Cyclocross bike or mountain bike

shamsasa

As the subject, I was wondering whether the cx is easy as the mountain bike. I am asking because a friend of mine actually asking me to join thier rides on an off road rides. The terrain is not that rough just small hills and no big rocks. They use mountain bike. I don't want to spend money on one just for the two times i ride with them. Moreover, the cx is more handy in every day use. By the way, I have a road bike just to let you know.

Thanks in advance for the help

Silly Old Hector

CX is god for almost anything other than rocky ascents and descents - hardly use my MTB now.

MrVanilla

Likewise, I rarely use my mountain bike now, swapped a Kona Hoss for a Forme Calver CXS and haven't looked back. Also used the CX on the red route at Sherwood Pines with no issue and I don't think I'll get more extreme than that.

markhewitt1978

CX is kind of MTB light. I would put forward that the majority of things people use a MTB for CX is actually the ideal bike. Really technical stuff with jumps and big rocks are roots it probably can't handle, but your average forest tracks it's ideal.

MountainMonster

I noticed in your post you mentioned that you don't want to spend much on a bike that will only be used twice.

Believe me, once you take it out and realise how much fun CX and offroad riding is, it won't be only 2 times! I would recommend a CX bike, although, a nice hardtail MTB can be just as good. I find the CX just a bit better though!

shamsasa

Thanks guys
What I mean by twice, is twice a month. I was leaning towards the CX for being versatile. But I was afraid that I would miss the major fun if I bought the Mountain Bike.

tgotb

When MTBs first became popular, in about 1990, I bought a reasonably good one. At the time, suspension forks were pretty exotic, and 90% of the MTBs people actually bought and rode had rigid forks.

CX bikes are functionally very similar to that generation of MTBs; the only practical differences are that modern CX bikes are approaching half the weight, and have narrower wheels/tyres with less aggressive tread (which makes them quite a bit faster in most conditions). There's nothing I did on that MTB that I wouldn't be comfortable doing on a CX bike.

There's a perception that CX bikes (especially the wheels) are fragile; I have seen no real evidence for that, and in particular the wheels are a lot more robust than most people think.

Chris James

shamsasa wrote:

Thanks guys
What I mean by twice, is twice a month. I was leaning towards the CX for being versatile. But I was afraid that I would miss the major fun if I bought the Mountain Bike.

You will probably find MTB routes a lot more 'fun' on a cross bike!

Like a poster above, I have done the red route at Sherwood Pines on my cross bike and it would actually have been more duller on a bike with suspension. On the other hand, I had a go at the red route at Gisburn Forest and it seemed impossible to me (although the blue route a was a blast).

shamsasa

TGOTB wrote:

There's a perception that CX bikes (especially the wheels) are fragile; I have seen no real evidence for that, and in particular the wheels are a lot more robust than most people think.

That is assuring. Cause I'm a heavy rider. What about the Breaks? Is the disk break much more better than the rim break? How about the Maintenance? Is it as easy as the rim breaks? Cause I will be doing most of the maintenenca at home. The LBS is a bit ahool. They will not do a maintenance to a bike that you didn't buy from them. And they are a bit expensive.

shamsasa

Thank you Chris. You and the others really help me a lot.

tgotb

Cable disc brakes are probably easiest to maintain, though cantis are also fairly straightforward. Discs are probably also slightly more powerful, though you're generally going to be limited by the grip between your tyres and the ground, and whenever I've used cantis they'be been absolutely fine...

kajjal

TGOTB wrote:

When MTBs first became popular, in about 1990, I bought a reasonably good one. At the time, suspension forks were pretty exotic, and 90% of the MTBs people actually bought and rode had rigid forks.

CX bikes are functionally very similar to that generation of MTBs; the only practical differences are that modern CX bikes are approaching half the weight, and have narrower wheels/tyres with less aggressive tread (which makes them quite a bit faster in most conditions). There's nothing I did on that MTB that I wouldn't be comfortable doing on a CX bike.

There's a perception that CX bikes (especially the wheels) are fragile; I have seen no real evidence for that, and in particular the wheels are a lot more robust than most people think.

This is a good post. I started mountain biking in the early 1990's and had rigid forks. The only thing I would add is even just front suspension reduces the impact of the rougher trails on your hands and a mountain bike handles impacts better while being more manoeuvrable than a CX bike. Also the disc brakes on mountain bikes make a big difference.

matt@theforce

shamsasa wrote:

What about the Breaks? Is the disk break much more better than the rim break? How about the Maintenance? Is it as easy as the rim breaks? Cause I will be doing most of the maintenenca at home.

Is a disc brake better than a rim brake?, In most wet/muddy conditions 'yes' in dry rides possibly not (although opions vary wildy on this subject). Personally I will always buy disc over canti-lever. I go on 60-70miles jaunts with a friend every other week and I used to alternate between my Merida CX4/Marin Rocky Ridge & '91 GT Avalanche & do these ride on my own on my days off to, the best of the bunch was easily the Merida 8)

Maintenance, every now and then I tighten the cable adjuster to bring the pads closer to the disk & every so often I need to let it out again once I've fitted my new pads . Once the caliper has been aligned they are very simple to maintain (depending on the make/model of brake), I'd happily spend my money on TRP Spyre's & Hayes CX5 (now experts) as I've run them and like them both, I wouldn't buy Avid bb7's, I found them to fiddly and needing more pad adjustment than the CX5's (even when running superstar sintered pads in both).

If I had the money (and hope to have next year), I would look at hydraulic brakes, I find on long slow decents that my hands ache a little from the amount of pressure needed to maintain speed (talking rough Peak District MTB routes CutGate etc) & hydraulics will require less pressure for the same braking force.

Matthew

Monty Dog

I got my first MTB in 1990 - 2" tyres were considered 'fat' and suspension was a Flexstem. I built my first CX bike about 11 years ago and been playing around ever-since - this summer I took a CX bike to Glentress and Innerleithin where I rode most of the routes including all the reds and a few blacks - it was only the big drop-offs and doubles I didn't attempt. I run rim brakes on both my CX bikes but cable discs on my MTBs - I have the full set of 'toys' as I also have a 3"-tyred 29+ MTB and in the process of building a 5"-tyred fat-bike - it's simply having the right tool for the job. The fattie will be riding in conditions and terrain that means you'll walk riding anything else - particularly where there is simply no trail.

drummer_boy

Had a MTB. Bought a CX on C2W, as half the route is towpath, and half hilly road climb. Just use the CX for everything now, and started racing CX this season as well.
Did a few of the AdventureX offroad sportives this year,and the CX is ideal for those.
It was so unused this year, that I sold my MTB to my brother.
I am a clydesdale rider as well, and the more robust wheels on the CX are perfect for me.
As a plus I lost 2st this year as I am riding so much more.