Which CX bike

gorjanc

I'm in the market for a new CX bike. I will use it for light touring, riding on forest roads (no off road riding), road riding with extra wheelset for road tyres.

Budget is max 1600 GBP looking more around 1200. What I expect from the bike: alu frame, would prefer hydro disc brakes(I really like the look of the new 105), mounting holes for mudguards and racks (not a deal breaker), would prefer more racing position as it will be used mostly on paved roads.

sloppyschleckonds

Planet x xls

arlowood

2014 Genesis de Fer is a possibility

http://www.hargrovescycles.co.uk/genesi ... wwodMqkAcQ

antsmithmk

SloppySchleckonds wrote:

Planet x xls

In fact Planet X sell 3 bikes that might tickle your fancy...

X X ls
Dirty disco
London Road

bendertherobot

£1600? Build one.

Have a look at Condor Bivio X, for example. I take mine mountain biking.

Dippydog3

https://www.cyclestore.co.uk/specialize ... tAodilkAvQ

gorjanc

I really feel that if I go on disc brakes I should go hydro.

The Diverge looks really nice but for this price it should have 105!
I will look into building my own, does anybody have an rough estimate how much would a 105 groupset with hydro breaks cost?

djp66

I spent a lot of time thinking about hydro vs cable. In the end I decided that as I plan to use my CX bike for some light multi-day touring, I would stick to cable as this would be fixable on the road. Just a point of view you may not have considered.

If you're planning to race etc then I can see a bigger argument for hydro. If you really feel the need for hydro, there is also the Spyre HY/RD retrofit option, swap and sell on the unused cable calipers that were on whatever bike you bought.

I considered the Planet X bikes but the deal breaker for me was that they don't have eyelets for racks & guards.

A couple of alternatives for you;

Rose Pro DX, for your budget you can get what you're after with Ultegra 6800 (but cable discs) for less than £1300 delivered. Check out - http://www.rosebikes.co.uk/bike/rose-pro-dx-cross-3000-2014

Kinesis Crosslight Pro6, probably due a spec upgrade shortly but currently 105 (5700) for £1400 rrp but easily cheaper if you hunt around. Also available as a frameset. See - http://www.kinesisbikes.co.uk/bikes/crosslight/pro6

Hope this helps.

Dippydog3

A new 105 disc groupset is about £500, so if you expect to pay £1200 for a complete bike that you are really not leaving much for the bike and wheels!

gorjanc

So it looks like for my price range hydro disc is not a feasible option.

Maybe my best option is buying a bike with 5800, mechanical disc brakes and upgrading to hydro if I'm not satisfied!

andy9964

Does it have to be Shimano?
The 2015 CAADX with SRAM Rival has hydraulic brakes. Priced around £1300

Edit: £1399 actually

http://www.tredz.co.uk/.Cannondale-Caad ... _73527.htm

andy9964

Double post

gorjanc

The CAADX does look like exactly what I was looking for. Does anybody know if it has mudguard and rack mounting points?

apreading

gorjanc wrote:

The CAADX does look like exactly what I was looking for. Does anybody know if it has mudguard and rack mounting points?

Looking at the pics, seems to have rack mounts on the rear but no mudguard mounts on front fork.

http://www.wheelies.co.uk/images/Products/full73527.jpg

bendertherobot

Most modern 'Dales opt for hidden guard mountings on the inside of the fork. I'd be surprised if there weren't any.

iron-clover

The spesh tricross is OK for all those- it's designed more as a light tourer that can take some rough stuff. With it's standard components it's more of a 'Jack of all trades' bike, although probably quite tough for touring.

However, I've seen a fair few at CX races where their riders have been doing OK, and I've heard they do have a decent enough frame for racing, even if you might want to swap out the wheels. A great bonus is also that there are lots of second hand ones floating around fairly cheap, so you can then buy nice wheels etc and keep the standard components for mile munching.

apreading

bendertherobot wrote:

Most modern 'Dales opt for hidden guard mountings on the inside of the fork. I'd be surprised if there weren't any.

It seems you could be right, according to this: http://www.epic-cycles.co.uk/Cannondale_CAADX.html it has mudguard mounts.

Oh, and according to this: http://www.cannondale.com/nam_en/2015/b ... rival-disc it has mounts for a 'fender', whatever that is...!

gorjanc

Ok I'm looking at CAADX with 105 and mechanical brakes for 1000GBP.
http://www.epic-cycles.co.uk/Cannondale_CAADX.html

Do you guys think it's worth to fork additional 400 GBP for rival grupset and hydro disc brakes?

andy9964

What about the 105, with brakes upgraded to TRP HY/RD (cable operated hydraulic callipers). You'll still have £200 change from the SRAM model, and the CAADX callipers to sell.
I'm looking at the Tiagra and thinking of doing the same

ai_1

Because Canyon has somehow not been mentioned yet and also because I'd find it hard to look past this if I was looking for an alloy CX on your budget:

In the middle of your budget range you can have Ultegra groupset, hydraulic disk brakes, decent wheels, mudguard mounts
http://www.canyon.com/_en/roadbikes/bike.html?b=3620

Or at the bottom end of your budget you can have the same frame but with 105 and mechanical disk brakes.
http://www.canyon.com/_en/roadbikes/bike.html?b=3619

You can get both versions either in black and red with CX tyres or set up for road use in greeen with slicks and mudguards fitted.

backo

picked up a 2015 CAADX 105 3 weeks ago...defo has mudguard mounts on the rear and on the inside of the front forks.

Very happy with the bike by the way, have raced it a couple of times.

the mechanical disc brakes are more than good enough for me

not entirely sure why you would need hyrdos?

gorjanc

I looked around and I can get the CAADX 105 from a local supplier for 950 GBP, the 105 canyon would cost me 1100 GBP plus shipping, so around 200 GBP difference.

gorjanc

Ok I finally decided and paid for the bike today.
I ordered ROSE DX 3100 2014, mainly because I got an amazing deal for last year test model(the bike has a few minor scratches). I paid 1300 GBP and got hydro disc brakes, Ultegra 6870 Di2 groupset , Rose standard 5 year warranty, rack and mudguard mounts.

Today when I was testing the bike I also tried the Rose DX 4000 2014 with force 22 and avid mechanical disc brakes. The brakes maybe were not setup properly, but they were very aggressive(locked the rear tire very fast), also the brakes made the front fork vibrate when breaking hard. The 3100 had the same front fork but no vibrations, so I assume it must be the brakes foult.

andy_from_embsay

Really interested in how you find the DX Pro 3100 - have just ordered the 2015 model (same spec, as far as I can see) for £1900 - which still seems an amazing deal.

antsmithmk

You guys going to race on di2?

gorjanc

As I said, I bought a Rose test bike, it is slightly used a nick here and there, but for the price it is a great deal.

andy_from_embsay

antsmithmk wrote:

You guys going to race on di2?

Possibly - mine's mainly for commuting, bad weather and a bit of off-road - why d'you ask?