Minus Ten Review 2009-9

I had a cyclo cross bike once. Once......

Ten years ago here on the blog this week I was revealing the silly purchase I made of a Raleigh Rainier single speed cyclo cross bike. Cyclo cross bike? Yes. I bought and owned a true-blue cyclo cross rig for a very short period of time.

You see, in 2009 there were no "gravel bikes", no geometry made specifically for riding gravel roads, and certainly nothing in the way of real tires for this pursuit. To wit- I was trying to run some IRC 42's on this bike, which were one of the only "non-hybrid" tires this size you could find. Then I found out 42's weren't a good fit in the back and I had to size down to a 35mm tire. But that wasn't the biggest issue I had with the bike in the end.

The Rainier was a fantastic cyclo cross bike. Steep-ish head tube angle, high bottom bracket, and quick feeling when you stomped on the pedals. But I had absolutely zero intentions of ever doing a cyclo cross race. I admire the niche and those who are into that, well, good on ya. It just isn't anything I ever wanted to try. No appeal at all for me. So, what in the heck was I doing with a single speed cyclo cross bike? 

Well, having put on a few Trans Iowas by this time, I noted that cyclo cross bikes were the rig of choice. I figured I had better check this out. They were lighter than a single speed 29"er, and some said faster too. I had to find out for myself. What I found out was that cyclo cross geometry was not right for gravel travel. Of course, this revelation was met with much resistance when I spoke of it later. I was called crazy and worse by many commenters. Well, as they say, who's laughing now? I could, but I am not that guy. I just knew back ten years ago that this CX thing wasn't the best thing for gravel travel.

So, this bike wasn't around long. I maybe had it a year. Maybe..... Can't remember. But I know I sold it off to a guy by the name of George and maybe he still has it. Dunno.... It was a cool looking rig, anyway, and if you were into CX, well, it probably was a great rig. Again.....Dunno for sure, but I bet it was.