Pinnacle cyclocross alternatives

daveyroids

Thinking about buying this http://www.evanscycles.com/products/pin ... e-ec039563

The bike is £1000 and seems like a good buy. I like its understated looks as I think this is good for commuting and will be able to lock the bike up outside. BB7 brakes are are a plus and the 105 groupset. The other plus is that Evans are giving £100 of accessories with the bike so that would probably cover pedals and road tyres.

Had a look at the Norco in Evans for £1100 but not impressed with the weight. It feels heavier at the rear of the bike compared to the Pinnacle.

I have also had a look at the Boardman in Halfords for £950. The Boardman has a SRAM groupset and BB5 brake. This makes me think that this bike may not be worth the money.

Over to you. Any recommendations at the £1000 mark. I would consider going a little higher or lower in price.

supersonic

The Boardman is good value, is over a pound lighter than the Pinnacle, has a full carbon fork and yet still comes in cheaper. The groupset is preference really, you may get on well with it.

The Pinnacle looks pretty average to me, you can get MTBs for that money with high end suspension forks, hydraulic disxc brakes that still weigh less than the Pinnacle!

Is it mainly for the road, or will you be tackling of road terrain too?

daveyroids

Mainly for commuting on road and trails. I will do some off road.

supersonic

How far is the commute?

daveyroids

if i go straight there, about 9 mile.

supersonic

I'd be sorely tempted to get a mountain bike, and maybe fit semi slicks. Some really good deals about, would be giving very little weight away to many of the CX bikes, will lose hardly anything on the road over that distance but it will absolutely blow the CX bike away off road.

But more than one way to crack this nut.

daveyroids

Moved away from MTB a while ago. I do agree with your point but what I havent explained is that I want an all rounder. I will also use a cx bike for light touring and winter club rides on the road. Also one way that I ride is to use a combination of trails and roads, once on country roads I like to do a bit climbing. A cx bike will out perform a mountain bike in the above instances.

supersonic

Each to their own, my MTB performs for me better than any CX bike I've tried in all areas! But it is heavily customised, and I guess that is the crux here - is getting a machine that works to your needs.

I'd certainly be swinging towards to the Boardman then to take advantage of that more comfortable fork and lighter weight. Also OnOne have some good deals, but might be slightly over your budget.

daveyroids

Yes the planet x xls is a nice bike but carbon is no good for touring.

supersonic

Can always fit an after market unit. This might work out more cost effective than getting a lower specced bike with a more suitable touring fork. That pinnacle just strikes me as rather portly for the money, but if it rides well it could be a winner. Will they let you test ride?

daveyroids

Yes, that's one good thing about Evans I can test ride.

Davsy

On paper, there's a lot to like about the Pinnacle. Most from the Boardman CX owners thread seem to talk about upgrading the bb5s to bb7s and swapping apex for 105 too, so perhaps some boxes ticked over the Boardman?

This may be a hard sell spec-wise, but I quite like the look of the Specialized Tricross Sport Disc. Aluminium fork and Sora spec is nothing to shout about by comparison to either of the above, but a recent roundup in Cycling Plus placed it second behind the Arkose 2, but did say it was the easiest to get on with from new and complete shimano kit made for slicker shifting. I also quite like the internal cable routing but that's just me - looks nice and neat!

Failing that, what about looking at touring specific bikes?

Initialised

http://www.specialized.co.uk/us/en/bike ... isccompact

£1k at Edinburgh Coop BB5 and Sora equiped Roubaix-inspired Endurance Road geometr and I think it takes up to 32mm tyres

Any reason you say carbon isn't for touring?

daveyroids

Yes internal cable routing is nice, makes the bike look neat. I looked at touring specific bikes and there was a Jamis that I liked for £800.

I said carbon isn't good for touring in terms of fitting racks etc, and carrying heavy loads.

andyrr

Also at Evans the Jamis - the model clsoe to this Pinnacle has a full carbon fork but slightly lower spec transmission. I've the cheaper Nova Sport and it's doing me pretty well for my commuting this winter, same frame I think but the rest of mine will be cheaper components than the Race.

daveyroids

I was actually looking at the nova sport and was going to ask about it so that's great.

Not seen one in the flesh so I have 3 questions.

1. Is the stem height as low as it looks on the picture?
2. Is the bike comfortable?
3. Do the Tektro Lyra breaks work well? I have seen mixed reviews about Lyra brakes.

Giraffoto

daveyroids wrote:

. . . carbon isn't good for touring in terms of fitting racks etc, and carrying heavy loads.

Didn't that guy who recently broke the record for riding around the World ride a carbon framed bike? He must have carried some luggage.

teutonic

I'm after a 'do it all' bike. I got into riding about two years ago, and in that time I feel I've 'outgrown' my Trek 7.3fx hybrid. Great beginner bike, and i'll probably still use it as a commuter hack, but i want something better for playtime.

I was on a Pinnacle Arkose 2 at the weekend. I really liked it, just the general set up and feel, which is what's most important i think.

I've tried a boardman- i don't rate the finish, which makes me question the quality. And I wouldn't trust the staff in Halfords with a bath left running, let alone assembling as complex a machine as a bike.

I've been on bikes with and without carbon forks. i can find no discernable difference in comfort. I'm with those who say all this stuff about carbon forks being more comfortable, 'shock absorbing' blah blah is baloney. Lighter yes, i think that's it.

supersonic

They can be more shock absorbing, the weave is good at absorbing high frequency buzz. They usually are, unless the fork is a light steel or ti unit. I don't think my experiences are 'baloney', given I have been testing parts for 17 years.

andyrr

1 : I feel that the front of the Jamis is still relatively high compared with a normal drop-bar road bike.
I test rode only the Jamis Nova Sport and the slightly more expensive Norco and felt that the Norco was even more sit-up-and-beg but this is maybe a trait of CX bikesI've reduced the stem by I think 1 or 2 of the installed spacers and might go lower still.
I've just checked their geo specs and the Jamis 54cm has a 13cm HT whilst the Norco 15cm - the Pinnacles also seem a longer HT than the Jamis - Medium a 15cm and Large 18cm which, for me anyway, seems pretty lengthy but maybe that's more what you are needing ?

2 Comfortable - yes, seems to be, Mine is full ali with no carbon fork or seatpost - I see the Nova Race has a full carbon fork but still an ali 'post so help out a bit here. Comfort will be affected at least as much by the tyre choice, I am maybe spoiled by running the 32mm CX tyre on the front (rear 32mm CX doesn't squeeze in with my choice of SKS 'guard installed) and it may be that it will be noticably harsher when I put the narrower slick tyre on once the risk of snow disappears.

3. Tekro Lyra Brakes : Stopping power seems good and consistant. Not eyeball-popping sharp but, for example, on todays snowy commute in I felt confident that they would do the necessary and I had no nasty moments due to lack of instant response or poor predictability. I've swapped the fitted pads at the front for some Clarks Organic to, in the main, get rid of the unpleasant noise that I suffered. They do still pretty regularly suffer from a slight scraping/rubbing noise at the front and sometimes a loud squealing but they're working fine. I am aware that their reputation is quite poor and was close to going for BB7's - at least at the front, if not both ends, but I'm continuing with the Lyras for the moment.

My Nova Sport is certainly not a light bike - I have not yet ridden it without my large Ortlieb saddlebag and with my commuting stuff in there it does add a bit of weight.- the Evans spec shows the weight difference is 1kg : 23.75 against 24.75 whilst the Pinnacle Akrose Three is quoted as 0.25kg lighter so maybe that's fairly accurate else mine is even heavier ! I'd think that the more expensive bikes would feel lighter/sprightlier due to the better wheels, carbon fork

daveyroids

Thanks so much for your feedback. From what you describe about the bike in terms of comfort it seems to hit what I would expect from a CX bike. The head tube being relatively high compared to a normal road bike is fine. Didn't actually want a low position so a relevantly high one sounds god to me. Seems like the Lyra brakes are adequate and the fact that you trust yours to stop you in adverse weather conditions,I suppose is a good thing. Your comments seem to echo some of the reviews I have read. Whilst reviews are good in the sense that you can get a good idea, I think that they can be very biased so I like to ask someone that actually uses the product if possible.

Yes from the quoted weights the bike is certainly not be light but that doesn't really matter. Yes I know I'm probably standing alone with that statement but if I can't haul a 25lb bike over a hill then there is something wrong with me. One of my other bikes is a Jamis Satellite sport, which too is not a light bike but its nice to ride and I seem to do very well on that. As I'm not intending to use it for racing and extra bit weight is no problem.

Well its going to be a tough choice. Think I will ask at Evan's if they can get a Nova Sport in for me to have a look at. Also I intend to visit other dealers and see what they have to offer.

In a way I wish I didn't have so much choice, but its also nice to see so many CX bikes on the market now.