalle shifter (in friction mode) moving an old SLX 9 speed mech across an 11-34 SRAM 9 speed cassette, Chain is an old Shimano HG-something recently dunked in Putoline...
Drivetrain remained functional throughout...
Front Brake pads were ground down to the point of uselessness though...
9 speed is far more tolerant, i'd be looking to fit a 9 speed setup.
This.
Actually my own pre-emptive solution to Mucky shifting issues was to build a SSCX bike during Lockdown 1 (for the racing that I'm not going to be doing)...
However having built that bike up, I have to admit I'm just not that into it now, although I've not ridden it much, I think it's more that the geometry/layout of frame, isn't really ideal, stays too long, a wee bit too much front wheel flop and it's heavier than I'd like...
But yeah, I reckon the best solution to clagged gears for CX is still a nice light, tight Aluminium framed Single speed bike, (perhaps geared a little on the spinier side?)...
If/When some sort of CX racing is resumed, I might just have to try out my current SSCX bike in anger...
What frame Cookeaa? I've got a Charge Plug in the garage, have always been itching to CXify it but am too in love with the handling of my Kinesis.
It's a heavily bodged late 80's Cheapo Specialized MTB frame, made from Gas pipe, with a 1" headtube, I moved the brake bosses, took a grinder to various bits of it...
It basically looks like this:
But it's now got a shorter stem and compact drop bars now... You can see just how long those stays and that top tube are, just the wrong frame for the job (but it was pretty much free)…
A plug would make a better SSCX build, but I reckon if it's for racing an Aluminium frame would make the most sense, take the most weight saving you can for a bike that you are going to have to shoulder at some point...
I've been using a 11 speed Utlegra mech in the absolute slop for 12 months with no problems.
Not a very helpful comment I realise now I've typed it.
Has anyone BURD-ified a Shimano mech?
Gevenalle shifters are still available but they've confirmed no plans for any new BURD derailleurs any time soon. I hear you can apply extra tension to Shimano mechs by drilling a new hole for the tension spring, so I could use a Tiagra mech and shifters...
