Several "what CX bike?" questions rolled into one post ...

kevinharley

I am about to start a new, moderately better paid job!

I have started to plant the idea with my wife that this also = new bike time

I have a HT MTB, and a sort-of-cyclocross-bike (Saracen Urban Hack) that primarily serves as my do it all commuter-cum-off-road-easy-trails-blast-cum-road-(on-the-rare-occasions-I-want-to-do-a-tarmac-only-ride) bike! It is fitted permanently with a rack and mudguards, so does the commuting job well enough, but rattles a lot (and is quite heavy) for both off road blasts, and for long road rides.

I don't have a 'proper' road bike. I like doing a road ride occasionally, but this is at the bottom of what I want a bike to be good for.

What I think I want is a light (probably carbon) CX bike, that I don't need to fit guards and rack to, and which will serve well for off-road blasts, possibly CX racing, and, with a set of 25c slicks, will do a respectable job on road.

I want disc brakes (would love hydro-disc!), and ideally budget under £1000!! (I'm not stupid though; I know I won't get carbon/hydro-disc and < £1K!!) :shock: Light is good, at least well under 10kg, preferably close to (or under) 9kg will be great.

Planet X XLS and On One Dirty Disco look to be the obvious choice for Carbon, disc (mechanical) and under £1K:

http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/CBOODDAPEX ... cross-bike
http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/CBPXXLSAPE ... cross-bike

(both of which, for another £300, can become hydro-disc)

Firstly, what is the difference between them?

Secondly, is there anything else I should consider at the same price point? One option would be to go through my work's cycle to work scheme. This is Halfords only (which rules out Planet X and On One); I know the Boardman Team is an option (not carbon frame), but that you can also access other brands via Halfords - what else is there to consider at £1K?)

Thirdly, is hydro disc on a CX bike worth the extra? I suspect that its not necessarily £300 better? But, in a couple of years, when hydro discs are more mainstream on road / CX bikes, and the costs have come down, under (or closer to) £1000 for a carbon/hydro-disc bike might be realistic? Maybe I should just wait, and save up!

Or (fourthly), if I'm spending over £1k, should I think about the Titanium On One Pickenflick
http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/CBOOPICKRI ... cross-bike

Looking forward to your advice!

tgotb

kevinharley wrote:

Thirdly, is hydro disc on a CX bike worth the extra? I suspect that its not necessarily £300 better? But, in a couple of years, when hydro discs are more mainstream on road / CX bikes, and the costs have come down, under (or closer to) £1000 for a carbon/hydro-disc bike might be realistic? Maybe I should just wait, and save up!

Yes, but (at least for CX racing) not for the reason you might think. Finely modulated braking just isn't that important in CX racing, and as you get better you find yourself using the brakes less and less. As more than one top CX rider has said, brakes don't make you faster. That's why so many pros are still on marginally lighter cantis; you just don't need top braking performance.
Where hydraulic brakes do pay dividends though, is in maintenance. It's pretty much impossible to keep dirt out of your brake cables, and if you're racing regularly you're probably going to go through at least couple of sets a season (depending on your tolerance for gunged-up brake cables); hydraulics, by comparison, are sealed, which means that apart from replacing pads they're virtually maintenance-free. The other advantage is that hydraulics compensate for pad wear. Whilst tweaking the adjusters from time to time isn't a big deal, it's not unheard of to wear right through a set of pads in one race, and you don't want to be adjusting your brakes mid race. Conditions like this aren't the norm, but I normally get one or two per season.

The XLS is a great bike, I have two (albeit bought as framesets and built up with different components). For a comparison between that and the Dirty Disco, have a look at the Crossjunkie blog - I'm pretty sure he wrote something comparing them.

ravey1981

Unless you are dead set on carbon don't discount this:

http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/CBPXLDNRIV ... -road-bike

Better groupset than the two bikes above, already got hydros and under a grand. You are losing out by about 400g (according to their figures it's claimed at 9.8kg) to the xls. Cracking value at that price.