Entry Level CX bike

Ben_.

Does anyone have any expereince of the Revolution Cross Pro '13 from Edinburgh Bicycle Cooperative?

To date I've mainly done some Time Trials & Hill Climbs. I'm looking to getting into doing some local CX races next year. The spec of this bike looks decent value for money. SO I was thinking of waiting for a 15 % / 20 % off sale and picking up one of these bikes.

Ben_.

and I'd extend this topic to cover any of the Cross bikes from Revolution/Edinburgh Bicycle Cooperative.

owenlars

I bought 2 of the basic Revolution Cross (one for each of my two eldest sons I hasten to add). They are fine, they work well with good basic equipment. I cycled one of them about 300 miles around Edinburgh whilst I was working up there about three years ago and it is great value. As you know Edinburgh's roads are not far off a cyclocross track. So whilst no one is going to rave about them, I equally think that no one is going to damn them to hell either. In a nutshell they do exactly what it says on the tin.

antsmithmk

Personally I would say they are too heavy for racing, unless you spend some serious cash upgrading, which in the long run would mean you were better off buying a better bike first up.

Ben_.

I've changed the title of this post. Any suggestions for an alternate entry level CX bike for local cross races?

antsmithmk

Second hand bike?

I race my Boardman CX comp... It's heavy at 12kg but could easily lose a few kilos should I desire!

Ben_.

I have occasionally had a look at EBay for 2nd hand CX bikes.

mattrixdesign2

Boardman CX Comp is cheap to start with so it could be worth a look. Another option is the Specialize TriCross, not a true cross, but ebay is full of them, I got a bargain and I love it - a true do it all bike.

If you are wanting to compete and have light weight on your side, perhaps best to avoid discs on lower end models, as the weight penalty will be hefty, having said that for me (TriCross Cantis!) discs make much more sense for CX, but people can argue for and against all day.

I think Decathlon do a CX, they never seem to have stock, but it can be ordered in, still its not cheap!

If you have a MTB you could just use that?

Chris James

In the handful of cross races I have taken part in I woudn't say that weight was THAT big a concern. Few races seem to involve much portage and by far the biggest drag is produced by the tyre cutting into mud.

I reckon you can reasonably race anything as long as it has large mud clearances. The OP is only asking about entry level bikes, so presumably nothing too posh. I built my own up from a Dolan frameset (it isn't ideal with down tube cable runs, but it has worked okay even racing though bogs). Personally I think cheap and cheerful is the way to go as you WILL crash and i prefer not to worry about possible repair bills!

Tyre selection and inflation seem to make more difference than any other equipment. Cross specific chain rings sizes are a very good idea as a 50 tooth chain ring probably will not be low enough to be usable. Also cantis might not be great stoppers but mini v's which are fitted on some bikes have very little mud clearance.

veronese68

Just had an email from Merlin and this is on sale. Don't know if it's any good.

Kimble

I race my Boardman CX team (with some small upgrades) and on Monday it's wearing slicks and mudguards again as a commuter. but TBH I think it could be a little lighter as a racer. The Planet X Flanders at £999 looks fantastic value, lightweight, carbon, BB7's, 105 gearing and good colour scheme. not much wrong there especially if you're looking at immediately being semi competitive.

durhamwasp

I started with a Revolution, good value for general use, but far too heavy for actual cross races.

Ridley X-Bow is my recommendation.