cyclocross

john74

i intend to do some audax rides and a bit of touring, the touring would probably involve a little off road such as canal tow paths and fire roads and glass strewn cycle paths.
i was thinking in getting a cyclocross bike for the versitility of it , is this a good idea? or any suggestions would be welcome.

vernonlevy

john74 wrote:

i intend to do some audax rides and a bit of touring, the touring would probably involve a little off road such as canal tow paths and fire roads and glass strewn cycle paths.
i was thinking in getting a cyclocross bike for the versitility of it , is this a good idea? or any suggestions would be welcome.

Dawes Galaxy. I've done everything that you've described:

C2C + Walney to Wear including old railway track beds, LEJOG, JOGLE, Channel to the Med, 5000km worth of Audaxes plus lots of utility rides with no problems.

Cyclocross bikes might not have triple chain rings offering you the lower gears that fully loaded touring might need.

I see quite a few Dawes: Galaxies, Super Galaxies and Ultra Galaxies on Audaxe rides along with the ubiquetous Mercians.

pjm-84

i was thinking in getting a cyclocross bike for the versitility of it , is this a good idea?

Make sure you buy one with water bottle bosses. I didn't. I don't find the brakes that good for the road either although the current Koolstop pads are not too bad. (Should be great based on the size of them)

vernonlevy

john74 wrote:

i intend to do some audax rides and a bit of touring, the touring would probably involve a little off road such as canal tow paths and fire roads and glass strewn cycle paths.
i was thinking in getting a cyclocross bike for the versitility of it , is this a good idea? or any suggestions would be welcome.

Make sure that there's rack mounting points too definitely at the rear and preferably on the forks too.

HillheadHornet

Specialized Tricross Sport has been great to me and handled a fully loaded bike France Coast to Coast last summer, pictures below...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/10867118@N07/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/8197501@N04

I had 3 broken spokes on the Coast to Coast but that all to report

Great bike for road riding, commuting and touring

Changed the tyres to Nimbus Armadillos (28s) now using Cont Ultra Gatorskins for commuting (25s)

Fantastic bike

cheers

Alan

jpembroke

Considering you want a bike for touring and audax then - and call me old fashioned - I really think you should consider a touring/audax bike. It seems that cyclocross bikes have suddenly become fashionable and that many cyclists are buying them when there are may more appropriate bikes on the market. Some things to consider if you are thinking of buying a CX bike:

1) Cross frames have shorter top tubes than their road equivalents
2) They often do not have bottle cage, mudguard, or rack mounts
3) they have steeper seat tube and shallower head tube angles, which does not necessarily make for a comfortable long distance bike
4) There may be no triple option (unless you build your own)

Basically, 'cross bikes are designed for racing, not touring. I think you should look at a Dawes Galaxy. It may not be as cool looking but it'd be much better suited to the riding you want to do.

Stuck on a Giant

John, time to wind a few people up How old are you, or how old do you feel?
Old - get the Galaxy/Thorn/Roberts etc
Young - go for a cyclocross such as the Tricross.

I've decided that's the one for me, I'll get some knobblies and ride the local tracks on it once it dries out a bit as well as touring on it. If your touring in Outer Mongolia the 'steel can be repaired anywhere' argument may be valid, but otherwise I wouldn't be swayed by it.