Spin In The Mud

This summer, when I changed the component group on the Tarmac from 105 to Force, I took the crank off the CX bike and put an S-900 crank on there instead.  The S-900 is a 130mm BCD crank, so the smallest chainring I could get away with was a 38T.  I didn't mind it, especially on the road, until about a month ago when I went for a cross ride in pretty muddy conditions.
When I built up the Allez, I decided that if I was going to have a BB30 capable frame, that I wanted a BB30 crank as well.  I ordered a 110mm BCD Force BB30 crank instead of using the threaded crank I already had.  While not the best move financially, the amount of weight saved, but more importantly, the stiffness from using the BB30 crank has been well worth it.  It also helps that I made money on the Tarmac sale, even after buying the Allez and crank.

Just sitting in a bag in my hallway, the poor little Force crank was lonely and neglected.  I though about selling it, but I decided to hold onto it just incase.  I'm really glad I did, because the 38T in the mud was rough.  Not impossible, but not preferable either.  More history, when I ordered the BB30 crank, I ordered the CX version with 46/36T chainrings.  Then I took the 46T off and put on the 50T Red ring from the BSA crank and I haven't been happier on the Allez.  I love that gearing combination.  Ideally, I would like to run a 46/36T on the Guru, but the 34T has been used five times and I don't want to spend any money this time.  I'm just going to use what I have and when they wear out, replace them with Praxis Works rings.  That's assuming PW gets their 46/36T rings to market by then.

Long story short, I put the BSA Force crank on the cross bike today and wiped off as much of the dried mud as I could.  I also toed in the front brakes, and tried to in the rear, but the rear only allows me to toe them out.  I wasn't getting any noise in the dry, but in wet conditions, they barked a little.  I'm going out for a planned 45mile CX ride tomorrow, so I'll report back how everything worked.  It's going to be 51* and sunny, but it rained yesterday, so there should still be some wet sports.