MudPig II DOB 12/15/2007
So this is the second version of the Hampsten Mudpig. The frame is built at the Co-Motion factory and the Alpha CX20 fork was custom painted White Mica to match the frame. This frame was rebuilt during the middle of the season to fine tune the geometry. The frame came back, I think, with slightly beefier chainstays, the braze-ons the toptube are offset (Picture to follow) and the rear brake braze-on does not have the circular cut out that the first edition did. As expected, with the new geometry, toe overlap is non existent, and the reach to the bars seem perfect.I wanted to try out the single ring application this year. The only time I dropped my chain this year was at Gloucester when my chain came off after the run up section and it fell between the chainring and the Third Eye. I noticed that I hardly ever shift the front ring during a race and the 42 I ran two years ago is perfect.
On the whole, I am a total retro grouch and resist new technology. But after riding on the Shimano Dura Ace 9spd, which came out late 1998, for more than 7 years, I decided to take the bold move to 10 spd. drivetrain.
I ended up going with the Sram Rival for several reasons:
- I really like how it looks with the concealed shifting housing
- Very light weight
- Can be found for around $550 for the complete Group
- The cable pull of the Double Tap shifters is more than 6 mm as compared to that of the STI Shifters.
- The shifters mate nicely with most bars, leaving you a huge platform to work with
I hope to have all of my cyclocross equipment sorted out by May. This year I started building my cross bike a week before my first race. Up until then, I had not ridden my bike since may 4th due to a bike accident that lead to a lawsuit. It is impossible and stupid to try to race into shape. It lead to a pulled groin, which ended my season, for going too hard too soon. This year I hope to have 2-3 working bikes. I hope to make sure the Desalvo is in tip top shape, as well as the Hampsten and a Zanconato cross bike, which is currently in the womb, if you will.
It will be quite sometime before I will get to ride this bike again. There is about 1.5 feet of snow outside, and what isn't covered by snow is covered by ice.
This year I have a slightly different approach to the cross season. Since I hate the cold, and love the heat, I plan to do around 10 road races in July and August to get ready for the cross season. I hope to hit the cross season in full form and taper off in mid-November. This will allow me to try out some road races and race cross when I love to be riding my bike the most. This year, I have had a major break through when it comes to braking. In the past I have constantly obsessed about having really strong brakes. What i could not come into grips is was that super great brakes is not necessary in cross racing. It IS important when riding out in the roads and you need to stop so you don't get hit by the #1 bus, but it is not as important in a cross race. This concept has been very hard for me to accept, for one reason or another, but now it does not seem as important to me...
For me, the Mayo drips from the frites back into the can.
Kent Eriksen Ti post with a Specialized Phenom SL Ti Saddle. This was a special gift from Steve Hampsten at Hampsten cycles. This seatpost is pretty trick, super light at 160 Grams, and is fabled to be extremely strong. It was really easy to adjust because of its simple but creative design.SPECIFICATIONS:
Frame: Hampsten MudPig 55 cm
Fork: Alpha Q CX20
Headset: Chris King
Handlebars: Ritchey WCS Classic 42cm, 135mm Drop
Stem: Thomson X2 100mm
Tape: Fizik
Front Brakes: Shimano BR550
Rear Brakes: Shimano BR550
Crankset: Shimano Dura Ace 7700 172.5mm
Chainrings: 42T
Chain: SRAM 10spd
Cassette: SRAM 10spd12-26
BB: Shimano Ultegra BB-6600
Pedals: Crank Brothers Candy SL
Seat: Specialized Phenom SL Ti
Seatpost: Kent Eriksen 27.2
Brake Levers: SRAM Rival Double Tap
Shift Levers: SRAM Rival Double Tap
Front Mech: NA
Rear
Wheelset: Reynolds Solitude
Tires: Schwalble Fast Fred Light 700X35mm
Tubes: Salsa 700x35
6 comments:
tight
Very. Very tight. Maybe in two weeks time it may even see time outside.
Been in love with this bike since Blue Moon. You had me at "Mudpig."
I too fell in love with it and hope that someday I will be able to ride it again. Maybe I will be bold and take it out this weekend in the slushyness.
Cool looking seatpost but if you are using a saddle with hollow Ti rails you might encounter reliability issues.
I used to have a Bold Ti post, which has a similar clamp:
http://www.boldprecision.com/seatposts.htm
This past cylcocross season I broke the rails of 2 Selle Italia SLR Ti saddles. So I replaced the Bold with a Thomson, which supports much more of the saddle rails. I weigh 180, so if you are lighter (or smoother on remounts) you may have better luck than me.
dear DYG. I was fearing the same thing. The post is sooo trick, but the rails really seem to take a beating because the width of the clamping mechanism is indeed so narrow. I may have to change to a Thomson and put this one on the road bike....
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