2011/12 Retrospective

That's it. Done, over, finished for another year.

2011/12 cross season put to bed.

Not a vintage year racing wise, but a significant one nonetheless......

Plenty to work on for next year - a quicker Peaks time, power, core strength, maintaining speed through technical sections. All good stuff to inspire and motivate. Cross racing this season has felt harder and faster - and that's because it was. There are many more good riders coming in to cross from other disciplines, as well as others starting up and improving fast as they find the passion. Fields are considerably bigger across the country, with talent in depth amongst them. All in all, I feel it's been a bumper year for cross and the sport has been/is growing.

I started the season on cantilever brakes and finished it on discs. I still can't promote the advantages of discs enough and have hugely enjoyed being part of the 'first-mover advantage' of being disc-ed up. There are still a surprising number of detractors out there, most of whom clearly have not ridden discs on a cross bike but have made assumptions and arguments that are not entirely in possession of the facts.......

Discs are not perfect yet, but here is my central point. If my experience of riding on a purpose designed bike with 'only' cable/mechanical discs (not hydraulics), with technology 'borrowed' from existing mountainbike setups, has been so overwhelmingly positive, think how good it will be in a short while when systems that are purpose designed for cross come in to play. Systems that address the standard criticisms of weight (not overly relevant for average folk), modulation (also not a problem in my eyes), rotor size and suitability and so on. I've played a little with hydraulic systems and to be honest prefer the crisp, light action of my standard SRAM/Avid BB7 cable set up. Light, predictable, plenty powerful  and faultless in operation. I'm not sure I would ever want a hydraulic system for cross as things stand.....

However, I can't wait for the new ideas around hydraulics, the work on rim and wheel technology specifically for disc setups not to mention the avalanche of ideas and development that will come when the road market finally wakes up too.

My only worry is that I'm going to have to work even harder to keep up there in races once everybody else has caught up in the technology stakes.......