CX bike for commuting and extras
earth
Posts: 934
The light-fingered fairy struck last Friday. They are a cousin of the p fairy. But where the p fairy is mainly annoying the light-fingered fairy is pure evil. :twisted:
Anyway. I'm reluctantly in the market for a new bike for daily duties. The stolen singlespeed that I made myself was joyous to ride but not much use for longer distances. The road bike I have is great for long distances that but I have a hankering to do some light touring and it is no good for that.
A cyclocross bike appears to be a really good all-rounder so I'm almost set on one of those. Maybe they should be called sports utility bikes
So far I have seen some Whytes, a Ridley and I'm about to look at Boardmans. A few things spring to mind:
They all have Sora gears yet cost up to £900. :shock: I had Tiagra on a hybrid some years back. It was ok but front mech shifting started to get sloppy after about a year. Sora is a step below even that. I don't really see why there should be such a premium. The frames are different but I think mainly in geometry and clearance. Is this just about the fashion factor?
Cable actuated disc brakes.
I've read Whytes have quite different geometry to other offerings. Anyone have experience?
The Ridley had a 44t big ring. The shop assistant said this was to improve clearance. I want to use this new bike as an opportunity to try new tech such as tapered steerer tubes and compact chainsets. But I did not want to go as compact as 44t. I want to try 50/34 so I can get a feel for it and maybe use this setup on the road bike. Is 44t really necessary?
Anyway. I'm reluctantly in the market for a new bike for daily duties. The stolen singlespeed that I made myself was joyous to ride but not much use for longer distances. The road bike I have is great for long distances that but I have a hankering to do some light touring and it is no good for that.
A cyclocross bike appears to be a really good all-rounder so I'm almost set on one of those. Maybe they should be called sports utility bikes
So far I have seen some Whytes, a Ridley and I'm about to look at Boardmans. A few things spring to mind:
They all have Sora gears yet cost up to £900. :shock: I had Tiagra on a hybrid some years back. It was ok but front mech shifting started to get sloppy after about a year. Sora is a step below even that. I don't really see why there should be such a premium. The frames are different but I think mainly in geometry and clearance. Is this just about the fashion factor?
Cable actuated disc brakes.
I've read Whytes have quite different geometry to other offerings. Anyone have experience?
The Ridley had a 44t big ring. The shop assistant said this was to improve clearance. I want to use this new bike as an opportunity to try new tech such as tapered steerer tubes and compact chainsets. But I did not want to go as compact as 44t. I want to try 50/34 so I can get a feel for it and maybe use this setup on the road bike. Is 44t really necessary?
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Comments
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Bummer on the theft
The Tifosi CK6 Forte is worth a look as well Under £1K, discs, mudguard & rack eyesNeil
Help I'm Being Oppressed0 -
I've got a Boardman CX, maybe a bit boring but a great allrounder - it has a compact 50/34 and a 32/111 cassette. Not sure about current specs, mine is a 2012 model. I've modded mine a bit, fitted a closer ratio cassette, fitted SKS mudguards, road tyres (Vittoria Randonneur pro 32's) charge spoon saddle (original broke but it was great up to that point) and a Carradice Audax super C saddle bag and carrier. It's heftier than my road bike but very comfortable - I use it for commuting, bad weather and Audaxes, but I'm just about to pick up a Charge Juicer Hi as a sort of inbetween bike and looking forward to that a great deal.0
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I've got a tricross with Tiagra - no problems with it so far - but it's only 10 months old - it has done nearly 2000 miles though ...
Seen a Boardman CX with mech disk brakes - seemed a bit spongy - but might be the setup though.
I've stuck with rim brakes because it means I can swap a wheel (or two) out with the other bikes in the garage and as I mostly use it on road it seemed more sensible to keep it as a rugged road bike/tourer ...0 -
Just got my PlanetX CX bike a few weeks ago, and had the same decision crisis!!
For £999 your get a full carbon frames Shimano 105 groupset and BB7 disc brakes. I couldn't find another manufacturer to match that spec at that price point.
Anyway, longstory short, I ended up with a SRAM equipped clearance model for £1199.
In on it today, 10 miles each way, up hill over the Pennines, with no problems.
Stuck a pair of Marathons on it, and some Race Blade XLs and it's good for all weather on the road.0 -
Arthur Scrimshaw wrote:I've got a Boardman CX, maybe a bit boring but a great allrounder - it has a compact 50/34 and a 32/111 cassette. Not sure about current specs, mine is a 2012 model. I've modded mine a bit, fitted a closer ratio cassette, fitted SKS mudguards, road tyres.
According to Boardman CX thread, the 2014 range don't have eyelets for a front mudguard.
viewtopic.php?f=40012&t=12796558&start=13400 -
Had a look at a Boardman CX Team today. The frame graphics were a bit much but it was a nice bike with many modern features such as tapered steerer tube, BB30 bottom bracket and SRAM double tap gears. I'm not fussed about eyelets on the front fork but it did have eyelets on the seat stays. The cable mechanical disc brakes did not have the bite that I expected but that may have been a setup/bedding in issue.
Contrary to most experiences, the guy at Halfords seemed to know what he was doing with a spanner. He was an older gent so that gives me faith. But they do not have the frame size I'd like until early next month. What makes me glum is that I have to drop a wad of cash at short notice and close to Christmas. If I had kids it would be miserable for them this year.0 -
Does anyone know when the current Boardman CX Team came out?0
