We were lucky enough to get the opportunity to build a cyclocross bike up for Rhianna this month (hopefully her work roster will have her in Perth for the CycloCross State Champs in March) and boy was it a steep learning curve for us. The Specialized Crux showed up looking incandecent with its blue/yellow/red paint job.
We got a near perfect colour match with the Salsa cork tape and the rather bright colours on the Specialized Crux frame. SRAM Force Shift/Brake levers are taking care of business up on the bars.
Click through after the break to see more pics and get a rundown on the details.
Speaking of bars, Salsa Bell Lap cyclo-x bars and a Salsa ProMoto Ti S.U.L stem were the logical choice for the cockpit.
First hurdle was to figure out how the pressfit BB30 bottom bracket worked as a normal SRAM P/F BB din't want to fit. After a discussion with the guys at Specialized the correct bearings and surclips arrived. After that the BB30 SRAM Force carbon cranks (46/36) fit like a glove.
Second hurdle was the Avid Shorty Ultimate canti brakes. The last time I worked on canti brakes was sometime in the early 1990's with my dad on my Kojima rigid MTB! Naturally I tried without looking at the instructions and got nowhere. After a quick read of a very clear user manual they were set in about 30mins. Let that be a lesson to you all.
To deal with Perth's sandy cross courses we went with a Specialized Captain CX tyre on the front and a Trigger CX on the rear. The Roval Classique Pave SL wheelset is light and strong and at only $599 for the pair the value can't be beat.
We finised off the build with SRAM Force derailleurs to keep shifting smooth and efficient. And the total weight...
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