Cyclocross buying advice please

paultoner

my work is bringing in the cycle to work scheme and I have all the road stuff I want under £1k but would like to get a cyclocross bike for commuting and possible CX races next season.

I have a £1k budget and I'm seeking two pieces of advice.

1) what size should a CX bike be (i.e. should it be smaller than the road equivalent?)
2) what would people recommend, I have looked a boardman CX team which has disc brakes and SRAm rival and Cube cross race with old style brakes and 105 grpset.

Any thoughts please

Cheers

Paul

FransJacques

1) correct, but if you're not racing then you can buy the same TT as your road bike so long as your crotch clearance doesn't dwindle to a gonad-crushing margin.

2) Under £1000 is tough without the bike being a boat-anchor. Avoid discs, they're heavy and not a lot better than rim brakes, plus they drag more. Check out Cannindale CaadX, they're lighter than most and the frame is raceable.

chrisvanderkaap

The Boardman looks the part. I'd just choose the same size you'd normally buy a road bike. Certainly not smaller.
The (saddle to handlebar) drop on a cc bike is quite often less steep than on a regular roadbike. This is because the increase in movement you're enduring in the field. make sure you try at get something with enough reach though, since it somehow makes the bike handle better.About the gruppo,i'd definitely prefer rival over 105 for cross because of its lower weight, straight forward action and super low maintenance. Also its separate shifter paddle makes braking feel more secure. Mechanical disc brakes are easy to service, have great modulation and do make a lot of sense with all the mud you'll be cruising trough.

good luck with your pick!

arlowood

The Pinnacle Arkose 2 trounced the opposition in a recent Cycling + group test of cross bikes. Might be worth considering.

http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/ ... o-11-45270

With your budget you could consider the Arkose 3

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/pin ... e-ec039563

Only drawback is that the sole outlet is Evans - so limited options to get pricing competition.

apreading

Pinnacle is roughly 1kg heavier than boardman. The Arkrose 3 does have BB7 brakes though and probably a better front mech - roughly £200 more than you can get the Boardman CX for though...

mroli

FransJacques wrote:

Avoid discs, they're heavy and not a lot better than rim brakes, plus they drag more.

With the greatest of respect ( ) I disagree with FJ here - for what you're going to be using the bike for (ie mostly commuting), discs are better than rim brakes - in perfectly dry weather on clean roads they are not a lot better than properly set up rim brakes. When it is muddy, wet and you have bits of road crap all over your bike, then they are considerably better as they are consistent - unlike your rim brakes. They also will not wear out your rims - rotors are cheaper to replace than rims. In relation to dragging -he is probably correct - I have not noticed any aerodynamic disadvantage - and for commuting this is probably of minimal concern as you'll likely be wearing a bag, but a perfect "close" set up is more difficult than rim brakes.

In relation to racing - yes, they are heavier, but again, the weight difference is minimal and you get consistency of stopping. People will say - look at the pros, they're still all on rim brakes, but they can change bikes every other lap and get someone to clean them for them.

I'm enjoying the disc brakes on my Condor Bivio X - but it also comes with the option to fit canti/v brakes if I want... Maybe look at a bike like that?

Other cross bikes worth looking at - Planet X (including the carbon dirty disco), Kinesis and Focus. There were also some decent Whyte ones at Edinburgh Bike Co-op in your budget.

murf1480

http://www.merlincycles.com/bike-shop/b ... -bike.html

I looked at these last weekend was impressed. Might be worth considering

FransJacques

Genesis Vapour (Vaypor? or are those shoes...) are probably on same at Evans and are not made out of steel (heavy) and have a catinlever option. Cantis work for Nys, Pauwels, Stybar et al so you need to make a call on the extra weight they add and the fact the pads might not be available if they stop making that style of brake.

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/gen ... e-ec031854

That's a pretty bike and the bare frame as weighed by C+ is a lot lighter than a Crux. If you want the bike to turn before 2014, I wouldn't suggest the Specialized. Even their carbon cross bike is very laid back.

mroli

FransJacques wrote:

Cantis work for Nys, Pauwels, Stybar et al so you need to make a call on the extra weight they add and the fact the pads might not be available if they stop making that style of brake.

Who don't commute on their bikes and have multi-bikes to swap. I also think that pads not being available is a remote concern.

FransJacques

Remote concern? I have 2 sets of MTB brakes (Coda and Hayes) that just dont have replacement pads for them any more...Grimica? Yeah right.

mroli

Fair play. You know a lot more about that than I do!

FransJacques

Been running discs for years. They're great when you need to stop like on a commuting bike. If you want to race CX you don't want to stop, you're modulating speed. Don't take my word for it, before you buy have a read of this:

http://velonews.competitor.com/2013/01/ ... mud_271112

ugo.santalucia

FransJacques wrote:

Been running discs for years. They're great when you need to stop like on a commuting bike. If you want to race CX you don't want to stop, you're modulating speed. Don't take my word for it, before you buy have a read of this:

http://velonews.competitor.com/2013/01/ ... mud_271112

I tend to agree.. In a race you don't have time to get off and adjust the pads... And in muddy conditions pads can wear very quickly, leaving you with no option but to get off and readjust. I suppose it is only a matter of designing brake levers with more pull, something manufacturers have been lazy about thus far. If they are used in MTB, there is no reason nit use them in CX... Probem is CX levers are road ones...

Monty Dog

Discs are great for commuting and trail riding, but not really for CX racing IME - i had both, but sold the disc bike and have 2 with rim brakes - no one wins CX races by going slower.
The trouble with many £1k bikes is that wheel quality can be rubbish too, particularly if using cheap MTB that weigh a lot.
As far as sizing, for offroad you want more standover and slightly less reach because you tend to move about more when searching for grip. Likewise, less saddle to bar drop too as aero is less important.

ovi

a little over budget but my money would try and get thishttp://www.cyclelane.co.uk/m4b3s23p5709/KONA-JAKE-THE-SNAKE-2012/RS_GB/19463


have a look at this site and compare specifications with price and get what you like the look of
http://www.tredz.co.uk/cyclocross-bikes/xsrt/priceasc

paultoner

Great recommendations folks, much appreciated.

So I’m going for one size smaller than my road frame to give me flexibility I’m looking for in a CX/commuter.
I have decided to forgo disc brakes this time. As I’m reading it, mechanical disc brakes are at the moment just an interim for full hydraulic discs on a road bike and hence they have compromises with their performance. Canti brakes (tried & tested) will do just fine for a better than road brake option and adequate race performance.
So which CX bikes are now in the mix?
1) Cube cross race 105
2) Cannodale caadx 105
3) Sensa fermo 105
The Sensa looks really nice and great value but it does have a high BB height which at 6’2” I really don’t want to be any further away from the ground so that’s why the Sensa is in third. Cannodale certainly has the brand pedigree and is a serious contender but the Cube with it internal cable routing makes for a cleaner looking bike with good components and a geometry that matches my requirements.

ovi

Why not the kona? The Sensa fermo looks good and you could upgrade the wheels and still be in budget. My wheels get a lot of stick, so that would put me of the Cube a little.

FransJacques

Cannondale all the way, only b/c it has the best frame and, yes, a lower BB drop at 67mm. The Cube is OK but has a higher BB and, in my opinion, the tubing is not as technically tweaked and thought out. A buddy who raced the Cbue upgraded to a new frame as soon as he had the cash to. THe Cube was relegated to pit bike.

I know several people who have the Alu Kona and they like it. One of them won the London X league last year against a mountain of fit guys on full carbon so how bad can it be?

minardi

FransJacques wrote:

Remote concern? I have 2 sets of MTB brakes (Coda and Hayes) that just dont have replacement pads for them any more...Grimica? Yeah right.

http://www.discobrakes.com/ Any of these?