Erika, check the Sponsor Deals & Details for specifics about our deals.

http://kissenacycling.vanillaforums.com/discussion/comment/38294#Comment_38294

I don't know the exact numbers for the discounts at Ride Brooklyn, but they are not the same for everyone. For example, a new Cat 4/5 racer does not get the same discount as one of the Category 1/2 club mentors.

For cross, YOU MUST HAVE SHIFTERS YOU CAN SHIFT FROM THE DROPS! If that means no Sora, so be it.

Also, I wouldn't mess around with disc brakes. JP has written lots and had several discussions with Van Dessel Chief in Charge (also very good elite crosser) Edwin Bull, and so far it seems unless you have lots of money to go through break pads (one set per messy cross race easily), they are "not ready for prime time."

But I'll let JP chime in for more details there.

Wow, loads of great info. Thanks all!

Also remember that Sora isn't 10sp, so if you just want to upgrade shifters, you can't just upgrade shifters, you have to also upgrade most of your drivetrain parts (shifter, rear mech, cassette, chain at the minimum). 

I think the disc brake option is only available on the highest end CAADX (Ultegra).  I had the CAADX Tiagra last year (model 2012) and the shifters were dual control so it'll be fine for a 'cross race.  No disc brakes either, just regular cantis.

@Phillip Looking through the 2014 catalog (at BK Ride) the Tiagra only comes w/ a disc break setup. The 105 (out of my price range) and Sora are cantis, and the Ultegra had both options. I thought it was weird.

Dan, thanks for mentioning that.  I completely forgot to point it out.  Sora is not ten speed.  You are screwed if you buy Sora.  Do not buy it for a racing bike.  However, it works fine on my commuter!  I love that 30x28 gearing when I'm trying to not break a sweat hauling groceries up a hill!  Oh yes, it's a triple.

mperlberg said:

 join the new york city cyclocross facebook group. last week 2 49cm bikes were sold for ~$600 

Brendan.  Calm your bees.  You are, I assume, talking about Sora 3400, their previous version with the thumb shifters.  The newest iteration, which should be on bikes now, is Sora 3500, which has done away with the silly thumb button and replaced it with a paddle: 

Adam.  I don't have any bees.  If you were as keen to read as your are to sting, you'd have realized that I included a link to that newer version of Sora in my post.  I was simply telling Erika that if the bike on the floor is not the new 3500 Sora, she should tell the salesperson to buzz off.

^

SRAM Force GXP 172.5 Standard cranks: $80
Gossamer GXP 172.5 Standard cranks: $50 (take-offs and barely ridden)

Erika,

@mugwump Thanks for the perspective. I've read/listened to a lot regarding disc brakes and remain leery as well. Anytime someone tries to convince me I can afford something "pro" (and it isn't socks or a bottle cage) there are major red flags. Maintenance is a huge concern since after CX season, this new bike will replace my road bike as a four season commuter.

Erika,

Dan Reiners said:

Erika,

Like anything in cycling where there is a choice and you ask more than two cyclists, you will get three or more opinions. I suggest you look at a little history of this forum on disc brakes, there is some great information on the durability of disc brakes. 

Most of the issues with cross brakes "wearing out their pads" has more to do with the non-adjustablity of cable actuated discs when the pads do wear. They're not wearing out the pads, they're just wearing so much that the cable pull cannot accommodate wear. This issue is normally solved with hydraulic actuated disc brakes, which is why you don't have thousands of deaths in endurance MTB events from worn out disc brakes.   

Dan, not exactly. People ahve reported to me that they've worn down to the metal--as in no more braking material.  This does occur in MTB'ing as well.  Some of the mud-fests we have in cross are much dirtier than many MTB mud-offs.  Further, cx could well result in more braking with the constant changes turns.  And it has been reported in MTB as well.  It could be partially a result of using "organic" brake material vs. sintered-organic mix or sintered, which you typically find in downhill rigs.  Of course, come claim that organic has better modulation and works better at low speeds.   

@Mugwumps-FWIW...While I have certainly worn down brake pads on hydraulic disc equipped MTB bikes over the long term,  I've never seen anywhere near the intensity of the wear that folks are reporting as happening on cable actuated-disc-equipped cross bikes. Among other things I raced the 24 hours of Snowshoe twice.  Both of those races were so muddy that Laird Knight was forced to change the course going forward. I rode roughly 6 hours of each of the 24 (since I was one of 4 on the team). In neither case, after 6 hours of hyper West Virginia mud, did I have to install new pads.  Even f I was arguably braking less than in a 'cross race (and there were some long downhills on that course), you'd expect (based on the 'cross reports) that that abuse should have been enough to cause huge pad wear.  Again, those were both on hydraulic disc.  (I don't recall what pads...but at the time I was using a relatively early iteration of Hope's hydraulics discs.)  So whatever the technical reasons, hydraulic and cable seem to be two different animals in terms of pad wear in muddy conditions.  I guess a good test will be to see anecdotally after this 'cross season whether the pads on the new SRAM hydraulic disc brake/lever system have a longer half life than those of their cable actuated predecessors.  (By the way- I did however have to install new pads on cantilevers after only one 'cross race at the Mercer Cup a few years back.)

i've never done cross, so the idea that you could go through a set of pads in one race blows my mind.  i've had the same pads on my caad10 for over a year now.  all i've done is rotate them.

@Brendan-I hear you.  Similar for me on my road bike, but 'cross is a whole different ball game when it comes to that stuff.  If you get the right consistency of mud (especially with silt in it), it sounds like your pads and rim are just being stripped away as you race.  And they sort of are.

You know how the Inuit people are supposed to have many different words for snow? I don't know if that's true or not, but if it is, and if 'cross racing (and/or pig farming) continue(s) for another thousand years or so, I think there'll similarly be scores of different words for mud in all of its different consistencies. Right now I just know of "stink mud" and "peanut butter mud." I'm sure there are others.  Think Harlan Pepper naming nuts in Best In Show.  (Jules-is it worth starting a new thread called "Mud?" Probably not.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGmNqzbsuiY

@Jules-I knew if anyone could debunk Boas' anthropo-academic fraud it would be you (and Wikipedia).  God only knows what dirt you might be able to dig up on Margaret Mead.

Damn @Nelix you picked a tangled (and obscure) fellow to unpack.  

So....before we start going down the rabbit hole of destroying early anthropologists. I would like to say the concept of different words based on a single root describing different types of snow, still stands up. So even though there are not 99 different ways to say "snow" there are a specific words that denote concepts like "snow on the ground", "snow drift", "snow falling slowly without much wind blowing it" or "crusty snow that has melted and refrozen" that are a single word. The same way cyclists have a variety of terms for flats that describe different conditions (cut, snakebite, puncture, blowout) that all describe what other people consider just a "flat tire". So  

@Dan, have you thought of a 24" bike? There is a Redline Conquest 24 on ebay right now. She and Luka can have matching bikes. I know it sounds silly, but it would probably fit her really well.

@eragot,

Actually I do. Its only 1" but I should have an adapter for a 1 1/8 stem.

For Sale: Oakley Radarlock Path sunglasses. Matte White frames, 2 Lenses included: Fire Iridium lenses and spare lenses Blue/Ice Iridium. Retails for $300.00 Asking price is $150- includes case and cleaning cloth pictured. Used a handful of times in the spring. Good deal for anyone looking for Oakleys for 1/2 off retail. Email if interested. 

Someone had a question about what to do with old but functional cycling kit.