This marketing and image screams "hidden engine"

Whether they rode disc or canti brakes, I have no doubt that the big teams BKCG, Vastgoede, Fidea and Crelan had both available in pits for their top riders...along with a motorized version, apparently left by a friend!

Check the video out on Adam Myerson's Twitter page under heading "Zoom Zoom" of Wout Van Aert in muddy turn from Workds. Draw your own conclusions.,,

Jim Feehan said:

Or could it just be that most people expected to do a lot of running and went for lighter weight? Those descents didn't seem particularly suited to braking of any kind that I noticed.

It could be.  But they still decided that whatever benefit discs offer, they were outweighed by drawbacks. Still a story and something that would be of interest to people who race or are interested in racing.

Marc Bertucco said:

There's also this thing that I heard once...and basically, even the big teams, maybe ESPECIALLY the big teams don't have the will/budget to change wheels. Or something like that.

First, WVA is on a small team.  Nys even smaller.  
But the issue is budget.  The big teams have the budget--that's what makes them the big teams.  Their sponsors want them to ride the stuff that the sponsors are trying to sell.  WVA has been the cross poster child for SRAM, and he's been riding cantilevers and a double-ring setup for the past two seasons, and his Colnago isn't sold by Colnago anymore.

Think about this, if anyone won a Classic or a Grand Tour on a discontinued bike model, one that hasn't been made for a few years, don't you think there would be articles everywhere about it?  Both the Elite Man and Woman did that.

mugwump said:

Think about this, if anyone won a Classic or a Grand Tour on a discontinued bike model, one that hasn't been made for a few years, don't you think there would be articles everywhere about it?  Both the Elite Man and Woman did that.

Sounds like you've got a blog in the making. Write it! Tweet the hell out of it. I'll post a link on the Supercross FB page. See what others think.

Anybody have a guess how Cunningham might ride this weekend coming ? 

When I rode the Fat and Frozen race last Saturday (super fun), there was
still a decent amount of snow. Like, mid-shin deep if you got off the
course which the folks from 718 Cyclery had done their best to pack
and groom.

JP - not sure what you are basing position on as to what constitutes "small" versus big teams. I agree that it is budget which makes big teams big but budget in the context of numbers of bikes, wheels and other equipment is not function of how many riders are on team but what each has at his disposal.
I can recall reading the stories from Louisville that members if the Belgian squad, including Rob Peeters, a teammate of WVA on small Vastgoede flew here with 16 wheel sets. Regardless of number of riders on teams, I can not believe that top pros feel any budgetary constraints with regard to equipment at a race like Worlds.

Obviously. in cross, we aren't talking about World Tour budgets and 30-40 rider rosters, but it's all relative. You contend WVA is on a small team but this doesn't seem to be based in fact. Crelan Vastgoede employs no less than 8 top flight European cross racers. How would that not be considered big? Sven Nys team while only 2 riders certainly can't be said to be lacking funding to have whatever equipment he desires. You can't be suggesting that if Sven tells Trek he wants 6 bikes, 3 disc and 3 cantis, they are not delivered before the weekend, are you?

i think the discussion as to whether one has availability of both is more often a function of whether sponsor makes both (trek -yes and Giant-no longer) than budget. Ridley for example had gone all disc but if Kevin Pauwels wanted to ride cantis in a given race, because he felt that it gave him s better chsnce to win, I suspect he wouldn't get much stick from sponsor Ridley about it.

As to exceptions, WVA on old frame and woman's champion  de Jongh on older Giant with cantis is more function of people being accepting of a certain "quirkiness" in equipment choices in cross rather big versus small teams. In fact de Jongh's decision to ride Giant branded older frame, as opposed to woman specific Liv frame, may not even have been based on disc vs canti issue. She is a relatively tall woman and current Giant/Liv cross bikes have a very limited sizing run. It may as likely have been a fit issue, rather than brakes.

In a sport where so much credence is given to rider preference or feeling ( think of the amount of time spent dialing in tire pressure and the possible ramifications of having same dictated to you) it seems that there is more acceptance of what rider is comfortable with.

Another factor that needs to be considered is that as much as people like us obsess over such things, from sponsors/manufacturers persoective,it is of little consequence. While growing, it is certainly the "nichiest" of niche cycling markets.

The 80,000 people who went to World's last weekend, by and large, don't race cross and aren't going to be buying a new bike based on results there, so de Jongh and WVA using older frame models as matter of personal preference costs Giant and Colnago nothing. Fact that bike says Giant or Colnago is the most the beer swilling, smoking and unfortunately spitting "fans" will remember.

Contrast this with road racing where people all over the world get jacked up over and ,in fact ,buy the latest, greatest frames, wheels, helmets and sunglasses being introduced at the Tour. Absent someone showing me some stars indicating that the same happens with cross, I would suggest it does not. My point, at the outset, was simply that if we could research it more fully, you would find that many of the favorites at Worlds had both disc and canti bikes in the pits or at least in the truck and decided what to ride on race day.

Marc Bertucco said:

If I had to guess which of the Americans would have finished on the lead lap, I might not have included Travis Livermon, who placed 39th 7:14 down. Major props to him! Also, Allen Krughoff, in 41st 7:39 down, was the last rider not pulled.

Wish there were more post race interview of the US team...

Allen Krughoff post race Worlds interview......including how his disc brakes served him well 
http://youtu.be/imjuUTuEigM

Jim Feehan said:

 You can't be suggesting that if Sven tells Trek he wants 6 bikes, 3 disc and 3 cantis, they are not delivered before the weekend, are you?

My guess is that Sven probably has at least four of each, if not more.  

No, I never suggested that number of riders has anything to do with budget.  Nor did I suggest that any of the top riders were limited by budget.  I think you have my comments confused with someone else's.  

That written, I think that Telenet and Sunweb are the heaviest-hitting teams in Belgium.  When I watch the races, which isn't that much, it seems that those two teams are the ones jamming the front.  Both are sponsored by Ridley (which does keep at least one cantilever bike on each platform in their line, and it seemed that the majority of these riders preferred canti's)

I also think you're mixing up some things.  Yes, it's a niche discipline.  However, bike companies are in the business of selling bikes, and having people win on the latest and greatest Sunday so people can buy it Monday is really what they want, because they want the shot of the rider crossing the line with arms in the air and the right bike underneath.  If there's an understanding about quirk or preference, it's from the team.  I'm sure the bike companies would prefer to see the bikes that are actually for sale win races, no matter what they say (Colnago probably doesn't want to run an ad of WVA on the 2012 Prestige, but I could be wrong).  

Considering that most of the bike industry is seeing flat or declining numbers, I think most companies are pretty desperate for any growth.  And CX is growing.  It's a niche, but far less niche-y than when I started.  

Further, I think it's a bit irrelevant to point out that there were 80,000 fans who don't care what the riders are riding.  Hundreds of thousands line the roads of the Grand Tours and Classics and most of them don't care what folks are riding, yet of the road scene you write.  

Contrast this with road racing where people all over the world get jacked up over and ,in fact ,buy the latest, greatest frames, wheels, helmets and sunglasses being introduced at the Tour. Absent someone showing me some stars indicating that the same happens with cross, I would suggest it does not. My point, at the outset, was simply that if we could research it more fully, you would find that many of the favorites at Worlds had both disc and canti bikes in the pits or at least in the truck and decided what to ride on race day.

I think what's more relevant is that the the folks who care about who rides what would be interested in knowing what the pro's are riding and why.  Because these are the people who are buying the bikes--if the world champ is on a discontinued model, it might suggest to some that the new model isn't as good.   And for all we know, the percentage of people who care in CX could be the same as the people who care for road racing.

Your last point, I never disputed.  I even pointed out that the riders had a choice.

What is interesting to me, and what started this all, is that with all the choices, they chose cantilever-equipped bikes.  As for deciding on race day, yes, Sven does it. No, WVA nor TdJ do not.  I'll even go so far as to tell you that I think most riders stick with one setup as much as possible (for fun I did a quick image search for Kevin Pauwels and Tom Meeusen--one image of Pauwels on discs, none of Meeusen).  For the Americans, it's a bit harder, as they have most of their gear in the US.  My guess is that the Americans with the choice (Powers and Compton are probably the only two), chose before they flew over.  The others didn't have the choice.  

Marc Bertucco said:

mugwump said:

Sounds like you've got a blog in the making. Write it! Tweet the hell out of it. I'll post a link on the Supercross FB page. See what others think.

I did

http://jralong.blogspot.com/2016/02/forget-mechanical-doping-tech-story-of.html

And Marc FB'd it and tweeted it as well via the Supercross Cup pages.  Almost at 8k views.  Which strikes me as amazing reach for those social media streams.

In other news...

BrittLee has been in Europe racing and after a self-described disappointing finish at US CX Nats, she's kind of tearing it up in Europe. Mid pack finishes, two 17ths and the last one, she finished on the lead lap.

http://youtu.be/XxlTArCJFbs

15:40
Adam Myerson is the Ian Mackaye of cross...Cycle-smart is the Dischord Records of cycling coaching 
Lower case lol ......not 100 percent sold on those notions but I like them(anyone who draws their inspiration from  such sources is cool in my book). I wonder what part of his scheme is analogous to $5 all ages shows and no more than $10 for a cd. I'm going to his camp in August and I'm doing his race in November  so i guess Im buying in.

one thing's for sure, racing cross makes me feel like I did when I first heard the Margin Walker Ep  followed by the first time I saw Fugazi live in a small club ......while I was still in the Coast Guard (still drinking some of of the "yeah team ! America rules!" propaganda koolaid) living in Providence in the late late 80's 
 http://youtu.be/SGJFWirQ3ks

MaxThorn said:

Nice, Rick. I'm gonna watch that CX documentary, and I always love a good video of an old Fugazi show. BTW, when I was working for Jacobin magazine in 2014 a few of us were stoked one day to see that Guy Picciotto had subscribed. Maybe he's convinced the rest of the band to by now. Is the camp you're referring to not Myerson's own, but the Cycle-Smart camp?

I'd be pretty stoked too if Guy was interested in something I was involved with.
Yeah Im talking about the Cycle Smart Crosscamp in Mass which, due to popular demand, will be held not just once but twice this year, on the first and second weekends in August. I"m probably going to go to the first one. It hasn't been posted yet but those are the dates I got straight from the man himself via FB.

FWIW, I went to the camp two years ago. It's pricey, but I would consider doing it again if I had the time/money.

I has EXCITE!

http://www.cxmagazine.com/rumors-rumbling-lars-van-der-haar-paris-roubaix

looking forward to seeing him. Would be awesome if he makes the lead group.

reality, however, might be closer to when Lars Boom jumped back to CX last year --- last guy on lead lap.

The stars have aligned for amazing racing this fall. Put these on your calendar asap.

MAC Series for 2016

• Fairhill - Sat. Sept. 10th
• Nittany - Sept. 17th-18th
• Charm City - Oct. 8th-9th
• Whirlybird - Sat. Oct. 22nd 
• HPCX - Oct. 29th-30th
• Kutztown - Sat. Nov. 12th
• Limestone - TBD

That post is very good + spot on Jules. Also, CX is coming.

I will take pretty much any advice Cosmo has for me.

Yes Jules CX is coming CX is coming....in late September...Christ....you know Yacks used to throw down on the cross course...way back before the hipsters first discovered and then ruined it.  Wasn't a "scene" back then...didn't have any fancy kit.  You basically cobbled together whatever was lying on the floor of your garage...a saddle that had years of road use = check...Nashbar SPD pedals = check...MTB helmet replete with visor = check...shitty old road wheels with crunchy bearings = CHECK !  Back then it was a way to maintain some fitness over the winter.  There were few winter options back then...no Zwift or cycling studios...a computrainer was more scarce than an albino unicorn.  You got on rollers till your junk went wonky skew...it's just what you did...Looky here..young Yacks on an original Redline Cross bike somewhere in the swamps of Jersey circa 1998...what's that up front???  an ALUMINUM fork !?!?

Well, not that this should surprise anyone, but it would appear Yacks has a physical bulletin board to display all his aluminum bike builds and regrettable '90s kit choices.

Love the NORBA sticker on the helmet. Nothing says 1990s MTBer like that.

SO MUCH HOTNESS.