Cyclocross bike : disk brakes & pannier & mud guard mounts

dave1986

Hi there,

I'm looking for a cyclocross bike with disks (ideally hydraulic), and pannier/ mud guard mounts in the £1000 - £2000 range. Most of the bike specs dont detail whether the bike has option to mount mudguards / pannier so would appeciate any advice as to whats available out there! ... I'm even not sure if a bike with this spec (hydraulic disk) exists for my budget!?

Thanks in advance
Dave

paulintheforest

The selection of components is also an issue. I have a Whyte Charing Cross and bought some mudguards at the same time. I finally tried fitting them the other week. The mudguard stays can't get past the disk brakes, and by the time you have the mudguards stays on under the pannier rack it's a pig to line up the bolts. The final problem was the fact that it has no chainstay bridge. Best bit of advice is buy them all together and get the bike shop to fit them all before you collect, then all of the above becomes their problem. Now it's all fitted it's fine but it was a pain and I ended up going to the bike shop for them to finish it off.

Back to the bike choice, as I said above I've got the Whyte Charing Cross which I am very happy with now it's set up correctly with the guards etc. Only cable discs but they run fine. I upgraded the rear from BB5 to BB7 but think I could have got away with just adjusting the cable to improve the performance.

nawty

I could be wrong but I don't think you can get hydraulic brakes for drop style shifters. You would need to have the brakes mounted on the horizontal of the handlebar and then separate levers for the gears - maybe bar end shifters.

I have cable discs on my MTB and they work fine so I would much rather proper shifters and brakes in one unit rather than have them separate, just for the sake of hydraulics.

aberdeen_lune

I've just built up a Kinesis Crosslight Pro 6 with HyRd disc brakes. You could easily build one up within your budget. I've fitted Chromoplastics to mine it has all the mounts you need.

muttley_109

I think the only cross bikes that comes with hydraulic disc brakes is the giant tcx slr 1 or the tax advanced. They'll both be over budget and I doubt they would take racks and guards.
As mentioned above the hyrds are your best bet.

woody2359

I use a Charge Filter Hi with Avid BB7 Road cable discs which seem great to me, although I have no experience of hydraulic discs. Swapped the chainset out for a normal road compact and its now the perfect commuter. Rack and SKS mudguards mounted well, the rear brake caliper is mounted on the chainstay, not the seat stay, so no issues getting the rack around it. Well under your budget too.

drummer_boy

I have a PlanetX XLS with BB7s, and a mountain bike with hydraulic dics, and (TBH) I can't really tell the difference when commuting.

The only bike I can think of that meets you spec would be the new Whyte Suffolk, with it's cable actuated hydraulic dics. As a previous poster said full hydraulics on a drop bar bike are very high end stuff right now.

Even this bike doesn't have full front mudguard mounts, although it does have the rack mounts you are after.

antonyfromoz

muttley_109 wrote:

I think the only cross bikes that comes with hydraulic disc brakes is the giant tcx slr 1 or the tax advanced. They'll both be over budget and I doubt they would take racks and guards.
As mentioned above the hyrds are your best bet.

You can get one of the evans cyclocross bikes with hydraulic brakes but it is only 10 speed and it uses a bar end gear changer for £900 (with £50 back to spend on other things at the moment): http://www.evanscycles.com/products/pin ... e-ec054865

drummer_boy

antonyfromoz wrote:

muttley_109 wrote:

I think the only cross bikes that comes with hydraulic disc brakes is the giant tcx slr 1 or the tax advanced. They'll both be over budget and I doubt they would take racks and guards.
As mentioned above the hyrds are your best bet.

You can get one of the evans cyclocross bikes with hydraulic brakes but it is only 10 speed and it uses a bar end gear changer for £900 (with £50 back to spend on other things at the moment): http://www.evanscycles.com/products/pin ... e-ec054865

Those bar end shifters look nasty :-((

small_bloke

Good advice for fitting mudguards and rack

paulintheforest wrote:

Best bit of advice is buy them all together and get the bike shop to fit them all before you collect, then all of the above becomes their problem. Now it's all fitted it's fine but it was a pain and I ended up going to the bike shop for them to finish it off.

I spent nearly all day fitting these to my cyclocross with disc brakes plus ebay shopping for stainless allen bolts. Its not so much the bike and brakes but more about having all the right washers, bolt size and lengths. You will also spend ages bending and cutting the mudguards stays to the right radius and length. Having a table vice and right cutting tools is also useful.

veronese68

Aberdeen_lune wrote:

I've just built up a Kinesis Crosslight Pro 6 with HyRd disc brakes. You could easily build one up within your budget. I've fitted Chromoplastics to mine it has all the mounts you need.

I was thinking of exactly that. I've got BB7s on mine, but were I building it now I'd look at HyRds. Also put Chromoplastics on mine, no problem to fit I bent the stays in a vice and they fit well and don't rattle.
I don't think you'll get a bike with full hydraulics and proper STIs within the budget mentioned.

antonyfromoz

if you are happy with a steel frame, and this one is Tange Prestige which I understand is very good quality, then you can get the charge plug 5 with SRAM hydraulic brakes and Rival gearing for a tiny bit over £1400 via the wiggle bike shop at British Cycling. Rack mounts and mudguard mounts with a chainstay mounted disc brake to increase you options for a rack.