new road bike or cyclocross???

[busdennis]

Have to agree with the cross bike fans here.

Cross bikes are the most flexible and useful of bikes. Put road tyres on them and they are fast road bikes - I competed in a triathlon on mine in the summer and I don't think I could have gone any faster on any road bike I could have got for the same money short of an out and out TT bike and even then it would have been marginal.

Swap the tyres for 35mm knobblies though and you're off into the woods going pretty much anywhere an mtb will go... just quicker - and you can get it back on the roof without giving yourself a hernia.

Or, you can put something in between on them for the commute to protect yourself from the potholes without spending too much energy bending rubber on knobbly tyres.

I find road tyres tramline much too easily for comfort or safety when it gets gravelly or sandy so if you are planning to ride on mucky and uneven country roads, a cross bike would be ideal.

Performance wise I'd have to agree with Norm. As I said I did a triathlon on mine (I took it seriously but I'm not any kind of elite competitor) and it flew. I did though spring for a carbon framed cyclocross bike so (a) it's no heavier than the most of the sub £2000 road bikes I was competing against and (b) I was using pretty much the same gear train or better too.

I wouldn't have done it with my 35mm cross tyres on though. I don't switch wheels - someone told me that the gears and the chain bed themselves into each other so swapping wheels can lead to uneven wear and slippage - I just change tyres. At this time of year the cross tyres stay on most of the time. In summer it's the road tyres but they get swapped over in ten minutes if I'm going off road.

I do like the flexibility. For example I wouldn't take a road bike around Rutland Water - there are bits it just wouldn't cope with - but a cross bike eats that kind of track for breakfast. I don't really see why people don't buy more cross bikes. My frame is no less aerodynamic than other carbon framed road bikes I see at the same price - it just has more clearance around the forks and cantilever brakes so (a) I can get the chunkier tyres on and (b) it doesn't get clogged up with mud.

If you can afford two bikes then I might have a cross bike and an out and out road bike but as I can only justify one, it has to be a cross bike. I love mine to bits.

Norm's right again. There are many more cross bikes available now than even two years ago. Just because one doesn't fit the bill doesn't mean others won't. Most will have bottle mounts. Many have mudguard mounts although mine doesn't but I use mtb guards that come off easily when it's dry. You can get clip on road guards anyway if you feel you need those and there's more likely to be room for them in a cross frame than on some road frames.

Good luck wth your choice.

bumping this old thread up as it as answered so many of my questions about should i buy racer or cyclocross with the cyclocross wining, at my level of fitness im sure if i did a 10 mile tt the time difference would be negligable

my problem being i like turning big gears with low cadence so would need a cyclocross bike with minimum 50t front as im not sure i would be happy with a 46

the bike would be used as a training bike doing 50 60 mile training rides with or without mudgaurds with good road tyres (25's) and used to cycle with the family around forest tracks with wider tyres. on this purchase i would be looking to spend £1000 to £1500 so if i could set it up to be a tourer all the better and strip down to challenge my self on local 10mile tt

i have a mountain bike for rough winter off road stuff and a self built fixie for 10 mile high energy stuff

can 1 bike tick my boxes

 

[Globalti]

I have a carbon roadie and an aluminium Tricross. The former is faster, more nervous and more exciting to ride while the latter is slower steering and heavier. To my surprise though there is only a difference of 1 mph in my average speed on the two bikes.

 

[Aiden_23]

I am also considering a CX for my commute now that the "intresting" weather is on its way(Keep the Felt for sunny days and for a wee cheeky sportive). I was looking at the Boardman Team CX on the C2W now my work is finally doing it. Anyone have any feedback on this bike? Hopefully the "Sale" price will be back up and running soon!!!!

 

[MrJamie]

Ive got an eye on the Tricross too, but ive read its not actually a cyclocross bike, but a cross-road bike or something. Most of the CX bikes ive looked at have weird offroady gear ratios and often dont have mounts for guards/panniers etc and stuff you wouldnt need for cyclocross i guess. The extra brake levers on the Tricross look decent for commuting too.

The Tricross seems to fit a niche of a drop bar road bike good for crap roads/trails, poor weather and luggage/accessories, with a wide gear range for speedy road rides and slow laden hills touring etc. I havent really seen anything else that ticked all the same boxes, for me anyway.

 

[potsy]

The Tricross seems to fit a niche of a drop bar road bike good for crap roads/trails, poor weather and luggage/accessories, with a wide gear range for speedy road rides and slow laden hills touring etc. I havent really seen anything else that ticked all the same boxes, for me anyway.

That's exactly why I got mine, makes an excellent winter/bad weather commuter, or a fun go anywhere bike.
Can be fully guarded and racked up, or be stripped down with 25mm tyres for an almost road bike speed bike

 

[Norm]

Ive got an eye on the Tricross too, but ive read its not actually a cyclocross bike, but a cross-road bike or something.

+1 to what Potsy says but also +1 to the cross-top levers being handy in daily use and +1 to the Tricross not being a "proper" CX bike, as the Crux holds that position in Specialized's range.

It's a fab bike for road and off-road use, though.

 

[kayaker]

Hello,
Thought would add to thread, what tyres for some light off road/towpaths currently have if memory serves me correct specialized armadillio elite 23mm (i think) and was thinking something around 28-32mm (on a giant tcx3)

Any thoughts?

chris

 

[2wd]

The Tricross question has reared its head a few times recently and based on the good comments posted on here (thanks Norm ) I bought a new 2011 Tricross Sport.

Have to say its a great bike and would have no hesitation in recommending one as an all rounder

I put 28mm Conti Hardshells on mine but then took the lazy option and bought a spare wheelset to put the original 32mm CX tyres on for off road use

Oh and a few other subtle changes I made can be read here.....
http://www.cyclechat.net/threads/sp...t-with-a-touch-of-colour.103205/#post-1872080

its a real go anywhere bike and I'm loving it

 

[wilko]

I think if I knew a year ago what I know now I wouldn't have bought my Secteur Elite and would rather have bought the Tricross. Norm it appears you have or had both which do you prefer? Or which one do you use the most?

 

[Hicky]

Surly crosscheck...steel cyclocross, two bottle mounts and two rear eyelets for rack and guards

 

[mip]

I have a Revolution Cross which I had fitted with 28 road tyres when I bought it. For me it is ideal as a training bike which is relatively fast but comfortable to ride.

 

[Norm]

I think if I knew a year ago what I know now I wouldn't have bought my Secteur Elite and would rather have bought the Tricross. Norm it appears you have or had both which do you prefer? Or which one do you use the most?

I have both. The Tricross has more miles, as it has more uses.

Which I prefer is a tough one, though. The Secteur is undoubtedly lighter, faster and more responsive. However, on bad roads, the other side of that coin is that the Tricross is more stable and less flighty and just lets me ride without worrying about the road (or off-road!) surface.

 

[Nosaj]

I am I admit an out and out die hard road bike fan. The words Pinarello and Carbon do it for me. Single track, woods and downhill trails despite trying do not really float my boat.

If money was no object I would have a light carbon proper racer for summer club runs and racing
I would have a proper TT bike for TT's
and for everything else touring, commuting, pootling, winter, social and all day long rides I would opt for a CX.

Whilst it is true that no bike can be master of 3 or 4 different niches, from what I've seen and heard from lots of people who own and ride them it comes pretty close to the perfect compromise.

With the UK roads being what they are and the weather in the winter being what it is, I really do think that it will not be long before I out my hardtail and a CX finds it way into my garage as my winter trainer / do it all bike.

 

[HLaB]

My brother put a good set of wheels and slick on his cyclo cross and it was pretty comparable to the road bike, its a little undergeared for descents but that undergearing helps up hill.