As part of the American Classic Pro Cyclocross Team, Robert Marion is one of the few riders in the start gate that won’t need a balaclava thanks to his prodigious red beard. That makes him easy to spot, which’ll help because his “A” bike’s light gray paint scheme is likely to be lost against the snowy backdrop of the 2017 USA Cycling CX National Championship course here in Hartford, Connecticut. Check out the video run through with Robert and close up pics, below…
Velo supplies the saddle and gel bar tape. The saddle is their newer Angel series, which uses a long central cutout and flexible shell to keep it comfortable. On top of all that, they can be as light as 120g or less! The American Classic post is worth a closer look here.
Rotor 3D+ with InPower spindle-based power meter tells Robert how many watts he’s pumping into the oval chainrings.
The Problem Solvers ChainSpy keeps the KMC chain from being a problem if things get too rowdy. The design allows adjustment in height, lateral position tilt and, unless you’re using the direct mount version, yaw.
He removed the silencer rings from a current SRAM Red cassette to improve mud clearance and save weight over their other cassette options.
The Xpedo CX pedals have a bit of a platform over the spindle but are still very minimal and wide open for mud evacuation. They’re weighted to rest at an entry-friendly angle as much as possible.
American Classic provides the wheels, which are shod with those prototype Vittoria tubulars. Robert had really, really good things to say about them and was planning to run the file tread if the snow stayed deep. That sounds counterintuitive, but the transition and side knobs would help in cornering, and the octagonal center nubs would grab onto the frozen ground as they slice through the snow. It’s shown here with the intermediate tread pattern, but they had wheels with all three of the new treads glued up, even some rears with tires mounted in either direction. Because choice is good.
Huge thanks to Robert for coming out of his nice, warm trailer to talk bikes with us!
