Mountain bike v cross

PostieJohn
PostieJohn Posts: 1,105
edited June 2009 in Road beginners
I'm a through and through roadie, but a couple of mates have decided mountain biking on the Sussex Downs, is the 'new' thing. (luckily they are so fickle it will only last 6 months)

Anyway they are badgering me to join them, and I'm sure they are having a good laugh, but don't want the outlay for a bike, I don't really want.

Will a cyclo-cross bike hold it's own, on dry downlands (they will never ride in the wet) with a couple of unfit novices?
http://www.bikeradar.com/road/forums/vi ... t=12792776

Comments

  • pottssteve
    pottssteve Posts: 4,069
    I would imagine you'd be OK on a 'cross bike as long as you stayed on the paths. I ride a cyclocross bike mainly as a road bike and for pathways - I'm not sure how I would fare off road on bumpy/rocky paths with steep inclines, for example. Lack of suspension would be an issue, as would balance (for me). If they are unfit you'll probably be best to stick on the main paths and some roads anyway, so might be alright.
    Enjoy the Downs!
    Head Hands Heart Lungs Legs
  • jgsi
    jgsi Posts: 5,062
    You just have to take a gander at the 3 Peaks race reports.. you'll see how much a Cross bike can handle... admittedly with someone far fitter & madder than myself on board...
  • roger_merriman
    roger_merriman Posts: 6,165
    orginally MTB's where rigid with sub 2inch tires etc. the downs from what i've seen should be perfectly fine on a cross, quite possibly lot more suited to a cross though the ground does get very hard and thudding if you don't know how to ride light etc, but i'd of thought the bike should be up for the job.

    wet MTB is great if you want to learn how to put the bike on the edge and hold it, mud's what you need nothing like drifting though perfectly, and as cyclo-cross has thiner tires it should be better, most MTB tires cog as soon as you hit serious mud, at that point you need to for um mud tires which do mud but nothing else, but on the whole thinner tires are less likely to clog the frame and should dig down.
  • passout
    passout Posts: 4,425
    If you choose your lines and have proper off road tyres then you should be OK.
    'Happiness serves hardly any other purpose than to make unhappiness possible' Marcel Proust.
  • mister biscuit
    mister biscuit Posts: 46
    you'll be fine. one of our club guys did the cheddar bikefest 8hr enduro on a cross bike, and came 3rd. mind you, he's a cyclocross machine.

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