Cycle cross bike for 4 day road ride.

nobby2607

Hi,
I have signed up to do a ride in the summer from Brussels to Paris over 4 days riding (320miles all in I think).
Question I have is wether the bike I'm on will be ok for me doing it. I'm very new to road riding coming from more mountain biking. I have a Giant TCX SLR2 it's a cycle cross bike and I feel very comfortable on it while I have been out training on it, but I have never rode a full on road bike.
The tyres were changed out recently from the very knobbly schwalbe tyres that were on it to the Conti gator skins.
The gearing is shimano 105 20 speed with an 11 - 28 cassette and 36/ 46 front rings.
I know that with the frame being aluminium and being made for cycle cross it'll be heavier than a road bike, and the geometry will be slightly different, just not sure how that will affect the riding. Also the brakes, it has mechanical disc brakes that to be honest I quite like the feel of and stop me dead on, but what would these be like on a big ride like that?

Just very green with road riding.

Suppose what I am asking if the bike I am on will be suitable or am I going to have to fork out for another bike? That's a conversation I'd rather not be having with the missus, just bought a £2500 mountain bike last summer.

Also if there is anything I could change out on the bike to make it more suitable for the road?

g00se

It'll be fine as long as you have slicks. You may want to swap the 46 big ring for a 50 or 52 for the downhills.

cougie

Cyclocross bike with those tyres will be just fine. All you need to do is build up your distances.

Sadly no real need to buy another bike.

How Far is too Far

it will be almost as good as a similar priced road bike. you will not notice much difference. The gears will be fine unless you want to pedal above 34 MPH a lot.

nobby2607

Thanks for that.
Don't know wether I'm happy or sad about not requiring new bike! Suppose it does mean that I don't have to get THAT look from the better half when I say I NEED another new bike.

So bike sorted, just need to sort myself out now!!! :shock:

I am putting the miles while I'm home which Im really enjoying, then go offshore for 4 weeks watt bike training!!

Cheers!!

Giraffoto

Apart from the disc brakes (I had cantilevers) you've just described the Tricross that was my road bike for about eight years. If you train for the distance, the bike will be fine.

ai_1

Giraffoto wrote:

Apart from the disc brakes (I had cantilevers) you've just described the Tricross that was my road bike for about eight years. If you train for the distance, the bike will be fine.

Likewise, I rode a Tricross for more than 3 years before getting a full on road bike. Once you've changed the tyres and chose appropriate gearing a cyclo-cross bike isn't especially different to a road bike and is especially ideal for long rides. I did many sportives, adventure races and duathlons on mine. I didn't like the canti brakes and associated front brake/fork chatter on my Tricross but otherwise it was/is a great all-rounder. With disk brakes, your Giant TCX should be great. The 36/46 chainrings are a fairly narrow range compared to the more typical 34/50 compact and might be a bit constrictive for my liking if used with a narrow range cassette. For example a 12-25 cassette would give 46/12 at the big end and I often use 50/12 or 50/11 for sprints and fast downhills. More importantly 36/25 at the small end would cause me problems on some steep climbs. However with the 11-28 cassette you've got, I think it would be fine for most people, me included. In fact for long touring type rides a 46 or 48 at the front is probably ideal as is the option to use larger volume tyres which is an option on a cyclo-cross bike because of the big tyre clearances.

nobby2607

Thank you for the advice people, It's much appreciated.

I'll just keep getting the miles in and closer to the ride once I've shed a bit Derby and gotten closer to where I want to be fitness wise I'll see how I feel about the gearing. To be honest if the biggest issue is spinning out above 30 or so mph I don't think I'll be too worried about that, being on skinny rubber at speed is still making the arse twitch like a rabbits nose!

ai_1

nobby2607 wrote:

Thank you for the advice people, It's much appreciated.

I'll just keep getting the miles in and closer to the ride once I've shed a bit Derby and gotten closer to where I want to be fitness wise I'll see how I feel about the gearing. To be honest if the biggest issue is spinning out above 30 or so mph I don't think I'll be too worried about that, being on skinny rubber at speed is still making the ars* twitch like a rabbits nose!

Don't worry. The gearing will be perfect for long distance cruising and good all round with that cassette unless you're a missile and/or you really like descending fast. I've done 80km/h on 50/12 which us almost identical to 46/11. It's only if you wanted closer gear spacing, and therefore wanted to change to a narrow range cassette that the gearing range might become problematic.

fatdaz

Don't listen to these people. Of course you NEED a new bike, you always need a new bike