Ridley have announced a brand new version of their X-Night cyclocross bike. They claim it's 500g lighter than the current model, putting it at 7.4kg.
The new X-Night has been raced by Belgians Kevin Pauwels and Klaas Vantornout for the last month and they've been impressed. Vantornout recently rode it to victory in the Belgian national cyclocross championships, beating a number of more favoured riders.
Ridley say that they've adopted technology used in their Helium SL road frames to achieve the weight loss on the X-Night: the 1.5kg frameset (1kg frame 500g fork) is 350g lighter than the previous version, while they claim a further 150g is saved from the bike by internal cable routing. The main benefits of having a lighter bike in cyclocross are two-fold: it's quicker to accelerate and it's easier to shoulder the bike when running.
The frame geometry has been tweaked, with the bottom bracket and head tube being lowered by 3mm as well as being stiffened up. The rear end has been modified to reduce mud buildup, often a problem in 'cross.
The new Ridley X-Night will be in action again at this weekend's world championships in Louisville, USA. It will be available through dealers from May 2013 with the frameset priced at €2499. For more information see www.ridley-bikes.com.
We love the rainbow stripes underneath