Going to the Dark Side!

pamuzu

Hi,

I'm thinking of getting a mountain bike so that I can keep commuting over the winter ice and snow. Does anyone kow if this will make any difference grip wise on the road?

Thanks

Phil

pamuzu

Hi,

Cheers for the reply. So a cross bike like a hybrid? I'll look into that. Just think for the sake of speed it means I can still ride in the bad weather. Better than driving!

Cheers

Ben6899

pamuzu wrote:

Hi,

Cheers for the reply. So a cross bike like a hybrid?

No a cross bike - like a road bike but with clearances for larger tyres.

rich164h

Think of them as toughened road bikes, rather than watered down MTBs (which more akin to what a Hybrid is).

alomac

pamuzu wrote:

So a cross bike like a hybrid?

They mean a cyclocross bike which, as they say, is essentially a toughened up road frame with clearence for wider tyres.

Gingerflash

I would say a mountain bike would be the better option.

If you don't know what a cross bike is, it's unlikely you'd use it for anything besides a few weeks' commuting (I'm assuming you're in the UK, not Norway!). Seems a lot of money (£800 minimum really) for not much use. They are of course designed for cross racing or fairly gentle off-road trails.

A mountain bike can of course be used for a great deal more than a few snowy commutes, like mountain biking for example! If tyre width is an issue, you can fit very narrow tyres to a mountain bike, but you'd struggle to do the opposite, putting proper off-road 2.4s on a cross bike!

BTW, despite what Specilaized might call it, I'd say the Tri-Cross is more like a hybrid/tourer than a cross bike. Triple chainset, full mudguard and rack mounts and supplied with slick tyres. The CruX is their proper cyclocross bike.