jay clock
Massive member
- Location
- Hampshire UK
MTB vs Cyclo Cross
- Thread starter jay clock
- Start date
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RedBike
New Member
- Location
- Beside the road
A Cyclo-x bike can be thought of as a road bike that has been adapted to cope with mud. A kind of hybrid if you like.
Cyclo-x bikes are not as compitent off road as a MTB. In fact they're best descirbed as 'lethal' over rocks / rough terrain. However, what they loose in technical ability they more than make up for in out and out speed. They're noticably quicker on tarmac / grass than a MTB.
Cyclo-x bikes are not as compitent off road as a MTB. In fact they're best descirbed as 'lethal' over rocks / rough terrain. However, what they loose in technical ability they more than make up for in out and out speed. They're noticably quicker on tarmac / grass than a MTB.
andy_wrx
Über Member
The article is about cyclo-cross racing, what has existed for ages, predating MTB'ing by several decades.
It existed as a way of racing in the wet and icy off-season, when road-racing is too dangerous or weather-dependant : ride off road round a park or field, up lumps and bumps, through mud or sand, up and down steps, over barriers or logs, etc
Races can be hard whilst being shorter than road races.
Basically you can think as a cyclo-cross race as a cross-country cycling&running race - there will be various obstructions and obstacles which cause you to have to get off the bike, chuck it on your shoulder and run with it, remount and ride a bit, get off again and run a bit more, remount and ride a bit more, etc.
A cross-country MTB race however will have a 100% rideable course (assuming you have the skills !) - there will be climbs and drops, muddy bits, etc but you should be able to ride them.
It existed as a way of racing in the wet and icy off-season, when road-racing is too dangerous or weather-dependant : ride off road round a park or field, up lumps and bumps, through mud or sand, up and down steps, over barriers or logs, etc
Races can be hard whilst being shorter than road races.
Basically you can think as a cyclo-cross race as a cross-country cycling&running race - there will be various obstructions and obstacles which cause you to have to get off the bike, chuck it on your shoulder and run with it, remount and ride a bit, get off again and run a bit more, remount and ride a bit more, etc.
A cross-country MTB race however will have a 100% rideable course (assuming you have the skills !) - there will be climbs and drops, muddy bits, etc but you should be able to ride them.
cadseen
Veteran
- Location
- Hampshire UK
In cycle-cross races you can change bikes as many times as you like. In MTB race you have to finish on the same bike and mend your own punctures.
+1 Andy WRX
Cyclo cross has been around for years.
It is basically a circuit race, in the vain of Motocross or 'Scrambling'.
It is a mass start race which follows a course which is over fields, hillocks, mudslides, streams etc, but NO jumps.
The bikes were adapted road bikes with 'spud' tyres and extra brake levers on the 'tops'.
More modern Cyclocross bikes have canti brakes or now even disc brakes.
Some events I have been to have VERY steep climbs and the riders get off and carry the bike on their shoulder up the climb. There are fallen trees where the rider jumps off, picks the bike up, hurdles the log and remounts to ride on.
Courses are set out with plastic tape strung between wooden stakes ( the same as a Motorcycle scramble ) and there are a team of marshals who wave flags to warn riders of a fallen rider on the course.
There is NO riding in a group, NO watching for an attack and certainly NO pacing yourself. It's BALLS OUT all the way. If you're not fit enough, you lose.
BikeRadar are giving the WRONG impression of cyclocross, esp the photo.
www.metacafe.info/8141/watch/cyclo-cross-british-nationals-2008-u23-race/
Cyclo cross has been around for years.
It is basically a circuit race, in the vain of Motocross or 'Scrambling'.
It is a mass start race which follows a course which is over fields, hillocks, mudslides, streams etc, but NO jumps.
The bikes were adapted road bikes with 'spud' tyres and extra brake levers on the 'tops'.
More modern Cyclocross bikes have canti brakes or now even disc brakes.
Some events I have been to have VERY steep climbs and the riders get off and carry the bike on their shoulder up the climb. There are fallen trees where the rider jumps off, picks the bike up, hurdles the log and remounts to ride on.
Courses are set out with plastic tape strung between wooden stakes ( the same as a Motorcycle scramble ) and there are a team of marshals who wave flags to warn riders of a fallen rider on the course.
There is NO riding in a group, NO watching for an attack and certainly NO pacing yourself. It's BALLS OUT all the way. If you're not fit enough, you lose.
BikeRadar are giving the WRONG impression of cyclocross, esp the photo.
www.metacafe.info/8141/watch/cyclo-cross-british-nationals-2008-u23-race/
OP
OP
jay clock
Massive member
- Location
- Hampshire UK
i have just reread it and it is not about racing.... It is about the benefits of cycling off-road....apart from a mention at the end about racing. It makes it sound like cx and mtb are the same thing when it comes down to it
Steve Austin
The Marmalade Kid
- Location
- Mlehworld
Where can i buy green lane bike then? 
I thought it was good old fashioned XC riding. possible on a cyclocross or MTB bike.
I ride the same stuff on my crosser and my MTB. the crosser is a bit quicker, the mtb is comfier.
I thought it was good old fashioned XC riding. possible on a cyclocross or MTB bike.
I ride the same stuff on my crosser and my MTB. the crosser is a bit quicker, the mtb is comfier.
Steve Austin
The Marmalade Kid
- Location
- Mlehworld
Nice 
