Cyclocross bike - a good half way house?
Discussion
Well with the laddy now up and pedalling on his Islabike I keep thinking it's time to get my bike upgraded. I currently have an old 70's Peugeot Road bike that I loved but is now in poor condition as it's stood in a damp garage for a while and a 80's Trek 830 Mountain bike that I used for a few C2C and similar events but it's a ton weight. I've always been a road bike man really but if I'm going out with my son I really think a mountain bike would be more suited as we're more likely to be on cycle tracks rather than the road.
So after that long winded ramble, would a Cyclocross bike be a good compromise for me, out with him or out on the road by myself. I'm not a racer, just used to like a 40 or 50 mile run out.
So after that long winded ramble, would a Cyclocross bike be a good compromise for me, out with him or out on the road by myself. I'm not a racer, just used to like a 40 or 50 mile run out.
Cyclocross bike sounds ideal, they are more capable than some people give them credit for, just need the right tyres with the right pressures and most places are rideable. Used to use mine with slicks for road training and a proper set of cross tyres for racing. Think of them as the swiss army knife of bikes, it's not going to be as good as a carving knife, but it will chop it into chunks of a fashion.
I did something similar this year. I bought a CX bike (Trek Crockett) and a second set of wheels. It is used as my n+2 bike, for commuting duties, winter rides in he wet and off-road. BW aware thought that once you go to the dark side there is no going back. To be honest my mountain bike (n+3) hardly gets used at all now.
The only issue i have is that as the CX bike is disc and the wheel sets are from two different manufacturers, I have to re-align the brakes every time I change wheel sets. No big issue.
The only issue i have is that as the CX bike is disc and the wheel sets are from two different manufacturers, I have to re-align the brakes every time I change wheel sets. No big issue.
cross bikes are great - have used a 'dale CX9 for the last 4 / 5 years to commute on, and have just bought a new, disc equipped cross bike to replace it now that they're available with hydro discs! Got to get around to sticking my cx9 on fleebay at some point over the next couple of weeks!
Rolls said:
cross bikes are great - have used a 'dale CX9 for the last 4 / 5 years to commute on, and have just bought a new, disc equipped cross bike to replace it now that they're available with hydro discs! Got to get around to sticking my cx9 on fleebay at some point over the next couple of weeks!
What size is the 'dale? Might know someone lookingSkyedriver said:
About the only thing worth saving on the old Peugeot is the Mavic wheels, so there's my second set....
Really? What mavic wheels are they? What cassette? As others have said if you go disc brakes then they're no good.You can pick up good spare wheelsets on ebay for very little.
Not sure what others do but my spare wheelsets run the same cassette or at least closely matched.
Makes for less hassle.
There's nothing at all wrong with a CX bike for what you want. I have the current Boardman CX Team; with slicks on I commute on it, and did Ride London on it, with knobblies I take it splattering around the muddy bits of Epping Forest. As all-bikes-to-all-people it's pretty damn good. For roads, canal towpaths and so on a CX is absolutely fine - they might look like road bikes but you really won't break one.
Two caveats though: geometry and gearing. Firstly, though the angles on mine are identical to my old CAAD8 road bike and so the pedalling position is the same, the bottom bracket is higher off the ground. This means you need to be a little bit more careful when putting a foot down at traffic lights and other stops, because the ground's further away, especially when on knobblies. It's a minor thing but that extra couple of centimetres has nearly caught me out a couple of times, especially when stopping on a sloped junction or on the side of a hill, and in general the raised centre of mass affects how stable you are.
Secondly, the smallest gear on mine is a 34x32. For a road bike, that's really spinny and you can get up absolutely anything as long as you don't fall over sideways. For a mountain bike that's not very low at all, so when 'properly' off road you'll find yourself walking up quite a few slopes, especially when slippery. In CX races you simply run up those hills carrying the bike, but unless you're CX training who wants to be running up a hill?
Neither of these things will affect what you're planning on using it for though. Buy one and enjoy it - or check out 'adventure' bikes like the Specialized Diverge, the Giant Revolt, or the Pinnacle Arkose range.
Two caveats though: geometry and gearing. Firstly, though the angles on mine are identical to my old CAAD8 road bike and so the pedalling position is the same, the bottom bracket is higher off the ground. This means you need to be a little bit more careful when putting a foot down at traffic lights and other stops, because the ground's further away, especially when on knobblies. It's a minor thing but that extra couple of centimetres has nearly caught me out a couple of times, especially when stopping on a sloped junction or on the side of a hill, and in general the raised centre of mass affects how stable you are.
Secondly, the smallest gear on mine is a 34x32. For a road bike, that's really spinny and you can get up absolutely anything as long as you don't fall over sideways. For a mountain bike that's not very low at all, so when 'properly' off road you'll find yourself walking up quite a few slopes, especially when slippery. In CX races you simply run up those hills carrying the bike, but unless you're CX training who wants to be running up a hill?
Neither of these things will affect what you're planning on using it for though. Buy one and enjoy it - or check out 'adventure' bikes like the Specialized Diverge, the Giant Revolt, or the Pinnacle Arkose range.
It'll be fine.
Much like how mountain bikes were rather oversold for years as the solution to almost every cycling need, it felt like for a while every drop-barred bike had to be a twitchy, racey thing with 23mm tyres and fag-paper clearances. It's fine if you're actually racing but so few of them do. Likewise the initial CX fad was also selling bikes intended to be raced around a field for an hour and no more. It's good to see a bit of variety in the mainstream ranges now to cover the people who want a bit of comfort and brakes that work properly and a dry arse when they get home, without needing to buy a beardy touring bike with bar-end shifters.
Anything off-road you'd send a young kid around will be fine on a CX / gravel type bike too. Wouldn't bother with spare wheels, switching tyres is a <5min job with a bit of practice.
Much like how mountain bikes were rather oversold for years as the solution to almost every cycling need, it felt like for a while every drop-barred bike had to be a twitchy, racey thing with 23mm tyres and fag-paper clearances. It's fine if you're actually racing but so few of them do. Likewise the initial CX fad was also selling bikes intended to be raced around a field for an hour and no more. It's good to see a bit of variety in the mainstream ranges now to cover the people who want a bit of comfort and brakes that work properly and a dry arse when they get home, without needing to buy a beardy touring bike with bar-end shifters.
Anything off-road you'd send a young kid around will be fine on a CX / gravel type bike too. Wouldn't bother with spare wheels, switching tyres is a <5min job with a bit of practice.
gazza285 said:
You mean for the 50 years before it was seen as mainstream?
I mean for them appearing in high-street bike shops and in the ranges of traditionally road and/or MTB manufacturers. The first "CX" bikes to appear in many of those ranges tended to be race bikes - now the term seems to be stuck on anything drop-barred with discs.
Check the geometry as a few are shorter and have more aggressive angles. Personally I'd have a standard road bike with 28c tyres. It'll be faster most places you actually use it and cope with canal paths etc. I opted for a hardtail over CX as the gearing wasn't low enough for off road and when it got rough it was a handful. There was always an issue with mud clearance and I had a puncture every ride when when using bridleways. IMO no such thing as a do everything bike, pick one that covers the sort of riding you're into and consider the comfort etc.
Edited by anonymous-user on Tuesday 30th December 11:08
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