Advice on Cyclocross Bikes

Seasider1877

Hi. First time poster...hope I'm in the right place.

I'm looking for my first cyclocross bike. The Giant TCX 2 2012 fits my budget but I have been offered a Bianchi D2 Zurigo Alu Tiagra 2012 at a very favourable price.

Any thoughts on either of these as a first cyclocross bike. Any opinions or advice would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

ALaPlage

Can't comment on the bikes you mention. I have a Kinesis cross bike which I love. You need to try the bikes ideally to see what fits and feels best for you. If you list the spec and price of the bikes I am sure you may get some more guidance as to what may be better value for money. Which is the better bike is down to how it feels to you in the main.

gwillis

I have a cannondale caadx105 great bike and worthy of a test ride

Seasider1877

Thanks for the advice. Will try out the bikes and have a look at the Cannondale. Cheers

ShutUpLegs

Also have a look at the focus, ridley and boarman bikes.

paul_mck

Im considering a boardman on the C2W scheme. I have a carbon road bike so this is purely for bashing into work in the winter etc.

Any experience with the boardman? Is the SRAM Apex stuff ok?

thanks.

phy2sll2

Assuming you want it to race cross and not just as a commuter, talk to Paul Milnes.

http://www.paulmilnescycles.com/

He has a shop up in Bradford but also does eBay / mail order. Definitely worth a quick phone call to see what he can do for you.

bails87

paul_mck wrote:

Im considering a boardman on the C2W scheme. I have a carbon road bike so this is purely for bashing into work in the winter etc.

Any experience with the boardman? Is the SRAM Apex stuff ok?

thanks.

Functionally it's fine, but I didn't get on with it because of the different action to the 105 that I was used to off my road bike. I kept slamming the front brake on by accident when I tried to change gear :shock: it was my own fault for using the Shimano action on a SRAM setup. Like changing cars and putting it into 6th gear instead of reverse because of the different gearbox layout.

I sold the Apex and got as much for it as the brand new 105/Tiagra mix that replaced it.

FWIW I'm very happy with my Boardman CX, in fact I got rid of my carbon road bike because the difference in the real world was so small. Most of my road riding was on my 30 mile round trip commute and the CX was only a tiny bit slower. And it was a better fit and a more solid platform, when I went back to the road bike I suddenly noticed how 'noodly' it felt under power and through corners (and I'm not a heavy rider).

paul_mck

thanks man appreciate the reply! Im more used to the shimano stuff myself in fairness.

mroli

Paul - have a think about sizing too - some people go a size smaller on their cross frames (if using them for racing) than they do on their road bike frames....