Road bike for offroad use?

I am taking part in the coast-2-coast challenge in a few months which contains road and offroad sections. One bike to do it all!
I have a CX bike which is fine, but my compadre has been outbid on numerous examples on eBay so we are considering other options..
1. 1.5 inch slicks on his MTB for the road
He is fitter than me so I am loving that option, but 50 road miles might push the balance too far the other way and affect the enjoyment for both of us.
2. Keep bidding on CX bikes in the hope one comes good
3. Borrow an old road bike from another mate and source some cheap cantis/mini v's and some CX tyres for the offroad day.
Any thoughts?
Would the MTB be hugely handicapping?
Is there a 'good' time to but 2nd hand CX? (Although I would have thought we are already in that time)
Is a road bike easily 'convertible' and would it be up to the job?
Thanks
I have a CX bike which is fine, but my compadre has been outbid on numerous examples on eBay so we are considering other options..
1. 1.5 inch slicks on his MTB for the road
He is fitter than me so I am loving that option, but 50 road miles might push the balance too far the other way and affect the enjoyment for both of us.
2. Keep bidding on CX bikes in the hope one comes good
3. Borrow an old road bike from another mate and source some cheap cantis/mini v's and some CX tyres for the offroad day.
Any thoughts?
Would the MTB be hugely handicapping?
Is there a 'good' time to but 2nd hand CX? (Although I would have thought we are already in that time)
Is a road bike easily 'convertible' and would it be up to the job?
Thanks
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Posts
If so then there are several on / off road options, some of the off road is just gravel, some is more like MTB territory so you need to work out the route first.
However, I've done the mostly on-road one on a CX bike twice and it's an ideal vehicle. The road bikers in the party struggled on some of the gravel bits but obviously had a slight advantage on the tarmac. The one guy on an MTB was handicapped by it until we got on to the Waskerley Way, which has sections of stony path that can be a bit rough for really narrow tyres.
As to fitting them to the forks - I haven't seen the bike yet but had (after a quick google - wrongly it seems) assumed that the forks would have brake mount bosses. It looks like that option has quickly been scrubbed!
Checkout the route and see what it consists of.