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Racy New Ridley X-Night CX Bike Sheds 500g, Adds Disc Brakes

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It’s less than a week before CX Worlds in Louisvile, KY, and Ridley has just taken the wraps off their all new X-Night carbon crosser. The prototype was underneath Klaas Vantornout as he rode his way to become the new Belgian CX Champion, one of 3 victories Klaas has tallied on the bike.

With 7 of the last 11 World Champions of Cyclocross winning on a Ridley, there is no question they are deeply rooted in cross. Continuing that heritage, the X-night, their flagship cross bike will receive a major overhaul for 2013. Namely – a new monocoque frame devoid of a seat mast, modernized geometry, and disc brakes.

Want more? Find it after the break…

While all of the pictures circulating the web are of the cantilever brake equipped X-Night, we’re told by Ridley that there will be two complete bikes available – an Ultegra with mechanical disc model, and a yet to be named hydraulic disc version. As for the Cantis? If you want them, you’ll have to settle for a frameset. When asked about the specifics for the disc framesets, we learned that the fork will be very similar to the fork on the 2013 X-Fire Disc, and the rear brake caliper will be tucked in between the chain and seat stays unlike the external caliper on the X-Fire.

Even though a lot of the Euros are still relying on cantis to slow them down, Ridley feels that for the US market, that ship has sailed. Ridley is reportedly already receiving huge pre-orders of the new bike even though the sales program has only been available to dealers for four days (as of this posting). These of course are orders for the bikes to be delivered in time for the 2013-2014 cross season, and Ridley is expecting a late June/early July delivery to dealers.

As mentioned, the new X-Night is a whopping 500g lighter than the previous version,with the frame itself accounting for 350 of those grams. With the addition of internal cable routing for mechanical and electronic shifting systems, the total weight loss pushed 500g. One technicality with that number is that the new frame no longer has a seat mast – so the seat post isn’t figured into the frame weight any more. Even so, there are a lot of posts under 500g.

About that post, while seatmasts offer the ultimate in stiffness and integration, for many consumers it decreases the ease of use and introduces a whole new set of complications. Ridley’s switch to a 27.2 post (smaller than their other bikes), is two fold: ease of use and increasing compliance while seated. Riders can easily pack their bike to travel, make easy adjustments, not have to worry about cutting it, and it results in a smoother ride. Seems like a win?

The real weight savings in the frame comes from the switch from a tube to tube construction to a full monocoque frame. While the T2T frames made creating custom geometries for their racers easier, it required larger tubes with increased carbon wrap around the joints. The monocoque frames offer increased control of the carbon layup and results in an extremely stiff frame, especially for its weight.

Ridley confirmed that the disc frames required a tremendous difference in carbon engineering to adapt to the change in brakes, and will use a different layup, with the same tonnage of carbon but reworked to keep everything as stiff as possible.

Another big change for the X-Night is the transitioning from the typical European CX geometry to a more modern road like geometry to better suit the faster, less technical courses becoming popular for spectators. The idea was to create a more middle of the road bike as far as handling that could still handle the tight technical courses but also excelled with new school tracks.

As part of the change, the head tubes have been shortened by 1.5mm to 1.8mm across the line. Interesting fact – according to Ridley’s Brand Manager Dana Carson, Ridley was the first company to produce a tapered 1.5 to 1-1/8″ fork, so no surprise that the X-Night’s fork remains so.

The shift cabling is run internally through the downtube, with what looks like cable stops at the frame, meaning a bare cable is run through the frame and exits just in front of the BB.

The X- night will accept a PF30 bottom bracket that is situated in a stiffened down tube junction. Going along with the change in geometry, the bottom bracket will be about 3mm lower across the board. Wheelbase is also shortened by 9mm, however the effective top tubes on each size will remain the same as the current X-Night.

Rather than a solid piece of housing as on the previous X-Night, the housing is split much more like a traditional road bike.

There you have it, we’ll try to get a peek while we’re down in Louisville!

 

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mark ifi
11 years ago

after the brake, huh?

Will
Will
11 years ago

heh. I see what they did there.

nate g
nate g
11 years ago

It seems like they’re taking a way a lot of the good stuff. Ridley has always sold themselves on the traditional Euro cross geometry, and now they’re ditching it for their top-o-the-line model…seems odd. Also, the full length has been working really well for all of the disc X-Fires I’ve worked on. These just seems to be pandering to the crowds using CX bikes for every type of riding, appealing more to those who want their CX bike and road bike to be the same thing. Disappointed.

Bayard
Bayard
11 years ago

Hey sport. Remember when I tried to order Ridleys and I didn’t listen to you about the cross bikes being one size down. I’m sorry

Lazy Spinner
Lazy Spinner
11 years ago

The geometry thing makes sense when you consider that the majority of CX courses are becoming glorified dirt crits.

I'm on a boat
I'm on a boat
11 years ago

cx courses designed like dirt crits are boring and lame.
Cross is about being able to drive your bike around trees, turns, twists and over anything. I’ve seen them dummy down courses more so in the last two years in the midwest.

Funny – it appears ridley usa is Shoving the disc bike down our throats.
Watch a UCI world cup cx race. See how many of those folks are running cx disc. the top 25 NONE.
I rode a crux on a local mtb trail last fall. Wacked the crank arms on every root and what not trying to pedal
around and through the trail.
Took my x-night – same trail – didn’t hit anything same pedaling effort. High BB helps this issue. I don’t want to coast-through turns because I can’t pedal, nor do I need disc brakes to slow me down.
You go ahead and keep using those brakes and coasting.
I want to pedal through everything up down and around and not slow down.

Off road is better
Off road is better
11 years ago

Dear “I’m on a Boat” – Regarding you comment of Ridley’s ramming disc brakes down our throats. How many bikes are sold to world cup racers vs the general pubic?! Of Course WC racers are going to hold out for the weight savings; they are about weight and winning at all costs. The advent of disc brakes on CX bikes is about improved performance and longevity. Ridley recognizes this and as the industry’s leading manufacturer seems to be doing what is best for the customer and the future of the market. Not simply catering to the racer.

gbn_ underscore
gbn_ underscore
6 years ago

yeah…

gbn_ underscore
gbn_ underscore
6 years ago

…gonnabuyIT!!!

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