Cyclocross bikes

garethssmith

I'm after a bit of advice on CX bikes.

I'm looking at the Threshold A3, Specialised Tricross Triple or Pinnacle Arkose One.

I've recently had a Scott S55 Speedster, I'm looking at a CX bike instead of a full road bike because the roads near me are shockingly bad and I don't want a hybrid. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

petemadoc

You don't need a cyclocross bike to deal with bad roads, I mean they'd have to be gravel dirt tracks to need a cross bike.

Try wider good quality tyres, a better saddle, good shorts, padded bar tape, good gloves, lower tyre pressure

MichaelW

CX with disc brakes is the most useful style, esp if it has clearance for studded snow tyres.
race CX bikes oftne lack threaded eyelets.
Rear disc mount on chainstays is compatible with std racks.
Other solutions for more than racebike 25mm clearance are winter training, Audax and touring bikes.

Monty Dog

For general use and if you've only got one bike, go CX. The ability to fit studded tyres for winter is a big bonus whereas die-hard roadies are sitting at home getting bored out their skulls on a turbo.

slowbike

I have a CX for road use (as well as a road bike) and I use the same tyres as the road bike.
I've ridden tracks on my roadie with 23mm tyres - not something you'd want to make a habit of, but it's quite capable.

As has been said - the roads would need to be really bad to warrant the change to a CX if it was just the road conditions you were worried about.
That said - a CX is a great all rounder - so much so that I'm taking mine on holiday in preference to the road bike.

Monty Dog

I had a Breakaway CX clone built, particularly for travel/holidays - it fits in a suitcase, goes in the back of the car no trouble and with a couple of pairs of tyres I can double my riding fun. It's only slightly heavier than a regular road bike - nothing like riding along a road and seeing a bridleway that goes somewhere interesting and going exploring.

garethssmith

Thanks for all the advice.

Still a bit unsure whether to just plump for slightly wider tyres on a roadie for now and maybe go for a CX in the future

andyrr

One issue is fitting the wider tyres to your current bike : 25mm could be the maximum whilst a 28mm tyre can be the best for balancing the increased tyre weight with the better bump absorbtion and road-buzz reduction. For a nice speedy road bike I'd personally not want anything over 28mm - on my Jamis CX bike I am currently running 25 front / 28 rear (just because that's what I bought) - going up to 32mm is overkill IMHO for a road bike. Previous road bikes I've used would take 25mm at a push - easier if you don't try to also fit mudguards but a road bike + 'guards will not have a great deal of space available for tyres wider than the common 23mm fitment.