CX race bike as a multi use road bike?
Discussion
I've seen a Cube Cross Race SL recently that I like the look of.
Sturdy, light, good wheels etc.
I was also looking at gravel bikes (steel 853 Niner or Ti etc) but I hate lumpen heavy bikes having owned a Genesis Equilibrium, I liked it but never loved its slothlikeness.
I also want to go on the odd rough track.
Experiences?
Sturdy, light, good wheels etc.
I was also looking at gravel bikes (steel 853 Niner or Ti etc) but I hate lumpen heavy bikes having owned a Genesis Equilibrium, I liked it but never loved its slothlikeness.
I also want to go on the odd rough track.
Experiences?
I've had a Planet-X XLS carbon crosser as my winter bike for four years or so. It works just fine and with a wheel swap and the guards off it's been good on a few 'gravel' rides, too.
The only cyclocross-related features that have ever bothered me are the toe overlap with guards fitted and the top-pull front mech cable routing, which meant that finding a front mech was a very slight faff when I built it.
The only cyclocross-related features that have ever bothered me are the toe overlap with guards fitted and the top-pull front mech cable routing, which meant that finding a front mech was a very slight faff when I built it.
I had a hardcore CX bike a few years ago and it was brutal
An absolute weapon over rough ground for up to an hour but more than that and I just felt beaten up
In contrast I bought a gravel bike last year
Its waaaaay slower than the crosser but just so much nicer and more comfortable
In fact with a set of slicks Ive happily been riding it for 4-5h at a time on the road
Cheers
My cx bike is great on the road with appropriate tyres. Not noticeably slower than my road bike.
42 chainset with 11-42 cassette will going up hills at 5-6mph and spins out at about 28-29mph, I doubt many people on here could spin that out on the flat. Much faster it’s usually down to gravity anyway ;-)
42 chainset with 11-42 cassette will going up hills at 5-6mph and spins out at about 28-29mph, I doubt many people on here could spin that out on the flat. Much faster it’s usually down to gravity anyway ;-)
I have a 1 x 11, 44t by 10 - 42, I use it on the roads up everything Devon has to offer, I have no issues with it. If you're racing or after the perfect cadence you may get frustrated. It's a personal thing though, some don't like it.
To add, that gives me the same top and bottom gear as my 2x11, but obviously not every gear in-between.
To add, that gives me the same top and bottom gear as my 2x11, but obviously not every gear in-between.
IMO a cross bike makes a good 'both' bike, as does 'gravel' with gearing caveats.
Used to run a crosslight, was great on road with slick/chunky sets of tyres that got nicked. At the time I had a S2 as a roadbike.
Now running an alloy topstone in the same mode.
Got a bit over the S2, was great for attacking rides up to about 3hrs, going hard. Beyond that it started to get a bit tedious/painful. I was finding I'd rather ride the crosslight on bigger slicks.
Post crosslight being nicked, I got a topstone and sold the S2. I race on a TT, so the S2 had become the bike I never rode.
Crosslight was a 'cx' - bit longer/lower and faster steering.
Topstone is 'gravel' - bit taller, slower steering.
Both finished up ~1.5kg heavier than my S2 (alloy vs carbon, plus stuff). I'm 15kg overweight, so yeah, whatever..
Both are equivalent. The topstone 'feels' slower because it's a bit lazy limo rather than twitchy. Reality is they go the same speed, particularly given the big ass windbreak on top is sitting in pretty much the same position (stem is slammed on the topstone, was quite up on the crosslight).
Both 'feel' slower than the S2. They are, but it's marginal - Subjectively a lot, actually a little. Bit less accelleration, bit heavier, but then I'm comfortable, find it less onerous to sit on and so ride more. Go figure.
The gearing caveat is that (IMO) 1x is not good for a bike with significant road use. All mine are 2x with 50/34 and a big cassette on the rough wheels, something smaller on the slicks. Proponents will throw you all the figures about what speed you spin out at, etc.. but personally a) the jumps suck and b) the range just isn't there, especially at the top end. I would suggest that there's good reason why you don't find 1x on many road bikes..
Used to run a crosslight, was great on road with slick/chunky sets of tyres that got nicked. At the time I had a S2 as a roadbike.
Now running an alloy topstone in the same mode.
Got a bit over the S2, was great for attacking rides up to about 3hrs, going hard. Beyond that it started to get a bit tedious/painful. I was finding I'd rather ride the crosslight on bigger slicks.
Post crosslight being nicked, I got a topstone and sold the S2. I race on a TT, so the S2 had become the bike I never rode.
Crosslight was a 'cx' - bit longer/lower and faster steering.
Topstone is 'gravel' - bit taller, slower steering.
Both finished up ~1.5kg heavier than my S2 (alloy vs carbon, plus stuff). I'm 15kg overweight, so yeah, whatever..
Both are equivalent. The topstone 'feels' slower because it's a bit lazy limo rather than twitchy. Reality is they go the same speed, particularly given the big ass windbreak on top is sitting in pretty much the same position (stem is slammed on the topstone, was quite up on the crosslight).
Both 'feel' slower than the S2. They are, but it's marginal - Subjectively a lot, actually a little. Bit less accelleration, bit heavier, but then I'm comfortable, find it less onerous to sit on and so ride more. Go figure.
The gearing caveat is that (IMO) 1x is not good for a bike with significant road use. All mine are 2x with 50/34 and a big cassette on the rough wheels, something smaller on the slicks. Proponents will throw you all the figures about what speed you spin out at, etc.. but personally a) the jumps suck and b) the range just isn't there, especially at the top end. I would suggest that there's good reason why you don't find 1x on many road bikes..
Some fair replies there.
I have a Cube Cross Race pro (48/36 double up front), which varies between winter road bike with 32mm slicks, or whack on the knobblies for bridleway commuting, some singletrack mucking about and the occasional CX race. It bridges the gap nicely between road bike and hardtail.
Toe overlap with mudguards is sometimes annoying but you learn to adapt your style in slow tight corners.
I have a Cube Cross Race pro (48/36 double up front), which varies between winter road bike with 32mm slicks, or whack on the knobblies for bridleway commuting, some singletrack mucking about and the occasional CX race. It bridges the gap nicely between road bike and hardtail.
Toe overlap with mudguards is sometimes annoying but you learn to adapt your style in slow tight corners.
IroningMan said:
I've had a Planet-X XLS carbon crosser as my winter bike for four years or so. It works just fine and with a wheel swap and the guards off it's been good on a few 'gravel' rides, too.
The only cyclocross-related features that have ever bothered me are the toe overlap with guards fitted and the top-pull front mech cable routing, which meant that finding a front mech was a very slight faff when I built it.
I used to commute on my XLS. Didn't find it that practical if I am honest. I could never really sort out guards and for a carbon bike, it was pretty heavy. Also, it features bottle cage bolts, so not even sure if that means its technically a CX race bike. The wheels that mine came with were quite poor but my usage was so low, I could never be bothered to buy a decent set of wheels for it. I imagine that it would have transformed its handling. The only cyclocross-related features that have ever bothered me are the toe overlap with guards fitted and the top-pull front mech cable routing, which meant that finding a front mech was a very slight faff when I built it.
However it was a reasonable commuter (Apart from the mu guard issue). Disc brakes in the winter were really good and mine was pretty low tech with 105 and mechanical discs.
Hugo Stiglitz said:
I've seen a Cube Cross Race SL recently that I like the look of.
Sturdy, light, good wheels etc.
I was also looking at gravel bikes (steel 853 Niner or Ti etc) but I hate lumpen heavy bikes having owned a Genesis Equilibrium, I liked it but never loved its slothlikeness.
I also want to go on the odd rough track.
Experiences?
I have this bike and love it. I had a Colnago World cup before and I like the Cube a lot more. I've been on decent long rides off road with it and even ride all my local trails that i ride on my bouncer. Its a comfy, forgiving bike off road and I commute on mine as I have 2 sets of wheels. Knobs for weekend and slicks for the week. Its not great on the road as its a 1x but Im not riding with anyone so its good for me.Sturdy, light, good wheels etc.
I was also looking at gravel bikes (steel 853 Niner or Ti etc) but I hate lumpen heavy bikes having owned a Genesis Equilibrium, I liked it but never loved its slothlikeness.
I also want to go on the odd rough track.
Experiences?
Fluffsri said:
I have this bike and love it. I had a Colnago World cup before and I like the Cube a lot more. I've been on decent long rides off road with it and even ride all my local trails that i ride on my bouncer. Its a comfy, forgiving bike off road and I commute on mine as I have 2 sets of wheels. Knobs for weekend and slicks for the week. Its not great on the road as its a 1x but Im not riding with anyone so its good for me.
What wheels are you running?It came with 28 G-Ones that'll be swapping out for bigger volume and I'm considering a lighter set of wheels with GP5000s too.
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