I sure am enjoying it Blakey and building her up although setting up those TRP brakes for the first time brought out all new levels of swearing from me! They are great brakes to use once you get used to them. They have had a couple of different setups to get them spot on but work well now. The Kinlin rims from Dan Hale work well on the crossbike as well and were not hideously expensive compared to some of the bits on her.
Cheers
Keir
Ah canti brakes and the frustration of dialling them in… 
For those watching at home - ebay has some good bikes popping up now that the US race season has pretty much finished. a lot of floor stock and some lightly used race rigs.
if you fit a 50-54 TT you are in the best position.
i’ve seen a few deals on some of the shop sites as well.
links?
So after some research i’m thinking these specs are sounding like what I need. I’m still not 100% on the finer things like BB height & wheelbase. I guess these can be worked out later.
Head angle 70-72*
Seat Angle 72-73*
Chainstay 43cm
I ride a 61cm road frame so I’m thinking maybe of 59.5 ST and a 59.5 TT ( or the same as rd bike) Is this Big enough? Then a long head tube with slightly rising Top tube to have the front end up a bit higher then my roady. But not sure how long to make it. Might need to find some carbon fork specs to work this out… Frame is going to be Columbus Max with 1 1/8 Head tube so I dont think the Max Fork Crown is wide enough to fit CX tires. What pre made forks would anyone suggest?
go the same size as your roadie for the TT (or very close), the more HT angle you have the more aggressive the bike is likely to feel which will be better for racing, but wont be as good for long hauls where you will have sections of wanting to take it easy.
the idea of a slightly sloping TT is pretty common and has some logic behind it, even more so given your positioning needs.
the BB height is one of the more contentious issues in CX frame building. i like the logic for a lower BB, and have really enjoyed the feeling my basso gives on the dirt with its low-slung BB. however my new frame has a more ‘classic’ CX BB height and im keen to see how that feels.
i’m not sure MAX is the best material for a CX frame. my understanding is that it dents pretty easily and one given with a cross frame is that it will hit the ground/trees, often at speed. didnt chris b dent his locking up against a post? i m pretty sure i got warned about how thin the tubing was when i got mine. i know it looks sweet, but the frame will take a beating and having something like a bar slap (say after washing out on a loose corner ) could put a permanent mark on your nice frame.
skip the custom fork and get an alphaQ or easton fork. both have high quality cross forks that are race proven, or pull out the big guns and get a wound-up (which by all reports are wicked tough and look cool).
i’d also make sure that the framebuilder is given some leeway to interpret your design/measurements. a frame is more than the sum of its measurements.
it should be noted that all of the above are my opinions and may not reflect the truth for others, or others experiences, aka YMMV.
I’ve had two Max frames. One is still my Roady. The amount of times I’ve bar slapped it washing or changing tires is too many to count on both hands and no dints… Chris was talking about a frame he had that dinted easily so not sure what was happening there…
I’ve ordr the frame ste form Italy. If only MAX OR was still around. This frame is race bike focused. The plan is to beat you Nick at the next DD
Oh Just saw this… It a mountain bike / commuter but would make an awesome CX bike
hrmm i have been concidering this, i just feel like i should treat myself to somthing newer as im only letting my self have one more bike till 2012
last week I built up and rode a 2011 Cannondale CAADX 5 complete, specced with 105 running gear, FSA Gossamer cranks, C’dale UltraX carbon forks, Maddux wheelset (a little heavy, but eyeletted and look to be tough as) etc…
These things feel awesome to ride and had everyone in the shop pretty turned on. Glad to see that they come with front and rear fender mounts and rear rackmounts to keep provision for different riding needs covered. Like several other brands for 2011, prices have been wound back across the board, seeing this bike retail for $1900.
I own a CAAD9 roadie and this thing felt as if my roadbike had watched some UFC drank a load of energy drinks and was ready to go out and make some trails it’s bitch.
endorsed.
Hey Sime - did you go same size as your roadie or one smaller?
This bike was for a customer, not myself… and was a 56cm frame. I ride a 56cm CAAD9 and could have probably gone a 58cm had it not been that I needed a shorter reach.
The CAADX in 56 was about 10-15mm taller than the CAAD9 in standover height and fitted me like a glove, larger tyres are most likely a contributing factor to standover height.
Pretty sure Cannondales website has frame geometries up there so you can compare between the models
Nice looking ride Sime.