Product Review: Avid Shorty Ultimate CX Cantilevers

Contact/Purchase: http://www.sram.com/avid/products/shorty-ultimate-rim-brake

Cost: $110 per pair

Test Supject: John G.

Bike: 2011 Felt FX15

Wheels: Either Bontrager XXX Lite Carbon tubular or Reynolds Stratus DV46 Carbon tubular

Location: Two Cyclocross races and counting, cx training

You can find me at da race

Bottle full of Cyctomax

Momma I got what you need

you need to slow down when it’s muddy

Released in late 2010, the Shorties combine a few features of other top-end canti’s into one super-cool brakeset.  I’ve been running the TRP EuroX Carbon for the past two seasons and beginning part of this one.  I still have the TRP’s on my pit bike, so I have had the opportunity to do a side-by-side comparison (sometimes even in the same race).

SET UP

Because the springs are on the outside of the arms – i.e. not in between the frame’s cantilever boss and arm – you must make sure the frame’s braze-ons are smooth and free of paint.  In my case I had to use some 0000 emory paper to remove excess paint from the fork braze-ons.  Next, you can choose which position you would like to orient the brake arm – wide/standard, which allows for better mud clearance, or narrow for greater power.  I have seen some folks go wide in the front and narrow in the back, presumably for heel clearance when getting on and off your bike.  I chose to go narrow front and rear.

Follow the enclosed instructions carefully and choose the appropriate washer/spacer so the springs do not bind once you have tightened the fixing bolt.  Pad adjustment is very easy with one 4mm allen, the straddle cable anchor is well thought out with two different sized allens, and the straddle cable carrier is very straight forward with two fixing bolts.  Spring tension adjustment is unlimited and easily done with a 5mm and 15mm open end.  I used a fully sealed Gore Ride-On cables so I set the return tension a bit heavier – especially while the cables and ferrules settle in.

Lastly, I swapped the included standard road cartridge pads with some Yellow King SwissStop pads.  TAKE CARE when removing and re-insterting the pad retaining bolt.  It has a tiny allen head and like 3 threads on it.  Seems like it would be easy to mangle after a few pad changes.

THE RIDE

I’ve done two races on them, one muddy, one not muddy.  I did not notice more than normal amount of mud collecting around the fork crown or rear brake bridge.  They were smooth and stopped the bike.  I was doing bike changes during the mud race to my TRP-equipped bike.  It seemed like the Avids were slowing me down with less lever squeezing effort.  No brake chatter, smooth power.

The quick release is on the barrel side of the brake and is a bit tricky.  First, you have to make sure you don’t turn the barrel, thus adjusting the brake, and that the barrel assembly is properly re-seated when you close the brake.  You will get used to it once you take a close look at how the flat surfaces on the assembly are oriented with properly done.

One last observation is that because the spring is on the outside of the arm, the brakes themselves sit close to the fork and seat stays, so… when the straddle is released the brakes open only as far as the pads hitting the inside of the fork and seat stays.  This could be problematic if your tires are too fat to pass through the brake blocks.  It was not an issue for my fattest mud tires – a pair of Challenge Limus 33 tubulars.  The out side knobs do hit the pads, but just barely.  I have heard that SRAM/Avid is providing a fix for some of its sponsored racers in the form of an extender that pushes the arm out from the frame so the pads can open completely.  Again, I did not have an issue, even with my fattest tires.

CONCLUSION

Avid hit a home run.  They produced a brake that has an inline barrel adjuster, a two position arm, are easy to set up, don’t break the bank, and perform incredibly.  They get the John G. seal of approval.

Go to the Source – twojohnspodcast.missingsaddle.com

Go to the Source – twojohnspodcast.missingsaddle.com

This is an all email podcast emanating from the heart of cyclocross season, containing perhaps our snarkiest submission yet from far and wide:  Dre does the double, a triathlete makes fun of roadies and Fun Run asks whether some of the British Spitfires would have trouble with Larry Langholm.

The relative size of this all email podcast is ten to the second.

Go to the Source – twojohnspodcast.missingsaddle.com

For the love of the game we are back for another fire side chat about the thing with two spoked wheels we love.   Now that we are at cruising altitude and in the fatty midsection of cyclocross season the love is back with all the warmth of the snap, crackle and pop of a vinyl album, smoothness of a campy hub and the rich flavor of a belgian brown ale we discuss what has been going on in our cycling lives- which would be cyclocross.  The technology segment makes an appearance which means one of two things:  either one of us got something we think is really cool or one of us had an equipment failure that we did not think was very cool.  Finally, the Creedmonster calls in to talk about the Cardinals and their baseball world series, but more importantly his efforts of putting a team to develop young cycling talent.  At the end of it, we are too tired to get to emails, check local listings and stayed tuned for our upcoming all email podcast.

Until then, you can view this enriching list of things the crafty Scottish have brought to our world.

Go to the Source – twojohnspodcast.missingsaddle.com

Under the Site Stats for the podcast we can track all kinds of things: hits per day, what people click on, incoming links, and search string queries as typed into Google.  This one popped up today, “What happened to the Two Johns Podcast?”  I guess the short answer is bike racing – cyclocross racing to be specific.  I suppose the long answer is a bit, well, longer.  Everything about the cyclocross season seems to take more time (as opposed to road racing).  It takes longer to go around a 1.85 mile loop.  It takes longer to asses a course and figure out what kind of tire pressure to run.  It takes longer to get to the start line, strip down to the skin suit then wait for the call-ups and race start.  And, it definitely takes a much longer time in the garage Sunday night and now, it seems, bleeding over into Monday morning or night.  Bike maintenance is an incredible time suck when in comes to cyclocross.  Combine all the rain and mud we’ve been getting with one race bike one pit bike, one kids bike then throw in some double race weekends and you’ll see what I am talking about.

The podcast is not dead.  We are getting your emails and tweets.  We still hear you and we will be back… soon

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My Giant Mini Velo Escape , my main commuting bike these days , a ringworm maxxis BMX tyre on the back running at 115 psi , front tyre shwabbe marathon , used black gorilla tape to disc them up , round the wheels are 2JPS Logos , during the dark nights i have a mixture of blue/red lights on the rucksack and bike , 5 white lights on the front , if i could only keep 1 bike this is the one I would have , crank it up and it flys. One day during the summer I flew round the batchwood roundabout [1 mile from home], some local workers Planting flowers on the roundabout] were amazed at the speed of the velo , i shouted Allez Allez , viva La France , they replied “Piss off you French Frog Bastard”
Canna beat the English Artisan worker Eh

Fun Run Robbie [Sir]

Go to the Source – twojohnspodcast.missingsaddle.com

Special Guest:  Robin Farina for a pre- World Championship Interview
Is Cavendish a worthy World Champion?  We think so, as we mull over the happenings in Copenhagen this past weekend.  John G digs into the depths of self help books to come to terms with the mostest, muddiest, slippiest cross race he has ever come across.  All this is a prelude to heaping helping of feedback from the likes of  the Aussie Fan, Doctor Big Love, PJ Blue Ribbon with questions  like, why is PBR popular with the cross crowd?  Wheels, wheels, wheels?  more questions of where to go from Ksyriums and the Foam Roleur shares SMART goals with his middle school class and wonders why he can’t close his water bottle as coolly and John G.

These wonderful texts are often accompanied by equally wonderful images.  Below we see Fun Run Robbie’s brother (a 26 min. 10M TT rider), with Fun Run’s Giant Mini Velo that recently took on the Ken Laidlaw Sportive in Hertfordshire.

And below we see the closest finish ever in a recumbent vehicle race.

As with each podcast we award the listener of the week with a t-shirt from our friends at Stomach of Anger.

Go to the Source – twojohnspodcast.missingsaddle.com

Ok, I’m done feeling sorry for myself.  Yesterday my handling skills were worse than 85 year-old blue hair driving in Florida.  I could not stay upright to save my life.  I stressed over tire selection and pressure.  I changed my shoe spikes.  I pre-rode the course.  I crashed on a warmup lap.  ”I suck, I suck, I hate mud, I can’t steer…,” it was not going to be pretty.  My Nostradamus-like prediction came true and on the first 1/3 of a lap I was last!  Dead last I think.  There was a guy on a *&%$!!! 29′er flat bar mountain bike in front of me.  I hit the deck more times than Mike Tyson’s sparring partner.  I was like a pig on roller skates.  I felt like a contestant on one of those ridiculous Japanese obstacle course game shows.  Demoralized.  I don’t think one of the six laps was less horrible than the rest.  I could not keep my f’ing front wheel going in a straight line.  I finished because I could not bring myself to do the 2 hour drive of shame back to Cincinnati.  Still licking my wounds this morning I came across this video.  I feel better after watching it.  I am in it somewhere – perhaps you can spot me.  Moving on.  It will be better.  I’ve pre-registered for next weekend.

(post script)  A pre-race conversation with Drew Dillman – winner of my race, 18 years-old, Jr. Worlds CX team 2010, Turner / ProChain road rider, Bob’s Red Mill CX:

Me: How are you feeling?

DD: Huh, good I guess.

Me: What tires are you running?

DD: I dunno, they’re clinchers.

Me: What pressure?

DD: Uh, like 30 or 40 psi I think

Go to the Source – twojohnspodcast.missingsaddle.com

Robin Farina spends some time talking about the winning the Women’s National Championship Road Race, the road to the World Championships and some of her thoughts for the race itself.

Go to the Source – twojohnspodcast.missingsaddle.com

Cross season is in full swing but I’ll not inundate you with a full on cx video assault (yet).  We see poor Joey in the first then the trailer for and EXTREME bike racing movie featuring our buddy Brad Huff.
CLICK HERE – for a first hand report of the crash from Joey.

The Breaks Sizzle Reel (rough draft) from Shawn Matthews on Vimeo.

Go to the Source – twojohnspodcast.missingsaddle.com

Cross season is in full swing but I’ll not inundate you with a full on cx video assault (yet).  We see poor Joey in the first then the trailer for and EXTREME bike racing movie featuring our buddy Brad Huff.

The Breaks Sizzle Reel (rough draft) from Shawn Matthews on Vimeo.

Go to the Source – twojohnspodcast.missingsaddle.com

Special Guest:  Bob Parlee

Mr. Parlee takes some time to talk with John K about his bikes and his process in building some of the finest carbon frames.

For more, visit www.parleecycles.com

But first we take a call from the upper midwest, another vuelta another mountains jersey for Moncoutie and Cobo stays in the saddle up the Angliru.  In Local News, one John does two races has one rolled tire, and the other John rolls through one race.  It is all cyclcocross all the time for the near future.

We suspend our rule of no nickname, no read your email for this thoughtful study of Convergence, by Miles.

A cyclist riding on a low traffic road looks up to see car A come around a corner in the distance and is approaching at 60 mph.  At the same time behind the cyclist car B comes around the corner approaching from behind at 60mph.  All three vehicles reach about the same place at the same time and all three vehicles line up and pass at the same point: a convergence occurs.  Why does this happen more than it should?

With over 50,000 miles of professional bicycle touring experience I noticed this convergence happening a lot and set about figuring out what causes it. Below is a much more complete explanation of the phenomenon.  Yes, I have gone out to the road and stood there and watched what is happening.  I have driven into this situation from behind and in front either as a passenger or a driver. Basically drives of cars do not judge the speed of cyclists well and initially assume they are stationary and readjust their estimates over time.  Drivers of cars see a huge pile of paper work if they hit the cyclist and get caught so the cyclist can be a threat to them. The driver approaching from behind tends to slow their speed to pass safely.  The driver approaching from the front has calculated the passing point based on initial speeds not the new slower speed.  Both drivers adjust their speeds just a little to cause the convergence because they never really figure out how fast anyone is going either because they are not use to slower moving vehicles or the speed of the approaching vehicle is constantly changing slightly.

Two cars approach each other on a road and neither car is a threat to the other so they continue driving at the same speed and pass each other where ever they happen to pass.  Mathematically they pass at some point that can be easily worked out with their respective velocities.  If a person is hiding in the weeds next to the road it is statistically unlikely that the two vehicles will pass each other where the person is hiding.

Throw a cyclist into the mix.  Well don’t throw them maybe give them a push with a tail wind.  The first car approaching from the front, Driver A, sees the cyclist as a stationary object in the other lane because the speed of the cyclists is so different than anything they are use to on the road. There is no threat to Driver A unless the cyclist throws themselves across the road into their path which isn’t likely, but happens from time to time with some idiot cyclists.  Driver A continues on towards the cyclist pretty much unaffected by the presence of the cyclist.

The second driver, Driver B, sees the cyclist and at first assumes a stationary object in their lane and slows or gets ready to slow while they figure out what to do.  After a second or two, Driver B recalculate the speed of the cyclist and see it is moving, they will overtake it and will pass it at some point.  To move around the cyclist safely Driver B will have to take up some of the space in the oncoming traffic lane which means timing the pass so the oncoming car is not going to hit them when they move over a little bit.  They do not want all three vehicles to pass at the same point on the road. Does driver B pass before or after the oncoming car?  If both cars are initially going about 60mph and they are 1000 feet apart there is about 5 seconds before the cars pass each other if they do nothing.   One to two seconds of these five seconds has already passed in figuring out the speed of the bike and that passing is inevitable.  Driver B has probably already slowed to give time to figure out the problem they are faced with. Without deliberate intension and through a series of misjudgments about speed of overtaking the cyclist, adjustments in speed are made so all three vehicles arrive at the same point at the same time.  If Driver A is on the ball and sees the convergence about to happen and car B is going to need part of their lane then driver A will also add their speed adjustments to make this Grand Alignment even more possible.  Both drivers want to safely pass the cyclist but continually misjudge true closing speeds to bring themselves all together at the same time.

Pick a point on a long stretch of road and watch how many time two cars pass a given point at the same time.  Not often.  Go stand on the edge of the roadway and watch the cars and see that cars will pass each other at or near the place you are standing much more often.  The difference is the drivers response to something in the road whether it is moving or not.  Ride your  bike down a four lane lower traffic volume road where the cyclist does not ride on the shoulder.  Notice that the cars from behind will most often move over to the other lane and there will not be a car in the oncoming two lanes.  Convergence of three vehicles happens less frequently because no one is messing with their speed.

And of course there is more feedback, but none quite as thorough as Miles.  For that he wins a t-shirt from our friends at Stomach of Anger.

Go to the Source – twojohnspodcast.missingsaddle.com