Planet X XLS SRAM CX1

BeaconJon

Morning all.
Just thinking of moving away from TT's and taking up some CX for a bit more fun.
Probably going to sell my TT rig to fund it so I'm looking at complete bikes as well as building my own.
I'm
Looking at a 1x10/11 setup and saw the Planet X XLS. Looks well spec'd at that price for racing.

Thoughts?
Cheers. Jon.

bendertherobot

It's well priced now. Used to be £2k. So many rivals at that price. Tubs mind. Do you want tubs? They are better for CX, if you're good at it. But there is the obvious faff of changing tubs for conditions. You may find clinchers are easier in that respect but hold you back. Mind, you could, equally, get some other wheels as well. Easy to get some for £250 or so.

What's your budget?

BeaconJon

Tubs don't worry me, I race on them for TT's. I'd probably get another set of wheels like you say.
Budget depends on the sale of my TT bike but I'd hope it'll be around £1500.
I'm not averse to buying used but there seems very little about at the moment.

VamP

Seems a decent spec but not sure how they got it up to 9 kg. That's heavy.

Also a word of caution on the Vittoria tubs they ship with:

1) Check how they glue them, mention of spare tub tape sends alarm bells ringing.
2) I have binned my Vittoria tubs. Cheap to buy, rubbish to race on.

If you buy the frame only, and self-build, you'd probably not spend much more on a fully race ready machine, i.e 7kg and with tubs that won't put you in the undergrowth.

I am not sure if they still offer a choice of BB30 or BSA on their frames. If they do, you want the BSA no question.

BeaconJon

Interesting feedback.
As a tester weight isn't really an issue for the most part. I'm 82kg so wasn't too worried about the weight, maybe I should be?
I'd be happy to self build (done most of my bikes this way) but it's all new this CX stuff.
I've built up Chinese open frames before for the road with no issues and know guys who race them at a good level. Should that be a possible route?
Should I be looking towards discs rather than canti's these days on a self build?
Appreciate the info, Jon.

bendertherobot

It's a heavy fork, light ish frame. All in it's about 1900g. Not the lightest.

So, that leaves, 7.2kg to play with. CX1 is light. The implication is that the tubs are heavy. I doubt they are. I think it's probably overstated. My Apex XLS is about 9 or so with handbuilts. I'd expect this to be that bit lighter.

bendertherobot

Just checked. The tubs are 1450g. I think they've massively overstated the weight. I wouldn't get too hung up about it mind.

BeaconJon

Like I said, weight is the least of my issues bike wise I think.
Any other bikes I should consider at this price point? I don't want to have to buy them bugger about changing things really.

VamP

Weight is a side issue, but why have extra 2 kilos when you don't need them. I know people with XLSs at 7.5kg, no doubt you could go lighter. My canti bikes are 7kg. After 30 minutes in the mud they may be 15kg, so yes the weight is a side issue. But it's there. In dry races with a few dismounts and carries the guy with the 2kg lighter bike has an advantage. Don't forget that cross is all about the accelerations. Running as well as riding.

Regarding your other question on Chinese frames. Well the XLS is a Chinese frame. So yes, they are totally viable. Iplay IP-105-D is the one you want if you decide to go this route. Lovely frames.

Cantis vs disc brakes is a whole other debate. I have cantis and see no reason to change. But the tide of the market seems headed towards discs. Either will do the job in terms of braking, but cross races are not won by braking, so the debate is more on compatibility with existing stuff. Do you have tubular wheels for example that could serve as cross wheels. If yes, that's £400 saved on your build... And so on.

BeaconJon

I'll have a look at the iplay at lunch.
Still undecided over braking but I do like discs on my MTB although I have an okd pair of Campag Zondas that need replacing on a road bike so they'd work well with the canti-lever setup.
I'd prefer a 1x10/11 setup. Any preferences on groupset?

VamP

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19678063#p19678063]BeaconJon[/url] wrote:

I'll have a look at the iplay at lunch.
Still undecided over braking but I do like discs on my MTB although I have an okd pair of Campag Zondas that need replacing on a road bike so they'd work well with the canti-lever setup.
I'd prefer a 1x10/11 setup. Any preferences on groupset?

I stick with Shimano for cross just because it's so easy to work on, and I have lots of bits about. Wear and tear in cross is exponentially faster so cheap is good! 105 seems like a good sweetspot and deffo 10 speed rather than 11. You don't need the extra gear, and why add cost and fragility. Old time crossers all swear by 9 speed stuff. If you do go for cantis, the SRAM Avid Ultimates are hard to beat.

For the iplay, if you head over to weighweenies there's an extensive thread on these frames there. A lad at my local league has just built up a pair and they are very handsome.

trek_dan

I'd be pretty tempted with one of these http://www.cyclomonster.com/cart/focus-mares-ax-1-0-disc-2015-cyclo-cross?gclid=CLzt7tGBpscCFafLtAodyI0H1w
SRAM road stuff is very easy to change to single ring, just add a new ring and a MTB mech. I race on the older Mares AX with Canti's and its extremely light.