Looking for cyclocross to commute

pedersen175

Living in Denmark and the choices here are very limited. So I am gonna ask which one of these would "probably" suit me best. I have no previous experience with cyclocross. Will be used 95% to commute to and from work (5 miles each way, 10 miles total each day).

I am 191cm with 87-88cm leges from crouch down. Due to living in Denmark, I might or most likely will not be able to try some of the bikes. So I am totally in your mercy. I am 25 and would prefer to have children, so no too aggressiv positions please! xD

What I have been looking at would be (within 2000€):

Cube Cross Race 2017 Cyclocross Bike

Planet X XLS SRAM Rival 1 Clincher Cyclocross Bike

Planet X XLS SRAM Rival 11 Hydraulic Cyclocross Bike

Cannondale CAADX 105


I am not looking for alternatives of the same quality, I am looking for which one to choose or if possible if one is of even better quality for same price. Looking forward to advices and thanks in advance!

bendertherobot

CAADX takes mudguards. Is that important?

trek_dan

Planet X London Road probably a better choice than XLS for commuting - particularly if as above you think mudguards might be useful.

davesnothere

The Cube is a great bike and would suit your needs, I test rode one before i bought my bike. You can buy a set of mudguards from Cube although they are a little tricky to get hold of I'm told.

If you are considering the Cube and can't test ride then be wary of the sizing, they tend to come up a bit smaller than other manufacturers. I would ride a 54cm frame on most bikes but my cube is 56cm and a good fit

fenix

What are you commuting on ? Mud or Tarmac ? If its a commuter bike you need mudguards on it full stop.

Are you taking luggage with you ? Any hills ?

slowbike

A good few years ago I wanted a more rugged commuter as my road bike couldn't support mudguards with enough clearance to not pick up dirt and stuff from the road - which there was plenty of going through the country lanes as I did ...

I purchased a Spec Tricross - as I already had a Specialized Allez - so knew the brand - knew I could fit mudguards - well, thought I knew I could - unbeknown to me - they changed the fork - the new one didn't have mount points - so I ended up fabricating a mount point to cabletie onto the forks. Fortunately, the rear did have mount points and that fitted fine.
Just echoing the "Must have mudguards" point really - although being able to attach a rack could be helpful if you carry lots of stuff about.

With regards to wanting children - I hope that's a bit tounge in cheek - no bike should cause disfunction to that extent - if it does then the saddle is wrong.

pedersen175

Thank you so much for all your answers! No doubt mudguards are a most! Just figured those I mentioned all had the opportunity for it, as they all have it as "extra equipment", but reading others people stories now includes something like "Needed to bend the mudguard", "needed to make up own fittings" etc. Fitting, default is an absolute must!

Other equipment than mudguards, lights and reflexes are not necessary. I have never been fan of having a rack or alike.

The highest "mountain" in Denmark is 170 meters tall! I know that sounds extremely high and I will probably never drive higher than that (Sarcasm, but it is true, no mountain in Denmark, just a hell lot of small climbs)

In regard to children, just wanted to point out that I would like to avoid back pain and blood loss to those parts from leaning too much forward when driving (You should really look up scandinavian humor, you will be instantly hooked!)

With this in mind, it seems like I am back to square one with no real selection.... I would be really happy if somebody with knowledge about the best opportunities would share his/her knowledge at this point...

Do like the full carbon idea though but cant find any that fit all requirements. I am totally fine with alu though.

EDIT: (forgot to add)
Denmark is known for having the best roads in the world. Almost all roads are based on Tarmac and therefor I will only rarely use it on anything else. Looking for cyclocross and not an explicit racer, to give myself the opportunity to alter from my normal routes from time to time and take a trip though the forest

slowbike

Problem is - other than the attributes of the bike - its all a bit subjective - do you fit on the bike? do you like the style & colour? do you have any other requirements - eg disc brakes?

5 miles each way - you could ride practically anything and be fine ...