I used shimanos - andy just posted a very cheap price in deals and steals

@aly: whatever. I used nashbar shoes for a couple of seasons.

I and many others (Like CHABANOV!!!) like the Time Atac.  You can buy pedals that do one thing well or something that does lots of things well.  But yeah, it all comes down to what you're comfortable with.  I rode MTB with shimano spd's in high school but got used to the Times pretty quickly for cx.

Just don't put your cleats on with the "hard" setting.  It' really hard to unclip.

@Alyosha-I'm no Dan Chabanov, but I too like the Times.  Decent for mud clearance .  (Second in that department to perhaps Crank Bros. but I still like 'em best.)  And Time is a French company so that's an added plus--no?

I've heard many good things about the Time ATAC so I'll think I'll get them and yes I like to support the french cycling industry As for shoes, I guess it doesn't really matter for as long as you're fastened up for some action and you have grips on the bottom. I'll check out andy's thing.

I rode Atacs for a year and liked them but they seemed a bit heavy. They were an improvement over the SPDs as far as not gunking up but for ease of use/entry/mud clearance I'm a Crank Brother's fan.

I also use Shimnao shoes for cross. They seem to hold up well in the gunk and nicely fit my feet but I think shoes are a more personal thing than pedals.

Anybody want to buy a lightly used GoPro3 Black?

http://velonews.competitor.com/2013/08/bikes-and-tech/garmin-launches-game-changing-hd-action-sports-camera_299683

yes, weight seems to be a common complaint but cyclocross doesn't really involve going uphill very much at least not for sustained amounts of time so I figured it can't really matter much.
The cons for crankbrothers are that I've heard ppl disengaging from the pedal at times and also the fact that you're pretty much pedaling down on a spindle rather than a platform.

btw, that camera looks flippin sweet!

Shimano SPD pedals have been flawless for me the 545 model rocks.

This might be pure genius...

Hey gear/clothing horders...looking for some recommendations for long fingered general purpose CX/MTB gloves. My dead, skinned-Muppet gloves might not last another season...

Muppet Gloves

I noticed that Philip has been racing with some neon full finger gloves that have reinforced knuckles. Probably protect the hands for cx and if you suddenly have to get into a bar fight with someone wearing muppet gloves. Not sure what make or model they are, but I am sure he will share his thoughts. 

Those are full finger gloves by Giro. But not necessarily MTB gloves. Theyre normal road gloves with more protection fir fingers. No knuckle cover whatsoever. I do however, use Fox MTB gloves. Full on protection on the knuckles and fingers, but also hotter than the Giros .

Marc, I use regular road gloves until it gets a bit chilly and then I use nitrile gardening gloves. Awesome grip and tight fit. And cheap. Scented and ribbed also available!

One of the nice things about my muppet gloves is that they are actually "wind-proof" fleece, and they work really well for a surprisingly wide variety of cool to cold conditions...

Here's the comparison. The Fox gloves might be overkill for CX tho. (But great on the trail).

The Giro neon ones are better I think for general purpose. The problem is its already pretty worn out already and I just started using them early July.

I wear thin, full-fingered mtb gloves down into the 30's.  I think my current glove of preference is the Giro DJ.

how long do freehub bodies last?  do some cassettes wear more/less on the freehub body than others?

Muppet Wind!

Brendan Rigby said:

how long do freehub bodies last?  do some cassettes wear more/less on the freehub body than others?

(yes, @twoyacks, this is an exciting new bit of information about your favorite wheelset!)

i put a cs 5700 (shimano 105) cassette on for ~2 weeks.  removed it and went to put my pg 1070 back on.  the pg 1070 wouldn't go back on!  the cs 5700 had torn up the splines on the cassette to such a degree that i had to file them down to get the pg 1070 back on.  there is now an ever-so-slight amount of play in some of the gears that sit on the worn sections of the splines.  is this normal?  the freehub body is about 1.5 years old.

Freehub bodies can last a long, long time.  It depends on many things.  Relevant here is what cogs are loose and what cogs are on carriers (a carrier being block of metal that has, or carries, two or more cogs on it).  Typically, and this is limited to the shimano/sram compatible design, The taller cogs (like the 21, 22, 23-whatever, are often on carriers because the mechanical advantage means a single loose cog will bite into the cassette body.  This is why there cogs are typically on carriers.  The smaller cogs--11-19--are often loose because they are less likely to eat into the cassette body.  

JP, we can discuss on our ride in an hour.  i should have posted a picture, but it would appear that the middle cogs are the ones that have chewed it up.  the innermost cogs, which are mounted on a 3-cog carrier, have not chewed anything up.  probably because of the carrier that you pointed out; it likely distributes the load on any one cog across a longer portion of the spline than a single cog that is not on the carrier.

Brendan Rigby said:

JP, we can discuss on our ride in an hour.  i should have posted a picture, but it would appear that the middle cogs are the ones that have chewed it up.  the innermost cogs, which are mounted on a 3-cog carrier, have not chewed anything up.  probably because of the carrier that you pointed out; it likely distributes the load on any one cog across a longer portion of the spline than a single cog that is not on the carrier.

also, the cassette that seems to have done the most chewing has plastic, not metal, spacers between cogs.  HMMMMMM.

further proof that these wheels are made of swiss cheese and the daydreams of an engineer at specialized

edit: maybe i didn't tighten the lockring enough when i put on the cs 5700?

I've read lockring-created tension can make some difference.  Don't know about the plastic vs. metal spacers.  

Brendan,

Ryan J said:

Brendan,

This year I went from an alloy to a steel freehub body for this reason. 

Also I found that even when the splines got chewed up, a little grease would allow me to get them on and off. But you probably tried that.

another thing to do is use your chain whip to grab the cog and tug it in a counter-clocwise direction to unseat it from where it chewed into the metal.

Hey, I want to do a full cable/housing swap for my cross bike. Any recommendations for cables/housing?

first, tie Gore Ride On and Nokon

Shimano or jagwirr. I have no issues with two seasons in the books.

eragot said:

Shimano or jagwirr. I have no issues with two seasons in the books.

It should be noted that while cx gear gets mucked up pretty bad, cables and housing, particularly the handlebar side, can last for a few to several seasons unless you're in the mud all the time.  Regular drivetrain cleaings really help here, too.  Brake pad wear, on the other hand, you can't do anything about other than using them less.