Cyclo cross bike option

Barrak

Hi there,

Currently have a Giant SCR 3 road bike and mostly just using it to commute with the occasional longer cycle +/- events such as the ring of kerry. Considering selling her and my mountain bike and getting a cycle-cross bike as more suited to general commute as takes a bit more abuse etc. Have a few quick questions if anyone has any info would be great. How fast are cyclo cross bikes compared to a racer? Has anyone any experience of bikes such as the Fuji Cross 2.0?

C3PO

I had been using a Focus CX3 as my training bike for the last 18 months or so. I don't believe it was any slower or handled noticeably worse than my road bike! However the canti-brakes are really crap! They'll stop you ok in normal dry use but are terrible in the wet and become downright scary on steep fast descents where they started a mad shuddering thing that felt like you could go over the bars at any moment! No amount of adjusting or pad changes could sort this and from what I understand it's caused by the forks flexing!
I've recently bought a second hand Felt as a training bike and retired the Cross bike to racing!
So in my opinion if you have only one bike and intend to do some racing than a Cross bike is fine as a road bike for day to day use but if you don't intend to race then I would stick with the road bike!

big mce

RPL1 wrote: »

I had been using a Focus CX3 as my training bike for the last 18 months or so. I don't believe it was any slower or handled noticeably worse than my road bike! However the canti-brakes are really crap! They'll stop you ok in normal dry use but are terrible in the wet and become downright scary on steep fast descents where they started a mad shuddering thing that felt like you could go over the bars at any moment! No amount of adjusting or pad changes could sort this and from what I understand it's caused by the forks flexing!
I've recently bought a second hand Felt as a training bike and retired the Cross bike to racing!
So in my opinion if you have only one bike and intend to do some racing than a Cross bike is fine as a road bike for day to day use but if you don't intend to race then I would stick with the road bike!

I do all my winter training on my cross bike and love it. I don't find the brakes an issue, there not as good as the road bike but they are still manageable.
I have a spare set of wheels for the cross with narrow road tyres so if your going down the route of buying a cross I'd definitely get a spare set of wheels with road tyres on.

Worth keeping in mind for the brake issue that some more recent cyclocross bikes (2012) are now coming equipped with disc brakes. I commute mainly on my Boardman Team CX, even with 35mm tyres these days. It's definitely slower but I've found it a much more comfortable journey. I'll probably change back to using my Giant bike soon though.

Lumen

IMO CX bikes don't really "take more abuse" than road bikes, unless you're gong off-road. Commuting damage is most cosmetic scratches from locks, grit in the drivetrain, water ingress, and a CX bike will suffer just the same.

CX bikes also tend to be slower handling, worse braking and heavier than road bikes.

In short, like RPL1 I wouldn't bother unless I wanted to race it or do a lot of light off-road for whatever reason.

Barrak

Cheers for the advice. Would like to have the option of taking it down dirt tracks/paths as well as on the road. Bikes in my range don't seem to have disc brakes I'm afraid but if anyone out there knows any good offers sure let me know...hoping to get something on the bike to work scheme in the coming weeks. Will probably pick up a set of spare tyres to swap over for doing longer distance rides then.

petethedrummer

An SCR will take a 32mm tyre if you need to go down a dirt road or transport a heavy load.

I had 32mm continental contact touring tyres on mine and they were noticeably slow due to the tread pattern and a bit harsh due to the side wall protection. I switched to 28mm continental sport contacts which gives a nice mix of comfort, puncture proofness and speed (I think, it could be in my head). Anyways, the SCR is a very versatile bike. I race, commute and tour on mine and personally would not sell it and a MTB to get a cyclo-cross bike.

I'm not entirely convinced of this dirt road phenomenon often used to justify an iminent cyclo-cross bike purchase.

smacl

petethedrummer wrote: »

I switched to 28mm continental sport contacts which gives a nice mix of comfort, puncture proofness and speed

Do you see a significant difference in comfort on crappy roads on 28s versus 25s? Thinking about long days out on rural roads, where I'm finding the 25s on my road bike way less comfy than the 32s on my hybrid after a few hours in the saddle.

petethedrummer

Honestly I can't say for definite I notice a huge difference. At the moment I commute and go for long spins with a 25 Gatorskin on the front and 28 sport contact on the back. I think I can tell the difference between a 23 and a 25. And I can tell when I'm on the 32s. But I'm not sure I can feel much difference between a 25 and a similar 28.