Review: HORST Engineering Cross Spikes
Stop me if you’ve heard this before: there’s a company with its roots in bicycling that wound its way to aviation pioneering. From a German bicycling factory, the HORST Engineering Company, produces high quality spikes for cyclocross, mountain, gravel, and adventure riding. Featuring four spike varieties, three for standard situations and one option for ice and snow, HORST Engineering spikes come in stainless steel or titanium. They come in three lengths with the ice and snow spike having a different shape.
The cycling industry is heavily connected. Having followed the Connecticut-basted Project Mayhem Cyclocross series, I was introduced to HORST Engineering. The Connecticut parcours require a little extra help due to its northerly location and cyclocross races’ proximity to winter on the calendar. That is, expect mud in sloppy or frozen form. It is here that HORST Engineer Cross Spikes began their mention. They would know a thing or two about Connecticut weather. HORST is based in East Hartford, CT.
I loaded the titanium HORST Engineering medium cross spikes in anticipation for a loamy run up the Pennsylvania Fox Hole for Sly Fox Cyclocross. Luckily I had taken the shoes out for field tests the day before. Unfortunately I would manage a DNS at SFCX, deflating my excitement to use aerospace titanium to propel me to a solid 19th place finish in the masters race. I wanted the satisfaction of gouging the earth, kicking my own claw marks up the side of the Fox Hole on the way to glory. SR-71 Blackbirds are made of titanium, so I should have roughly the same ability!
Instead I relied on a field test along a similar hill at Tohickon Middle School. The first test lay a baseline by running up the steep grassy hill using unaltered Shimano cross shoes. It went as expected: lots of searching and flailing and a duck-footed approach looking for any traction. Cross shoes are unarmed in the fore section for the most part; some aftermarket aerospace engineering become required weapons.
HORST Engineering produces four lengths of spikes. The short version (11 mm) is designed to be installed and forgotten about. These spikes are short enough to avoid damaging floors when walking, but protruded enough to bite into earth. The medium spikes (13.3 mm) are noticeable when walking around and require thoughtful steps. The large spikes (17.6 mm) are sabertooth additions for stabbing the ground with certainty in any attempt to locate aquifers. Finally the ice and snow spikes (also 17.6 mm) are tapered for piercing crusty ice and firm-packed snow. Given the daydreams to kick up the Fox Hole to glory, the medium spikes were purchased based on the need. Order placed, it was impressive to receive the spikes the next day. It provided a testing period prior to my target event.
The test came after spike installation. Within minutes, the spikes were mounted with the help of a wrench. (HORST Engineering sells their own installation tools, too.) A simple alignment with the hill and I tip-toed my way up the hill. The duck-footed strategy was abandoned for the grippy natural uphill gate. The spikes felt like they ripped the earth beneath me. I wasn’t so much as running as I was hastening the planet’s revolution. I felt connected with the terrain instead of reacting to it. Days later, when I withdrew from Sly Fox, I was crushed. I could not get the same feeling in competition on account of aerospace titanium cross spikes.
Made in East Hartford, CT, HORST Engineering offers a variety of ways to shop for spikes. Their spikes come in packs of four in either stainless steel or titanium. They offer all of the seasonal spikes in either the Pro Kit or Pro Vault. The Pro Kit comes with short, medium, and long spikes, a spike wrench, locking compound, and a plastic storage box. The Pro Vault comes with short, medium, and long spikes, as well as a wrench, hex key, locking compound, and a convenient locking storage.
I may not have been able to put the Cross Spikes to their intended use, but that won’t deter me. The HORST Engineering spikes are still mounted. Perhaps some impromptu cyclocross practice will promote the demand on the medium length spikes. The first goal for next year is to summit the Fox Hole at Sly Fox Cyclocross atop the bike. If getting to the zenith astride the trusty steed looks doubtful even for a moment, look for the purposeful dismount so I may stab at the steep hillside and begin the upward run knowing HORST Engineering Cross Spikes are carrying me upward. Maybe it won’t be a top twenty result in the masters race; maybe it will be a top ten supplied by titanium as if I flew to the finish like a pilot.
