Genesis Croix de Fer

IanTrcp

For a variety of reasons I'm thinking about adding one of these to my (ahem) small collection. http://www.genesisbikes.co.uk/series/croix_de_fer

Has anyone here got one already? If so, is there sufficient clearance for mudguards? I'll change the tyres if necessary. And how do you find the bike generally? Anything I should be aware of?

ugo.santalucia

My next bike will definitively have disc brakes... I'm just waiting for the market to offer more options, at the moment there is very little. I think it's a great idea... especially for the UK, where roads are rubbish and rims are literally eaten by the pads in winter.

Reasonably priced as well. However, to answer your question, I have no experience with it, sorry!

Coyote

I've got one!

I wanted a general purpose, do it all kind of bike, decent group set, fixings for guards & a rack etc. and fancied disc brakes too. So I had a good look around before Christmas and the Genesis was about the best match to all points.

I have fitted mudguards and they go on fine but.....I have size 9 feet and had real problems with toe overlap with the front guard fitted. This isn't too much of a problem under normal road riding conditions but it gave me a lot of grief off road. Just when you are looking for a bit of slow speed, close control to get you through a tricky bit, bang, your foot would hit the front guard and it all goes pear shaped!

I have now removed the full guard and fitted a crud guard instead and this cured the problem for me. It is still a close thing though so I would strongly reccomend a test ride if you possibly can, especially if you have big feet!. I use low in the price range double sided Shimano SPD's.

There are fixings on the underside of the down tube for the crud guard so it is very neat when you've done it but obviously the protection is not as good as a full guard.

If I never took it onto the dirt then I would leave the full guard in place and live with it...but if that's what I wanted to do I would have bought a different bike!

As for the rest of it...it all depends on what you are used to, how you like to ride and what you want it for. I really like it for commuting, bike paths, canal banks, and dirt trails etc. and it makes me ride a little slower than I normally would because its a lot heavier than my other bikes....which I actually enjoy as its quite nice to have your head above the horizontal sometimes!

Its very comfortable, 105 is very nice kit for the money and the cable discs are great when you are careering through mud and puddles! Just remember to stop grinning for a while or you will get a gob full of grit! Its worth getting one just to see the look on the faces of mountain bikers when you fly past them in the middle of nowhere on a bike with drop bars!

A change of bars, stem and post could shave off quite a bit of weight if you want it a bit snappier and I replaced the saddle because my a*se is fizik shaped!

Ken Night

There are a number of threads about disc braked "road bikes" -just search "disc braked crosser" or under my name/maddog2/Montydog

've looked over the Croix de Fer. I think it's really well done. The Shimano discs are good, the fork is nice, and the frame is excellent

I would have liked more clearance,but accept not everyone will want to get 40mm tyres on it

ugo.santalucia wrote:

My next bike will definitively have disc brakes... I'm just waiting for the market to offer more options, !

A new Tektro cable operated disc brake has come on the market-about 60g lighter than the benchmark Avid BB7s.