Why are they enforcing a rule to ban 26in tires next year?
Because they don’t like innovation? I didn’t get a why, only a statement of rule when I was emailing with the RD.
here is a thought:
because their courses are not very difficult, and they know guys might win on a skinny tired cross bike. this would be embarrassing to them, as they are trying to promote the " rough and ready hard core off road blah blah" aspect of their sport. hard to do that, if dudes can win on a 'cross bike. more importantly, their customers actually BELIEVE in that image, and identify with it. in order to preserve this image they need to ban the bikes that would prove it to be something of a sham.
if they really don’t want 700c bikes they should make the courses so hard that 700c bikes would be a disadvantage.
You hit the nail on the head. Marketing the “X” factor. If the course designers made a true mtn bike course, it would be a disadvantage on a cyclocross bike. The only reason to close the door to the 29ers is because it’s a grey area of interpretation between a custom 29er and a custom 700c. One opens the door to the other. NORBA Nats this year one of the pro guys was riding a “true” mtn bike, but with 700c cyclocross wheels. I hope this changes so I can go rip up some of the courses on my cross bike.
yep.
seems transparently obvious, to me.
in a way, you have to hand it to them tho. they do not actually want to have difficult, “real” mtn bike courses. they only want the impression that they do. difficult courses are - you know - difficult. their customer base does not want to actually be out there on difficult shit, they are plenty happy just making it LOOK like they are, and feeling like they are. some hot-rod wants to spoil the party by kicking ass on a skinny tire drop bar bike - no problem - leave the course the way it is and ban that drop bar bike - hey presto we are all hard core again.
maybe they should call it X-selfesteem-ERRA. 
it’s still alot harder than a road race of the same distance but no the courses aren’t “hard” mountain bike courses by themselves.
here is a thought:
because their courses are not very difficult, and they know guys might win on a skinny tired cross bike. this would be embarrassing to them, as they are trying to promote the " rough and ready hard core off road blah blah" aspect of their sport. hard to do that, if dudes can win on a 'cross bike. more importantly, their customers actually BELIEVE in that image, and identify with it. in order to preserve this image they need to ban the bikes that would prove it to be something of a sham.
if they really don’t want 700c bikes they should make the courses so hard that 700c bikes would be a disadvantage.
The only part I agree with is that it’s “a thought.”
I’ve done 25 XTERRAs at 16 different venues. Only 2 courses (Memphis in May & Portage Lake, Michigan) slightly favored cyclocross bikes and both were dropped because they weren’t technical enough. None favored singlespeeds.
todd. yep, just a thought. one that fits the question, but just a thought.
so . . . . . . getting back to that original question . . . . . . and assuming you are of the opinion that these courses are actually so technical as to make 700c wheels a poor choice on their own . . . . . why would they feel the need to ban 29-ers and drop bars then, do you reckon?
P.S. no courses favour singlespeeds, btw. that is point of singlespeeds, my man.
I would tend to agree with Todd on this. I can’t explain why they’d want to ban 700c wheels, but I’m sure Dave Nicholas would tell anyone who asked. I don’t see any issues with a 29er mountain bike, but I can’t see why anyone would want to use a 'cross bike.
I’ve raced 15 xterras on 9 different courses and I can tell you that allowing a cyclocross bike would be more of a liability for the racer than an asset on most of the courses. Maybe the courses out West are easy (i’ve only raced Tahoe), but on the East coast we have too many rocks & roots for a cyclocross bike. In the original thread on this topic, one poster said he wanted to try the Tahoe course on his cyclocross bike. My comment on that? Best of luck, bring your kevlar body armor, and I’ll have the paramedics meet you down on Tunnell creek road after you’re coming back from your 4-hour ride. The long climb, deep sand, loose descents, they’d be fine for a 29er mountain bike, but no way on a cross bike.
well, maybe dude will explain. there was precedent for my theory in NORBA and UCI mtn biking recently. in norba a guy won a short track race on a road bike. norba criied, but the overwhelming view was that if norba wanted to keep the image of a real mountain race they needed to hold it on a real mtn bike course, and let the riders choose the best weapon for the job. uci racing recently deciced to ALLOW 700c, for mostly the same reasons, after a decade of smoothening out and speeding up courses, thus ultimately making a 700 c bike more of a viable choice.
as an aside, 700c/drop bar bikes are more capable than many think off road. certainly more capable than most cross-over tri-heads might initially imagine. evidently mr xterra knows this.
but hey, i am just a guy rambling on and speculating. but, at least i have thrown something out there. critique if you want, but c’mon now - if my thought is whack or off base let’s here something better. i’m all ears.
if the courses actually ARE hard enuf to make a 700c bike a liability, why the need for xterra to ban them?
P.S. no courses favour singlespeeds, btw. that is point of singlespeeds, my man.
Some courses do favor singlespeeds, especially when conditions are made tougher by snow and mud.
I won’t speculate on why the XTERRA folks will only allow 26" wheels. Someone has asked the series promoter on the XTERRA message board.
we were talking about this in an earlier thread…and i ended up e-mailing xterra (dave n.) he said they currently allow 29ers, but no cyclocross. he said they are “reviewing” the rules for next year and basically told me if i have a 29er “don’t worry to much about it” shouldn’t be a problem…but they would definately not allow cross bikes.
luke
ok so they won’t allow cross bikes…who cares! ride a 29er with skinny tires…you’ll either have a great bike split, or you’ll be hating life and wishing you had some 2.0’s on it.
heh heh.
i have an older mtn bike with a rigid fork and drop bars. 26 in wheels. if i put hutichinson 1.3" or ritchey 1" tires on it is a mtn bike, or a 26 in wheeled cross bike?
i have a cross bike, too that is actually a converted road bike. if i put a flat or riser bar on it is it a 29er ? how bout if i add a reba fork ??
if i show up on my buddies new waterford eccentric BB 29-er or my rivendell all-rounder with mustache bars what shall we do, i wonder?
i would suggest showing up on something like option three.
anyway, if dude has an issue with the bikes on his course he should make his course such that only the type bike he wants will be worth riding on it. still waiting for you " XTERRA course really ARE hard and technical" guys to offer up a rationale as to why dude feels the need to ban bkes that would make them look not so. . . . . . . . . .
whatever you show up, YOU’D still get your butt kicked by half the field. I love how you like to spout off about all sorts of things, yet you are in actuallity are just a MOP’er. You also like to spout off about things you don’t know about, just like on the thread about IM-WI in which you were certain that no nails or tacks were spread thrown on the course and that no farm equipment was actually on the course. Both of those statements were proven false.
help me out, p-star . . .
XTERRA has banned dropped bar bikes because ttn is a MOP tri-head who suggested much of the ballyhoo over the tractor on the road in wisconsin might have been overstated.
is that it?
Hello,
I don’t know why the rule is in place, but I can give a possible explanation that hasn’t been brought up yet. Safety. Tris of all kinds are attracting more and more casual athletes. I did one Xterra years ago on a very technical course. Their were all sorts of bikes including some Wal-mart specials. One giuy didn’t have a helmet. At least a mountainbike only rule would eliminate the casual entrant who thinks a “trail” is a typical railtrail and a city or hybrid bike will be fine.
Styrrell
No. It’s more likely they banned dropped bar bikes in an effort to further differentiate themselves from “regular” triathlons. Whatever you may think of Xterra, they have done a phenomenal job of marketing their brand and extending it beyond the races - truck, wetsuit, clothing, gear, etc. All of their tight control over what is allowed at their races is partially part of that marketing effort. And please, you are no tri-head - replace tri with dick and you’d be much more correct.
uhhhhhhhh, p-star. you know, that is more or less what i said. they did it for marketing/image reasons. image, mostly.
the safety reason is plausible, except that city bikes and hybrids are still allowed, i believe.
anyway man, sorry to upset your little boat with opinions/ideas/discussions that are, you know - challenging in nature. in the future i will stick to just posting about how cool cervelo’s and professional bike fittings are. or maybe like you i will just cut and paste pablum from the corporate website - great time saver, that ! thanks for the heads up!!!
By the way how is your sister doing?