Come one, Come All Cross Supplies Here!

Hey folks,
I know everyone is thinking about 'cross season, starting to get everything in order, and we're here to help. We've been doing our stocking up throughout the year to bring a steady supply of 'cross specific goodies. One of our favourite parts of the new season has been the Paul's Chain Keeper. Its a bulletproof way to run a single ring on your 'cross bike (or mtb), thats much more elegant than a bashguard and inside watcher. We have them instock for all three sizes.


Another cool new item is a brakeset from FSA. Its a superlight brake set that competes with the lightest, but at nearly half the price. They have a nice dark polished finish, and come complete with road-style carriers, and are fully adjustable. I would much rather have the adjustability than the bling, but these have a little of both.

Tyres are another item that folks seem to be scrambling for, and once again we are the place with the best selection of 'cross tyres around. We have clinchers from Challenge, Kenda, Michelin, Maxxis and Stan's; and a plethora of tubulars from Challenge, Vittoria, and Tufo.

The Kenda Kommando in a 35mm for a great all around use tyre that really has a great amount of grip for its reserved tread. The Small Block Eight is a suberb tyre in the dry, but has pretty limited grip when moisture sets in.


The Challenge Grifo, Fango, and Grifo XS are all great tyres, and use exactly the same construction as their tubular counterparts, but instead of being sewn up, they fold a kevlar bead into each side. That ensures the highest quality clincher that you can get a hold of. They are great as a training or race tyre, but seem to have the highest value to folks who race on any of the tubular versions as their training tyre.

Now for the fun stuff.....Tubulars! Anyone that knows me, knows that I swear up and down the merits of tubular tyres. Its the only way to race cross, and the benefits are numerous. I could write for years about all of their benefits, but you just have to ride to understand.

Challenge offers three tread designs that I talked about above, with the Grifo being the popular choice. It is a near 30 year old tread design that originated with Clement. Used for years, copied for years, its a stand by.

The Fango is my current favourite tubular though. It is going into its second year of life, and I was one of the first adopters of it. To me it is the ideal tyre for most of the season here. It has super aggresive side knobs, yet a very fast rolling centre tread. I've used them in a 34, and love the grip and ride.

The Grifo XS is the tyre for the dedicated crosser. Nothing rolls as fast, and nothing will surprise you as much as the Grifo XS. It has an enormous amount of grip for a semi-slick, and has proven rideable in conditions varying from concrete hard dirt to tacky mud and snow. We've got a few sizes of these in, but I recommend the 34's for the maximum float and best handling.

Vittoria also jumped back into the fray this year with their new and revised line up of tyres. Their standby tyre the Cross XG continues this year, but they also offer a 290 tpi version for a bit more supple ride. I'll focus on the new tyre, the Cross XM. Its a full-on rip-roaring mud tyre that has big scoops to get traction in the nastiest of conditions.

We have good stock on these tyres, especially tubular tyres, so count on us for your tubular tyre needs. We are also the only place in town that has Aquaseal instock, as well as all the tricks for keeping your tubies happy for years to come.

I'll follow up soon with custom tubular wheelsets as well tomorrow!

Come one, Come All Cross Supplies Here!