Planet X XLS vs On one dirty disco?

jamie 'jammy dodger'

I currently commute & XC (in spare time) with a full sus bike...the 2 bikes mentioned in title are a couple of choices id like to use to commute & light XC.

Of the two does the £299 price difference offer alot more,ive never had a cyclocross so have no comparison.

Many thanks for any input J

Monty Dog

My ride buddy has both - XLS has more classic CX race geometry, i.e. faster-handling whereas DD has slacker head angle and better for all-day riding, like the 100 miles of the Dorset Gravel Dash last weekend. Depends on what you're planning to use the bike for.

drummer_boy

I have the XLS (with SRAM), and a friend at work has ordered the Dirty Disco (due to land next week), so when it does I'll be able to give a direct comparison!!

As Monty Dog said, my understanding is also that teh XLS is more out and out race frame than the DD.

Cross Junkie here (http://crossjunkie.blogspot.co.uk/2013/ ... n-xls.html) , has ridden and raced both, and in an earlier blog muses on the differences between the two.

jamie 'jammy dodger'

Thanks for the help.

Primarily the bike will serve as a commute (the full sus is fun but heavy).I currently ctw 5 mins road 25/30 mins canal,about 8 miles so not breaking any records here.

But i'm going to save full sus for trail days and certain XC routes but would like a CX bike to able me to have some longer road/light xc routes.

The tart in me loves black bikes,I've looked at the boardman team/comp but not liking the chrome look plus ive never had a carbon so be a nice change.

Cheers again J

jamie 'jammy dodger'

Ps just noticed cross junkie is relatively local to me (approx 12 miles) irrelevant but cool

ugo.santalucia

Sounds like the dirty disco is then...
However, I have a race geometry frameset and I use it for pretty much everything and I don't race

jamie 'jammy dodger'

You'd think the DD clinches it but the jury is still out :-\

PuttyKnees

Wasn't the DD designed for 3 peaks type riding, and the XLS is a more typical race bike?

jamie 'jammy dodger'

Q about sizing....overlooked this...im 6ft,rode a 20# hardtail and currently a 44cm (17.5 i think) full sus..im led to believe CX bikes are totally different to the mentioned bikes and road bikes.

Don't think planet x have a store near me but have a halfords local,presuming if i try a Boardman CX this will set the scale for other CX bikes?

ugo.santalucia

You have to decide between 54 and 56... probably 56 is more your size. I am 5'10" and have a 54 frame

jamie 'jammy dodger'

Thanks matey.

GGBiker

Bear in mind these 2 bikes don't have any mudguard eyelets etc if you plan to use mudguards on your commute.

jamie 'jammy dodger'

Not an issue,besides the neo guard on my sus i can happily cycle without guards (granted i have a full change of clothes at work for wet days).

differentstrokes87

I have a XLS and love it.

I've ran it on conti gp4s pretty much since I got it and use it for road riding and the odd commute. The furthest I've rode it is around 50 mile and had no problem with comfort.

jamie 'jammy dodger'

Cool B-)

I favor continental rubber queens 2.2 as a rule,not checked yet but do conti do a CX tyre in the same grade?

jamie 'jammy dodger'

Trip to Halfords for a sizing...Their CX team 55.5 was a very comfy fit & to be fair (unlike previous comment) a nice looking chrome bike.

Felt weird at first,thought they brought out a small frame as the bike looked very low,i belive this is the case with CX & road bikes unlike hardtail/full sus.

Still not sure i want to clip in but am very excited with the different cycle experience looming.

drummer_boy

I am 5'11" and ride a 56cm PX XLS. I'm only down the road from you in Blackburn (work at least) and my commute, on this bike is 10.5miles, about half and half road and canal.

jamie 'jammy dodger'

Nice one....going with the xls,checked out a few others but i always come back to the xls so gonna go with the gut feeling,checking out spd's now :-\ love riding with flats but think its time to "man up" and clip in!!!

bobley

I'm 5'11" and ride the 54cm XLS. It works but you do get the odd toe clash on the front wheel.

Apart from geo the DD is a fair bit lighter as the XLS comes with ali steerer fork 769g vs the full carbon DD @ 490g

oldbazza

Just got a reduced XLS frameset from Planet X via e-bay which I'm trying to build up on a budget* mine came with a full carbon fork so I don't know if they've changed the spec as the website says ally steerer :?: ;both the bods I spoke to at PX didn't seem surprised when I said it was a full carbon fork though.


*Not necessarily succeeding at this although I'll come in a fair bit under the full price.

jamie 'jammy dodger'

Good luck with the build,hope you manage within budget...pondered the idea of a mtb build over the years,in just so indecisive/impulsive i can't choose the make/frame id like to start with .

CX biking hopefully will be a quality experience though.

simon t

Does anyone know the F &F weights for the XLS, DD against a Kinesis pro 6?

jamie 'jammy dodger'

The planet x website has the weight specs for xls & DD on the chosen bikes page...the kinesis is also the same on a number of stockists sites (don't have pen handy to actually scribble them down,sorry).

J

simon t

jamie 'jammy dodger' wrote:

The planet x website has the weight specs for xls & DD on the chosen bikes page...the kinesis is also the same on a number of stockists sites (don't have pen handy to actually scribble them down,sorry).

J

but do you believe them though?

jamie 'jammy dodger'

Fair point ;-)