From Road to Cross...

TomA

I have my oldspecialized Allez elite which i want to use as a winter bike now that i have since built an awesome road bike...so in the meantime, can i use the allez elite as a cross bike?
Obviously i'll need different tyres - what are good to buy?

Can the rest of the bike be kept the same? or will i need new wheels too?

Any answers from road/cross peoplewould be greatly recieved!
Tom

mz__jo

I am not sure that you will have the place to fit cross tyres in that frame; they are generally with sections between 28 and 35. The Alez frame will probably be limited to 25 max, maybe even 23. The tyres that you fit will be limited by the space and what is available. The resulting machine won't have the mud clearances to make a decent cross bike. For a winter bike a pair of solid 23's and a set of raceblades will do nicely for training on-road, or on paths with a fairly heavy set of wheels