Norco Threshold A1 v Rose Pro DX Cross?!?!

Lempod

HI! I'm looking for a decent Cross bike for racing and some winter training. Budget is under £1000
The choice has come down to these two:

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/nor ... e-ec072587

or

http://www.rosebikes.co.uk/bike/rose-pr ... 2myS-12myT

Anyone own one of these??? What do people think? Is the Norco more of a race bike??
Please help!
Thanks!

bendertherobot

Both look good to me. There's not an awful lot between bikes at this price point. Some will have better bits than the other one. The beauty to the Norco is you can test ride it and take it back easier.

Have you considered any others?

antsmithmk

The Norco is almost 2kg heavier than the Rose. I'm a Rose fanboy.

Lempod

I have also pondered over the Cube Cross Race Disc and the Cannondale CAADX 105. Both again have a similar spec and similar price. I guess it's down to frame quality but I just wanted to know if anyone have any experience of riding these bikes.

Lempod

antsmithmk wrote:

The Norco is almost 2kg heavier than the Rose. I'm a Rose fanboy.

Ah! I couldn't find the weight for the Norco so that might just make me go for the Rose. Do you have a Rose Cross bike antsmithmk?? Edit: Doh! Just seen your Tag!! Happy with the Boardman??

bendertherobot

antsmithmk wrote:

The Norco is almost 2kg heavier than the Rose. I'm a Rose fanboy.

That looks to be based on Evans' reps reply that they think it weighs 11kg.

If an alu bike with full carbon fork and 105 weighs the same as a Genesis Croix de Fer something's gone very wrong.

At a wild guess the WTB rims will be heavier, slightly, that the Mavic's on the Rose. After that most components should be fairly equal. I doubt there's more than 0.5kg or so in it in reality. But, the Rose is likely to be lighter.

Lempod

Thanks for the replies so far but has anybody ridden any of the bikes mentioned. Would like some real life feedback!

djp66

I've just ridden my Rose on the South Downs sportive yesterday and it was a great ride, comfy for me. It felt a bit heavier than my best bike so I thought I'd weigh and compare them so I can give you real figures.

Mine is a 2014 Cross DX Pro 3000 (ultegra 6800) 52cm and weighs 10.2kg.
It's slightly non-standard fitted with handbuilt H plus Son Archetype rims on Ultegra hubs & continental 4 seasons 28c tyres, full mudguards and a couple of bottle cages.
The standard wheels as supplied would add about 300g.

Edit: forgot to add, I have big heavy spd pedals and spyre trp calipers too.

bendertherobot

How about, for £79 more....

http://www.freeborn.co.uk/kinesis-cross ... oCS6Xw_wcB

antsmithmk

bendertherobot wrote:

antsmithmk wrote:

The Norco is almost 2kg heavier than the Rose. I'm a Rose fanboy.

That looks to be based on Evans' reps reply that they think it weighs 11kg.

.

Well you would hope they know.

Lempod

bendertherobot wrote:

How about, for £79 more....

http://www.freeborn.co.uk/kinesis-cross ... oCS6Xw_wcB

Well that looks like a good deal!!! And just when I thought I had made my mind up!!! Heard good things about the Pro6.
Is it that good???

antsmithmk

Lempod wrote:

bendertherobot wrote:

How about, for £79 more....

http://www.freeborn.co.uk/kinesis-cross ... oCS6Xw_wcB

Well that looks like a good deal!!! And just when I thought I had made my mind up!!! Heard good things about the Pro6.
Is it that good???

Sorry but that is a terrible deal. Shimano 5700 is old 10 speed, the Rose comes with 5800 new 11 speed.
Not only that but the braking is provided by tektro lyra... You might as well use your feet on the floor.
I think you could pick up a Kinesis frame and build a much better bike for cheaper if you wanted a Kinesis.

Lempod

Thanks for pointing that out. Thought it was too good to be true!!
Still none the wiser!!

djp66

antsmithmk wrote:

Sorry but that is a terrible deal. Shimano 5700 is old 10 speed, the Rose comes with 5800 new 11 speed.
Not only that but the braking is provided by tektro lyra... You might as well use your feet on the floor.
I think you could pick up a Kinesis frame and build a much better bike for cheaper if you wanted a Kinesis.

... and be careful of the 'sick green' kinesis frames, they have had colour matching issues.

Lempod

I could live with the 10 speed 105 but I'd heard before that the Tektro brakes are crap. (Possible future upgrade ??)
Another plus for the Rose is I can customise the finishing kit and still spend less than the cost of the Kinesis.
Anyone have any thoughts on the Cube and the Cannondale????

bendertherobot

antsmithmk wrote:

bendertherobot wrote:

antsmithmk wrote:

The Norco is almost 2kg heavier than the Rose. I'm a Rose fanboy.

That looks to be based on Evans' reps reply that they think it weighs 11kg.

.

Well you would hope they know.

Why would they? It's a web monkey who hasn't popped down to the shop to weigh it. Where do you think the extra 2kg has crept in?

bendertherobot

antsmithmk wrote:

Lempod wrote:

bendertherobot wrote:

How about, for £79 more....

http://www.freeborn.co.uk/kinesis-cross ... oCS6Xw_wcB

Well that looks like a good deal!!! And just when I thought I had made my mind up!!! Heard good things about the Pro6.
Is it that good???

Sorry but that is a terrible deal. Shimano 5700 is old 10 speed, the Rose comes with 5800 new 11 speed.
Not only that but the braking is provided by tektro lyra... You might as well use your feet on the floor.
I think you could pick up a Kinesis frame and build a much better bike for cheaper if you wanted a Kinesis.

You can build most bikes, certainly CX ones, better if you know what you're doing. Picking up a frame is easy. A groups is pretty straightforward, Apex/105, Force/Rival/Ultegra etc. But then you have to choose some wheels. So you either ask ugo, go to JRA or just buy the Kinesis ones. Then you add whatever finishing kit you want.

The Kinesis is not a terrible deal. That's hyperbole. It's up there with the best CX bikes but, yes, 5700 is older and there are colour issues. Braking? Well, the Shimanos are good, but a quick upgrade to TRP Spyres from the Tektro will sort out any issues. FWIW, again, the Lyras may or may not be bad but, putting your feet on the floor? Come on.

bendertherobot

And here's where Evans answer how heavy their own Pinnacle brand is, 9kg. Norco must be awful to have added 2kg in the frame and wheels.
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/pin ... 7#features

Incidentally, I have no clue what my Bivio X weighs. It's heavier than my Ritchey, lighter than my old Croix De Fer.

I've done 100 milers, commutes and cross on it. Weight isn't really all that important.

antsmithmk

bendertherobot wrote:

antsmithmk wrote:

Lempod wrote:

bendertherobot wrote:

How about, for £79 more....

http://www.freeborn.co.uk/kinesis-cross ... oCS6Xw_wcB

Well that looks like a good deal!!! And just when I thought I had made my mind up!!! Heard good things about the Pro6.
Is it that good???

Sorry but that is a terrible deal. Shimano 5700 is old 10 speed, the Rose comes with 5800 new 11 speed.
Not only that but the braking is provided by tektro lyra... You might as well use your feet on the floor.
I think you could pick up a Kinesis frame and build a much better bike for cheaper if you wanted a Kinesis.

You can build most bikes, certainly CX ones, better if you know what you're doing. Picking up a frame is easy. A groups is pretty straightforward, Apex/105, Force/Rival/Ultegra etc. But then you have to choose some wheels. So you either ask ugo, go to JRA or just buy the Kinesis ones. Then you add whatever finishing kit you want.

The Kinesis is not a terrible deal. That's hyperbole. It's up there with the best CX bikes but, yes, 5700 is older and there are colour issues. Braking? Well, the Shimanos are good, but a quick upgrade to TRP Spyres from the Tektro will sort out any issues. FWIW, again, the Lyras may or may not be bad but, putting your feet on the floor? Come on.

A more expensive bike to start with, that needs an upgrade immediately to bring it's braking to a standard of the other bikes mentioned...

The OP asked for advice and opinions, that's what we have provided.

antsmithmk

bendertherobot wrote:

antsmithmk wrote:

bendertherobot wrote:

antsmithmk wrote:

The Norco is almost 2kg heavier than the Rose. I'm a Rose fanboy.

That looks to be based on Evans' reps reply that they think it weighs 11kg.

.

Well you would hope they know.

Why would they? It's a web monkey who hasn't popped down to the shop to weigh it. Where do you think the extra 2kg has crept in?

No idea but you can only make a judgement based on the info that you have available to you. I made my Boardman CX weigh 2kg less by upgrading finishing kit and wheels. In hindsight I should have bought a lighter bike, but I didn't know then what I know now.

bendertherobot

antsmithmk wrote:

bendertherobot wrote:

antsmithmk wrote:

Lempod wrote:

bendertherobot wrote:

How about, for £79 more....

http://www.freeborn.co.uk/kinesis-cross ... oCS6Xw_wcB

Well that looks like a good deal!!! And just when I thought I had made my mind up!!! Heard good things about the Pro6.
Is it that good???

Sorry but that is a terrible deal. Shimano 5700 is old 10 speed, the Rose comes with 5800 new 11 speed.
Not only that but the braking is provided by tektro lyra... You might as well use your feet on the floor.
I think you could pick up a Kinesis frame and build a much better bike for cheaper if you wanted a Kinesis.

You can build most bikes, certainly CX ones, better if you know what you're doing. Picking up a frame is easy. A groups is pretty straightforward, Apex/105, Force/Rival/Ultegra etc. But then you have to choose some wheels. So you either ask ugo, go to JRA or just buy the Kinesis ones. Then you add whatever finishing kit you want.

The Kinesis is not a terrible deal. That's hyperbole. It's up there with the best CX bikes but, yes, 5700 is older and there are colour issues. Braking? Well, the Shimanos are good, but a quick upgrade to TRP Spyres from the Tektro will sort out any issues. FWIW, again, the Lyras may or may not be bad but, putting your feet on the floor? Come on.

A more expensive bike to start with, that needs an upgrade immediately to bring it's braking to a standard of the other bikes mentioned...

The OP asked for advice and opinions, that's what we have provided.

It doesn't need an upgrade. They are discs. Some users hate them, some users find them absolutely fine. Some say on a par with BB5.

I'd not have BB5,7, Lyra on a bike anymore. I think the Spyre and Hy Rd are superior.

But, if we're doing upgrades, the Kinesis comes with their very very wheel received wheelset that doesn't need an upgrade. Much lighter than those on the Norco or Rose.

bendertherobot

OP, here's another few to consider:

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/eastway-cx20-apex/

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/raleigh-rx-comp ... apex-2015/

Cycling weekly thought the RX was good, but not comfy, see here:

http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/reviews/ ... oss-bike-2

And a review of the Eastway

http://road.cc/content/review/115938-ea ... cross-bike

Lempod

UPDATE!!
I've decided to go for the Rose with on option to upgrade to a Rose 1850 wheelset. I just can't decide on frame colour!!!
Thanks to everyone that have contributed to the discussion and given advice, much appreciated!