ADVICE - Which Cyclocross for aroiund £1000 ?

bilabonic

Hi Guys

Have a Felt F55 road bike and Spesh Elite Carbon Comp MTB.

I know want something to commute (around 20 mile trip) and neither of the above would suit.

I will be mainly on rough roads, light dirt/potted tracks/light trails and do not plan going near any mud/trails/offroading.

Not sure if i really need disc brakes in the environments i will be riding.

It must have standard (mountain

Looking at -

http://www.tredz.co.uk/.Felt-F65X-2013- ... _57365.htm -My fave as like the geometry/currently own one

http://www.tredz.co.uk/.Specialized-Cru ... _56044.htm

http://www.tredz.co.uk/.Cube-Cross-Race ... _58173.htm - welding looks dodgy though but 105

And of course the Boardman CX.

Pedals - Shimano M324
Tyres - Continental Gatorskin 700x28

Any advice welcome

skellator3

what size are you after? i have a 2012 Focus Mares AX 2.0 with shimano 105 shifting group, avid shorty 4 canti brakes, FSA gossamer cross chainset, size is large(56cm) brand new display model rrp £1000, yours for £775 delivered

is this of any interest to you?

Cycling-mad

I looked at all four of these cross bikes recently when upgrading myself, however I ended up with a whyte Saxon cross, whyte has a version (charing cross) with a similar spec, bb5's I think and the same costs! Maybe it's worth looking into?

bilabonic

skellator3 wrote:

what size are you after? i have a 2012 Focus Mares AX 2.0 with shimano 105 shifting group, avid shorty 4 canti brakes, FSA gossamer cross chainset, size is large(56cm) brand new display model rrp £1000, yours for £775 delivered

is this of any interest to you?

Too big mate, i ride a 51cm FELT, i am 5' 7" and 32 leg. Never thought off looking in the sales section on here..

Stevo_666

IIRC the Boardman CX seemed to win a lot of the bike mag comparison tests. Also a mate of mine has just bought one of the new Boardman models and is very happy with it so far.

veronese68

I'd definitely go for discs. Canti's are a right pain in the wet, have to be set up just right with clean rims.

rubertoe

Discs all day everyday over canti's.

look at the boardman.

markchalmers

This is what I ride:

http://www.thomsonscycles.com/merida-cyclo-cross-4/

It's a really good ride I've had it about a month and racked up huge mileage with no issues (as of yet)

bilabonic

Well that was a fun day.

Went to Hafords, guy did not have a clue, ask what sizes it comes in and he said 18" to 22", they had the team there but not the cxteam but no Pro, impressed with bike though, nice wirh seamless welds, swear it was c
carbon.

Do they do the cxpro in this country ? Are Halfrauds the only supplier ???


Then went to Tredz who had an xcube on display and it looked 'cheap' the welds were terrible !!! But 105 groupset.

Asked about the Felt F65x and he contacted the main supplier and it has SOLD OUT !!!

A 2013 model sold out in 2012 !!!

:x

Cycling-mad

I went from a felt f1x to a whyte Saxon cross as mentioned above I don't think they sell the cx pro boardman in England and that I am not sure why? Wiggle is a different supplier but then it is online and i advice you sit on the bike not just order it my frame size was 56 on a felt and 53 on a whyte for example! Hope this helps?

Kieran_Burns

bilabonic wrote:

Well that was a fun day.

Went to Hafords, guy did not have a clue, ask what sizes it comes in and he said 18" to 22", they had the team there but not the cxteam but no Pro, impressed with bike though, nice wirh seamless welds, swear it was c
carbon.

Do they do the cxpro in this country ? Are Halfrauds the only supplier ???


Then went to Tredz who had an xcube on display and it looked 'cheap' the welds were terrible !!! But 105 groupset.

Asked about the Felt F65x and he contacted the main supplier and it has SOLD OUT !!!

A 2013 model sold out in 2012 !!!

:x

My F65x is luvverly as well

I changed the 46/36 CX for a 50/34 compact though. Gives me more climbing gears and a higher top end (not that I need it) but the drop from 50 to 34 can be quite severe. I can see why the 46/36 may be better if you are shifting more.

BB5s WERE a pain to get set up initially but now they are, they are bloody great. Completely predictable braking no matter what is going on - so for that: get discs.

I almost got a Tricross Sport Disc (£1200 ish) to replace my old Tricross (I LIKE the triple chainset) but in the end just preferred the feel of the Felt. Oh, and it's purdy...

apreading

If you do end up buying in Halfords then make sure to join British Cycling first for 10% off...

bilabonic

Kieran_Burns wrote:

bilabonic wrote:

Well that was a fun day.

Went to Hafords, guy did not have a clue, ask what sizes it comes in and he said 18" to 22", they had the team there but not the cxteam but no Pro, impressed with bike though, nice wirh seamless welds, swear it was c
carbon.

Do they do the cxpro in this country ? Are Halfrauds the only supplier ???


Then went to Tredz who had an xcube on display and it looked 'cheap' the welds were terrible !!! But 105 groupset.

Asked about the Felt F65x and he contacted the main supplier and it has SOLD OUT !!!

A 2013 model sold out in 2012 !!!

:x

My F65x is luvverly as well

I changed the 46/36 CX for a 50/34 compact though. Gives me more climbing gears and a higher top end (not that I need it) but the drop from 50 to 34 can be quite severe. I can see why the 46/36 may be better if you are shifting more.

BB5s WERE a pain to get set up initially but now they are, they are bloody great. Completely predictable braking no matter what is going on - so for that: get discs.

I almost got a Tricross Sport Disc (£1200 ish) to replace my old Tricross (I LIKE the triple chainset) but in the end just preferred the feel of the Felt. Oh, and it's purdy...

There are NO MORE F65X left in Europe !!!!!! in my 50cm size..........They reckon stock will be back in August.

I have had people offer me the F55X at same price but Cantilever, even though i will never go fully off road as i have an MTB.

bilabonic

Just emailed Saddleback who are the main suppliers for FELT bikes and they do not do a 50cm bike in UK/EUROPE ???

I am getting something wrong here, is the geometry on a cycocross that different to a road bike ???

I'm 5'' 7" (and a fart) with 32" leg and they don't do a bike !!!!

:evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil:

bilabonic

apreading wrote:

If you do end up buying in Halfords then make sure to join British Cycling first for 10% off...

Do you have a link for this and how it's used?

Thanks

redvee

bilabonic wrote:

apreading wrote:

If you do end up buying in Halfords then make sure to join British Cycling first for 10% off...

Do you have a link for this and how it's used?

Thanks

I wonder if I can use my employers staff 10% discount as well as British Cycling 10%, just need to find another 8 schemes that offer 10% for a freebike

bilabonic

redvee wrote:

bilabonic wrote:

apreading wrote:

If you do end up buying in Halfords then make sure to join British Cycling first for 10% off...

Do you have a link for this and how it's used?

Thanks

I wonder if I can use my employers staff 10% discount as well as British Cycling 10%, just need to find another 8 schemes that offer 10% for a freebike

Do you work for them mate ?

When will the new 2012/2013 model be out ??

Also will there be a small size available ???

Cheers

sps137

I bought a team CX about 1 1/2 years ago for CX racing and commuting as nothing else touched it for value at the time. In that time I've been over one car bonnet (destroyed front wheel) and several crashes racing and on ice whilst commuting and it's held up remarkably well. The wheels were probably the weakest point and I found they needed constant truing so I bought some open pros on XT hubs (one of which was written off in the last crash ).

It has plenty of mudguard room (you could probably go up to 40mm tyres) and running panniers (at least at commuting loads) doesn't affect the handling

BB5s take a bit of setting up but are much more consistent than either cantis or dual pivots for all weather commuting.

My biggest complaint is that the bike tends to feel fairly 'dead'. This is not helped by the scwalbe marathons I'm running but even on pro race 3s it's a fairly uninspiring ride.

Although I've since replaced it with a carbon crosser (with cantis) for racing and general road work it's still going strong as a commuter and much as I'd like something a bit more 'fun' I've not seen anything yet that would tick all the commuting boxes so well.

apreading

bilabonic wrote:

apreading wrote:

If you do end up buying in Halfords then make sure to join British Cycling first for 10% off...

Do you have a link for this and how it's used?

Thanks

Get BC membership for half price using TforL2012 code http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/common/vouche ... ishcycling If you pay using Direct Debit, you also get 10% off making it £10.80 for 12 months.

Reserve the bike online for store collection (selecting to pay in the store) to ensure you get any online discounts

When you turn up to collect the bike, print and bring the BC voucher for 10% off and your new shiny membership card http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/member ... -discounts

10% off - as I understand, this is after any other discount or promotion - people regularly get money off online from halfords promotions and apply the BC discount on top of that - I would imagine that it works after staff discount too.

mortbiker

I've a specialised Tricross sport disc for sale if your interested? Bought it in August and due to knee surgery it's only done about 80 miles. £600, includes mudguards.

Twen

Just got my first cyclocross bike, a Whyte Charing Cross 2013.

Bike designed in the UK based around Tiagra groupset and has Avid BB5 disc brakes very pleased with it....

http://www.whytebikes.com/2013/product. ... 59&xSec=43

rubertoe

There are plenty of Choices

Have a look here

plenty of cross bikes in lots of flavours from Whyte, Focus, Genesis...

I like this genesis cdf

mudslinger

I recently bought a Boardman CX Team to replace a Specialized Tricross for my 15 mile commute & winter road bike. I wanted disc brakes, 50/34 gearing, mudguard mounts so that reduced the options. However I couldn't be happier with the Boardman - it really is a fantastic bike especially for the money.

There are a few topics on this forum about CX bikes. Whyte & Genesis bikes look good. Be wary that a lot of CX bikes have 46/36 gearing which IMO is not as good as a compact 50/34 for general use.

A friend of mine recently bought a Kinesis Crosslight for CX racing - it is the weight of my carbon fibre road bike!!! So if you want something racier then may be worth considering.

andyrr

Wonder if anyone has any knowledge of 2 of the cx bikes for 2013 at the bottom-end of the price range - certainly bottom-end for disc-braked models.
Evans now stocking Jamis and Norco bikes, Jamies one with relatively old-tech 8-speed Sora and the Norco with 9-speed sora.
I like the look of the Jamis but one thing is they both come with Tekro Lyra calipers which I've seen get a pretty poor rep and wonder if that is a good enough reason to steer well clear of these 2 ? I've seen a Ridley X-Bow which is also Sora-equipped but that had the BB7 calipers which are much better it seems but that is over 50% more than the Jamis and once over £800 or so there are more options like the Trek CrossRip, Boardman etc etc and I really, really don't want to be splashing near a grand on yet another bike but a disc-equipped cx bike is what I now believe the perfect mount for my mainly commuting duties, certainly through the grotty times of the year.

mudslinger

Membership of British Cycling means a 10% discount at Halfords. They also have offers every few months. If I was better organised then I could have got the CX for £740. You can also get cashback through Quidco.

I spent months pondering this but in my opinion nothing could come close to the Boardman.

Don't know if those Sora bikes have double or triple chairing but for me a 2x10 is the preferred option. I had a Specialized Tricross with 3x8 gearing & I hated it as I spent too much time shifting the front ring up & down.

Normally I'd look for a minimum of Tiagra but I don't know what the latest version of Sora is like.

Good luck finding the bike you want.

beverick

I've ridden a Whyte Charing Cross and a Cannondale CAADX recently. The CAAD's quite fast but with 3?c tyres it just feels like a heavily shod road-bike. The Charing Cross seemed a bit twitchy and didn't "pick up" as quickly when I tried step up the cadence.

Evans' own Pinnacle brand bikes have been getting good press recently (C+ this month inc) but my favourite at the moment is a Kinesis Crosslight.

http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/ ... 4-11-45404

Bob

BelgianBeerGeek

I'd seriously consider the Pinnacle range. I have the older model and if anything the 2013 range seems better value, having a carbon fork and Avid brakes. And I think Evans are throwing in £100 of accessories at the moment.
£1000 gets you Shimano 105, which isn't bad. It isn't as flashy as some CX bikes out there, but I highly recommend it.

andyrr

Has anyone yet laid eyes/hands/bum on the 2 cheapest CX bikes that Evans are stocking (for next model year)
I have zero knowledge of Jamis and Norco bikes, they appear to be US-based bikes from brands that sell big volumes hence have big buying power - the Jamis is pretty low priced for a disc-eqipped Alu-frame and in it's favour it has road-orientated gearing (compact crank) but against it is the old-style STIs and 8-speed Sora with the thumb paddle
The Norco is 9-speed with current STIs. Jamis has a tapered headtube, 1.125 / 1.5, strangely it has cross tyres whilst the Norco has road tyres. Jamis eyeleted Alex rims. I've ordered both in to my local store to take a look - required a £100 deposit which is returned if they don't suit. Hoping to see and try them out in a week or so. Tekro Lyras on both do have me wondering if that's a good 1st port of call for an instant upgrade to BB5/7 ?

andyrr

So Evans phoned me yesterday much earier than expected having got the Jamis Nova Sport and Norco in for me to view/ride. 56cm Jamis was too big so just rode the Norco. Seemed ok, pretty stiff Alu frame, kind of bouncy / stiff on the rough roads on the loop I took it on, internal cables in the top tube rattled a fair bit - annoying. Also quite a high front-end - never ridden a cx bike before so maybe that's inevitable and I'd need to tweek with dropped / longer stem. I reckon it's CX-biased gearing is not suited to me, 46 / 36 front with 11-32 rear. Assistant was fairly keen to persuade me that I didn't need higher gearing but for me that's a bit low and the jumps for such a large cassette are quite significant. The Jamis looked better IMO, brush-finish frame, and it, unlike the Norco, has bosses for 'guards on the front fork which is a big plus. Both these bikes seem a mish-mash/combo of cx / road as the Norco has cx-rings, road tyres, no bosses, the Jamis has cx tyres but compact road c'set and bosses front and rear. Jamis felt a little lighter too which, as the spec is slightly lower than the Norco (older Sora) indicates lighter frame, maybe more modern as it has tapered HT.

meanredspider

I just wish Boardman would put 105 or even Tiagra on the CX Team. Personally, if you can find a deal from someone like Merlin for the 105 Groupset, that's a worthwhile upgrade and dispense with the Apex (selling all the leftover bits, including the interruptor brake levers, will pretty much cover the cost anyway). Lurk for a deal on a BB7 caliper for the front too. The Boardman is hard to beat for value even if you allow for these upgrades.

andyrr

Had a ride of the correct for me sized Jamis Nova Sport today - instantly felt pretty good despite wearing cleated winter boots and using flat pedals. Will be picking this up from local Evans on Saturday. May need to stretch the position with a longer stem (100mm fitted, maybe a 120) but I might drop the bars by removing some of the plentful spacers it comes fitted with. Then a set of SKS guards will go on - hopefully Evans will price match Wiggle on these to save a few quid. I discovered one of my other old bikes hanging in the garage has an Ultegra RH shifter and that might be a change I make soon - new cassette and chain plus that for 2x9 in place of the 2x8 gears then a nicer rear mech once the std Sora one gets me through the winter and likely starts to seize up.

Comes with 32mm cross-style tyres fitted so I've reckoned on the wide SKS road guards to cope with those - might go to the set of Conti 4 seasons 25/28 I recently bought at bargain price at Cycle Surgery once the better (when that happens ..) weather comes.