Cyclo Cross Bike for Winter Trainer/Commuter

Beardy10

As the title says....

Thinking about getting a winter training bike/commuter and have thought about a Cyclo Cross bike as I like the idea of V brakes on a Cyclo Cross bike for their added stopping power in our wet winters.

Never ridden a cyclo cross bike and wondered how they handled compared to a decent road bike.

Monty Dog

FWIW most cross bikes are fitted with canti brakes which although they offer bigger clearances in use aren't any more powerful than modern road bike calipers - if braking power in all conditions is what you want, go for a bike with discs - a little heavier, but you won't wear-out the rims either. I have 2 cross bikes, one with cantis and one with discs - the one with discs would be my choice for commuter / go anywhere use.

Beardy10

Thanks for your feedback. My road bike has Dura Ace brakes which I think are pretty much as good as it gets, they are much worse in the wet than the cantilever brakes on my 10yr old MTB. The drop off in performance in the wet is shocking.....maybe I should try some different blocks on them though?

My road bike is a Condor and I've noticed that their Cyclo Cross bikes have canti brakes which is what got me thinking of a Cyclo X bike as a winter bike.

Maybe you're right about disc brakes though as just looking on Wiggle I see some of the Cyclo X bikes they sell have disc brakes. Not a bad plan....