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Edwin Bull gets quoted on Cycling News discussing disc breaks for cross…..

“In most conditions disc brakes are great – they offer great control and great feel, and are obviously the future, However if looking to tackle a hardcore full season of racing in all conditions – without a pit crew and with equipment currently available – I advise people to stick with cantis for now.

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Erica Allar capped off her stellar season in the US criterium circuit by winning the USA CRITS series finale, the Tour of Vail, to secure the overall victory in the nine-race series and the team overall for her RideClean/PatentIt.com squad.

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“I recommend the Gin & Trombones to any rider seeking a ‘cross bike with versatility for racing, light-duty trail riding, and commuting. This bike has opened my eyes to the world of disc cyclocross bikes. After riding a ‘cross bike designed specifically for discs, I’ll never go back to canti’s.”

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“Some ­’cross bikes have bosses for bottle cages and some don’t. It may seem like a minor point of frame design—or even an odd omission—but to those with experience in the discipline, it’s a key distinction. A ’cross bike without those bosses—like the Full Tilt Boogie, built by New-Jersey based Van Dessel—is a bike that’s about racing without compromise.”

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“The Van Dessel Full Tilt Boogie is the purebred of this trio of bikes. Its carbon frame and fork have large cross section tubing that deliver a stiff ride, tempered only by the plush tubulars that Van Dessel supplied with the bike. The loud and proud Belgian colors of the FTB look great, even if the bike is built in Asia and designed in New Jersey. But what better inspiration than the Mecca of cyclocross?
Our test model came without water bottle cage bosses, though they can be added when ordering the bike. The aggres¬sive geometry of the FTB, coupled with the tapered and oversized bottom bracket area, encouraged sprinting out of corners and late braking into them. The TRP EuroX brakes have great adjustability and work sufficiently for race applications.
The shape of the top tube, flat on top and a rounded V-shape underneath, made suitcasing the bike comfortable. The top tube routing for the rear brake and rear derailleur make good sense, keeping them away from mud. So too does the down tube routing for the front derailleur, as pulleys rarely work well.The mix of SRAM Red and Force work as you’d expect, quite well. The aluminum tubular Revolution
wheels have a wide gluing surface and machined brak¬ing surfaces. All said, the bike is extremely well executed. — NICK LEGAN”

“The Rivet is a full carbon fiber frameset that utilizes a state-of-the-art, tube-to-tube wrapping technique that allows Van Dessel to create a lighter, stronger frame. The oversized down and top tubes combined with the slightly bowed-out chainstays are designed to create a stiff yet comfortable ride. The Rivet was one of the first frames to be available with a BB30 bottom bracket shell and 1.5-inch lower headset bearing.”

“The Gin and Trombones has been Van Dessel’s flagship bike for many years, only this season being dethroned by the full carbon Full Tilt Boogie. Over the seasons, the frame has undergone many minor adjustments as pro racers such as Adam Myerson and Adam McGrath gave race-tested feedback. “We work with a lot of riders, and take their input very seriously,” said Edwin. “Adam Myerson had a lot to do with the original geometry and design, and it has just evolved from there. Geometry is mostly unchanged, but things such as the tapered headtube, tube shapes, etc. continue to be tweaked.” What we have today is a frame whose geometry has been fairly solidified over the past few seasons, with new additions – such as last year’s switch to BB30 – continuing to add improvements.”

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“Van Dessel have a cult following, especially when it comes to American cyclo-cross. Proprietor Edwin Bull has Belgian ancestry, and he calls on this to successfully meld an old-world aesthetic with a new-school ‘cross geometry that works well on US courses.

The Full Tilt Boogie is the brand’s latest cyclo-cross flagship, notable for its tube-to-tube carbon construction. It proved fast, comfortable, light (17.08lb) and durable, and we enjoyed our time on it. ”

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From the VeloNews
Cyclocross Buyer’s Guide:
Van Dessel Full Tilt Boogie – $1,999 frameset, $3,999 with SRAM Force build
The Full Tilt Boogie takes a number of design cues from its metallic brother, the Gin & Trombones, rehashing them into a full-carbon, no compromise ‘cross racing machine. The Boogie is race-focused, leaving off pleasure-riding niceties like bottle cage mounts, and including a BB30 bottom bracket, tapered 1-1/8” to 1.5” head tube, and reinforced top tube to prevent handlebar induced cracking when things go awry. The Boogie Rival build includes a matching set of yellow TRP EuroX brakes, Vittoria XM tubulars, and an FSA cockpit.

Cyclocross Magazine: Full Tilt Boogie, First Impresions

Every once in a while a new bike comes along that really stands out from the crowd. With cyclocross growing in popularity, it seems new cyclocross bikes are introduced every quarter, making it hard to stand out. Cyclocross Magazine has one of the first production all-carbon Full Tilt Boogie’s from Van Dessel, and it’s one of the true show stoppers.

After two years in development with input from Van Dessel’s sponsored riders Adam Myerson and Jeff Bahnson, the Full Tilt Boogie has all the industry buzz items: tapered tall headtube with a 1.5 inch bottom race, low 7cm bottom bracket drop and BB30. The frame weight is reported to be 1250 grams with tube walls reinforced for durability in areas that may receive impact and tube diameters designed to tune the ride to achieve the dichotomy of stiffness and compliance. The Full Tilt Boogie is conceived and designed as an all-out race bike, with no water bottle bosses (a minor point of contention for me) and full cable housing from the top tube to the rear derailleur to maintain shift performance despite wet or gritty conditions.

In our full review, we will cover all the details, but suffice it to say, my initial impression is that the total package, including the carbon frame, equipped with SRAM Force, come together to form a really nice ride. Relatively light out of the box with a curb weight around 17.5 pounds, this bike squirts forward with every pedal stroke and corners hard without a quirk, yet has a nice smoothness and is without fork chatter.

The front derailleur cable pass-through is a straight shot lined with a metal tube © Cliff Lee
The attention to detail is evident with a front derailleur cable route run very close along the downtube, so when the frame is lifted, fingers don’t snag the cable. That same front derailleur cable passes through the frame just behind the large BB30. The pass-through is a straight shot lined with a metal tube. The large fork crown is pierced and again lined with a metal sleeve so you can mount a crown mounted cable hanger if you like that sort of thing – a long bolt will be required since it is 6cm from the front to the back of the crown.

Tire clearance is adequate for up to a (nominal) 35C tire, not a problem in this age of 32C maximum UCI limits! The Full Tilt Boogie comes as a frameset or as a complete bike with your choice of Shimano, SRAM or Campagnolo and a set of tubular wheels with Vittoria XM tires. As a complete bike, a set of custom-painted “Flanders yellow” TRP EuroX brakes is included.

After only a couple of weeks’ worth of riding, it’s apparent to me that the Full Tilt Boogie deserves to be on the short list of must-ride bikes – it has all the elements of the perfect ’cross bike. We’ll see as the season begins and the miles pile on. Stay tuned for our full review.