Double dCROIS

Jim Cameron | October 2015

Earlier this year one of my best pals, Eoghan Maguire and I decided it was time for an ‘cross bike upgrade. Magsy had been stomping along to decent results on his Ridley X-Bow for the past few seasons all the while admiring the comparatively lightweight machine I’d been chasing him on (and even on the rare occasion beating him #theonlyracethatmatters); my CROIS 2012. 2015 was the year for a new weapon and I too was keen to have the disc brake version of my cyclocross race machine, the dCROIS.

Magsy and I share pretty much identical geometry with the exception of a few micro-adjustments in saddle height & setback, bar rotation and shifter position. This made the design and the ordering very easy; two of everything.

Both of us wanted to run 1 x 11 setups so the frame has been designed specifically for that setup removing unnecessary front derailleur ducting cable stops. A cyclocross specific race frame meant that we would also forego bottle cage holes. This all would lead to a slightly lighter build. Internal cable ducting would only be needed for the rear disc brake (DT > CS) and rear derailler (TT > SS). The brake cable (hose) routing was aligned specifically for a LHD (UK style) setup. I personally think this is idealistic for disc-brake setup and also for ‘cross if you dismount on the non-drive side. With the disc-brake on the non-drive side this is an easier route from the right hand shifter to brake caliper. If you dismount to the non-drive side you ideally want your left hand actuating your speed as you come to dismount using your rear brake; using your front brake could see you end up in a right fankle. [note – Magsy decided to go RHD,  I guess to embrace the €.]

No bottle cage holes also meant that I could adopt a new graphic layout with a single ‘albannach’ covering most of the upperside of the downtube. A wee #unicrois on the seat tube was a must to match the 2015 SRACX kit.

The build

Both Magsy’s and my dCROIS builds went something like this:

• SRAM Force 1 hydraulic disc brake groupset (42T (Magsy), 38T (Jim)),
• Light Bicycle 35mm carbon rims laced onto Hope Pro2 hubs (red (Magsy, purple (Jim)),
• Shoed up with Challenge Open Tubular Limus tyres,
• 3T Luteus fork nestled in with a Hope 2 up top, Hope E down below,
• Shimano XT PD-M780 pedals,
• Fizik Arione Vs saddle,
• 3T Pro finishing kit,
• Wrapped up with Lizards Skins DSP black tape, and
• Topped off with some (red (Magsy, purple (Jim)) Hope rotors, skewers, clamps, spacers & bolts.

A special thanks to my boy Euan Lindsay (t : @euancx | i : @euanlindsay), painter especiale at Shand Cycles who mixed, matched, basecoated, topcoated, masked, unicroised and lacquered up my 3T Luteus forks to match the purple Hope parts.

For more photies of Eoghan’s and Jim’s dCROIS have a swatch in these respective galleries – Eoghan’s dCROIS | Jim’s dCROIS

The name

dCROIS /krɔʃ/ pronounced cross – in English, cross.

The geometry

For those interested they were both a ’52’ dCROIS. Details on the geometry can be seen in the table below.