Cyclocross bike for general road use

Robd263

Hi

Although a previous post I made said I had picked for certain, my cycle to work voucher has been delayed which has got me looking at other options in the meantime, so I may well have a few more posts in the future, at least it keeps the forum busy I guess.

Anyway, would anyone consider a cyclocross to be any good for general recreational riding, sportives etc. I only ask as I do a lot of riding in the new forest and like to be able to nip of on the trails when I can.

Anyway, thanks for any opinions, it may well be a no but seemed something worth considering while I have the time.

Current thinking road bike wise is the Dolan l'etape, so looking at that kind of budget.

ilovegrace

Robd263 wrote:

Hi

Although a previous post I made said I had picked for certain, my cycle to work voucher has been delayed which has got me looking at other options in the meantime, so I may well have a few more posts in the future, at least it keeps the forum busy I guess.

Anyway, would anyone consider a cyclocross to be any good for general recreational riding, sportives etc. I only ask as I do a lot of riding in the new forest and like to be able to nip of on the trails when I can.

Anyway, thanks for any opinions, it may well be a no but seemed something worth considering while I have the time.

Current thinking road bike wise is the Dolan l'etape, so looking at that kind of budget.

i have three bike , hybrid , cyclo cross , carbon racer.
If push came to shove the CX bike is the one I would choose to keep.
Loads of choice out there , go for a more general purpose as opposed to a cx pure bred race bike (unless you intend to race of course).
i bought a Giant 2011 model , good bike , I would not necessarily buy it again if i had the choice.
It has 2300 shifters , I did not know about this type of thing at the time .
The dolan you quote does not look like a CX bike to me .
Me, i with a CTS voucher I think I would go Boardman .
regards
ILG

bilsea159

I just bought a Boardman CX Comp for £599 and three weeks in I am very impressed with it. The gears are Sora 2014 so not the thumb shifters from before and the bike has decent disc brakes very handy on the roads at the moment with all the wet and muck. Tyres are 37c Scwalbe so roll nice on the road and the important point for me was the compact chainset rather than the cyclecross lower ratio's so it picks up a decent speed on the road. Wheels are decent Mavic Rims and seem strong. Looking forward to trying it out off road when I get the time.

cyclosteve

hi there I brought a forme calver cx use it for all my commuting and winter rides. I also have a Scott foil and a trek madone. but as a all round bike it beats them all. put mudguards on and 32mm conti tyres fantastic

slowbike

I have a cx as a commuter and general riding. I also have a carbon road bike. Out of the two I prefer the carbon one for in the road, but push came to shuv I'd keep the cx.
I have 2 different wheelsets with tyres and cassettes for different occasions so I'm not constantly swapping tyres about.

With 23mm slicks the cx is still a quick bike and I have some climbing pb's on it where I've ridden the same climb on the carbon one...

FransJacques

Please use the search function b/c we've killed this horse dead several times.

Yes, yes and yes. I've done Cat 3 road races on mine plus more than a couple 100 mile sportives. Just switch your tyres around depending on need.

ilovegrace

New members new opinions the past is past

cougie

Yeah CX bike is a great all rounder.
I've used mine for Adventure races with stout tyres on, Ironman with GP4000S on, 100m sportifs, rides through the alps, training, turbo - everything.

Having the extra clearance is very handy to allow bigger tyres and guards - and if you remember back to the Olympics 2012 - the GB bikes had big clearances - I think close clearance might be fashion more than anything else.

ai_1

Yep, I've been using a Specialised Tricross as a roadbike for a couple of years. I put a new stem on it to get the bar a little lower than the original but otherwise all it needs is some slick tyres. It's a little heavier than an equivalent price roadbike but there's not that much in it. Now that I plan to get a much lighter road bike, I can put on CX tyres and take to the forest trails and canal paths.
I've done duathlons, adventure races and 200km sportives on mine.

gwillis

I ride a Chinese cx disc bike over winter sane as a dirty disco (as does 3 of my club mates) . It's a great club run and winter bike , discs allow you to stop quickly and due to the clearances I can put knobblies on and use off road if I want . Mine weights in at 8.4 kilos so not exactly lardy compared to some bikes and I'll reap the rewards in spring hopefully . If I could only keep one bike I'd use my cx . I've just done a 200k audax on it and I had no issues

simonj

I have a comparible/similar priced spec'd road (sportive) and cx in the form of a Cannondale Synapse and SuperX, both are high spec carbon frames with Red/SL-K groupset and they're very similar comfort wise - more comfortable than my old EVO. I've used the CX for sportives and multi day rides, the Synapse may have the slight edge by a few percent on the road, but it's not that measurable and so may be in my head, but I would not take it down the canal like I can the CX and as such I tend to use the CX more. If I had to use one bike the SuperX does it all plus more and with road wheels/tyres on comes in way under 15lbs, simular to the Synapse. If I had just the one bike all I'd need extra for dual functionality would be a spare set of wheels/tyres and probably some compact chainrings, also if for mainly road use I'd stick with the lighter rim brakes, but change the CX cantis for mini-v's.

Robd263

FransJacques wrote:

Please use the search function b/c we've killed this horse dead several times.

Really helpful, thanks! I'm sure everything has been covered at some point which kind of removes the need for a forum doesn't it!!! If it bother as you s much, just don't answer, then it doesn't affect you!

Secondly, have you used the search function, not that easy to find what you want!

Robd263

Thanks everyone else for the replies, really useful. May consider both I think.

pilot_pete

Here's mine, used as my winter trainer;



PP

Lifelong-Toffee

Hi, I have read this thread and others on different forums and am in a similar position to the OP, and want a cross bike to use mostly for roads and rough and hilly tracks, and I'd also like to do some light touring with it. After a lot of forum and review reading I've narrowed it down to three bikes, and would really appreciate any advice or information on the differences between them.

Bikes are: Boardman CX Comp, Cannondale CAADX Sora, and the Surly Cross-Check.

Funds are limited and so I couldn't extend to the Boardman Team, or the CAADX Tiagra really, unless there were huge performance gains to be made. I know the Surly is a bit more money but I rode it a couple of times 3 years ago and quite liked its ability to take weight and comfort so would be inclined to push the boat out more for it. But if I can get something better cheaper, then I would...in particular I would like to know if the Surly is a slightly different type of bike than the other two, and do you pay a premium for it being imported and a somewhat niche brand...or is it worth it? Also, do the Disc brakes on the Boardman make it much better? If so, why is the Boardman Comp the cheapest of the three?

Many thanks.

http://surlybikes.com/bikes/cross_check
http://www.boardmanbikes.com/cx/cx_comp.html
http://www.cannondale.com/catalog/produ ... egory/916/

bendertherobot

I'd have a look at the Genesis CDF there, should be within reach, similar to the Surly in makeup

BillyMansell

Robd263 wrote:

FransJacques wrote:

Please use the search function b/c we've killed this horse dead several times.

Really helpful, thanks! I'm sure everything has been covered at some point which kind of removes the need for a forum doesn't it!!! If it bother as you s much, just don't answer, then it doesn't affect you!

Secondly, have you used the search function, not that easy to find what you want!

The forum rules you agreed to when you signed up to the forum state you should use the search facility before starting new threads. Don't berate others for politely pointing out what you should already know and what you have agreed to do.

As for bikes, I have a PX cyclocross bike that I use both on and off road on individual rides as I can cross cross the county using bridleways, paths and dirt tracks between the tarmac sections with greater ease than I can on my mtb and with added interest to getting out and about than just riding the road bike on tarmac. I currently have a set of Vittoria Cross XN tyres on but if I was doing a purely tarmac ride I'd probably put something a bit slicker on.

The downside of the PX bike is the lack of fixing points for guards as it is race oriented.