Warning: New bike thread. To CX or not to CX

joker77

I'm eligible this year to go for the bike to work scheme again, and so with the number of bikes required being n+1, it's time to look at a new bike. I currently have a race bike, and a commuter. The race bike is used for training + turbo as well. The commuter has a flat bar, not great for training on.

So my thoughts were veering towards getting an all round winter training bike, which would also replace the commuter. An entry level road bike type job, that I'd keep in better nick than the hack commuter, would use all winter for training and allow the race bike to take a well earned rest.

A few months ago I would have said CX wasn't for me, but I miss the option of having a race over the winter, and am thinking a CX bike would be a good all rounder.

The question I have is would it a CX bike do the job of a winter trainer? What would the advantages / disadvantages be?

If I was to get a CX, am thinking a single chainring on the front would be the way to go. Don't think I'm going down the single speed road though.

Lumen

joker77 wrote: »

The question I have is would it a CX bike do the job of a winter trainer? What would the advantages / disadvantages be?

Pros: will probably take mudguards.
Cons: crap brakes, dull handling, effort required to get it race ready and back again.

For an all-rounder I'd be tempted to go with disc brakes because cantis are near impossible to set up nicely for both road use and racing.

But then proper racers don't use disc brakes unless their sponsor makes them, and mechanical disc brakes are fairly horrid, and hydraulics are expensive and/or ugly and/or Di2 only.

You'd honestly be better off getting a used CX bike for racing and a cheap commuter for commuting.

But that doesn't work on the BTW scheme.

07Lapierre

joker77 wrote: »

I'm eligible this year to go for the bike to work scheme again, and so with the number of bikes required being n+1, it's time to look at a new bike. I currently have a race bike, and a commuter. The race bike is used for training + turbo as well. The commuter has a flat bar, not great for training on.

So my thoughts were veering towards getting an all round winter training bike, which would also replace the commuter. An entry level road bike type job, that I'd keep in better nick than the hack commuter, would use all winter for training and allow the race bike to take a well earned rest.

A few months ago I would have said CX wasn't for me, but I miss the option of having a race over the winter, and am thinking a CX bike would be a good all rounder.

The question I have is would it a CX bike do the job of a winter trainer? What would the advantages / disadvantages be?

If I was to get a CX, am thinking a single chainring on the front would be the way to go. Don't think I'm going down the single speed road though.

Bit of a contradiction there

Keep your existing commuter and get a CX bike on the Bike to work scheme.

nak

I use my cyclocross bike for commuting and racing. Just have to take lights off and change wheels to get it race ready. Why the single chainring? Might be a bit limitting. Use my road bike all year round.

joker77

Thanks for the replies

Lumen wrote: »

Cons: crap brakes, dull handling, effort required to get it race ready and back again.

Could you expand on the bit in bold?

07Lapierre wrote: »

Bit of a contradiction there

Keep your existing commuter and get a CX bike on the Bike to work scheme.

Yea I suppose it is really isn't it. The reason I was thinking of getting rid of the commuter because I was more coming at it from the angle of a winter trainer, than a pure CX bike (for racing).

nak wrote: »

I use my cyclocross bike for commuting and racing. Just have to take lights off and change wheels to get it race ready. Why the single chainring? Might be a bit limitting. Use my road bike all year round.

Was thinking a single chainring for simplicity.

colm_gti

I bought a cannondale caadx when I moved to London as I needed the closest thing to an all rounder (winter/commuter/race bike), and I love it.

Its as light as the equivalent road bike, I trust the cantis enough to ride in a group on the road, and while its probably not as snappy as a high end road bike I wouldn't call it dull. I like it, plus it'll accommodate ice spikes when the snow comes!

I qualify for BTW here in April and plan to get a caad10, can only imagine how good it would be if the caadx is so good...

kingoffifa

i can say a cx bike with mechanical disc brakes is a great all rounder. have a boardman cx . have a set of commuter tyres on it and its great.

speed ? not as fast as a straight road bike but is faster than a commuter cause you can duck out of the wind a bit.

practical. takes mudguards, racks, big tyres, small tyres, and in my mind feels less aggressive that a straight up racer. has brake handles on the flats as well as the drops.

only downside is disc brakes are a bit of a pain to maintain in perfect nick.

single speed - just get all the gears instead so you dont mind using it!!

C3PO

Based on my own experience (I used my CX bike for a full year as my road training bike) I would say that the answer is fairly straightforward! If you are going to actually race CX (and you really should ... it's great fun!) then a a Cross bike will make a very adequate road training bike. But if you don't think that you will race it then a road bike will do a better job for you! If you do go the Cross bike route I would strongly recommend stretching to a cheap set of additional wheels so that you don't have to keep changing tyres which can be a pain in the ass!

mp31

joker77 wrote: »

...So my thoughts were veering towards getting an all round winter training bike, which would also replace the commuter.

Just saw this thread http://road.cc/content/forum/106118-kinesis-tk3-alternatives-advice-please...maybe this is the way to go

JC 3.14159

Another vote for discs here, if it's going to be a 'real' commuter (i.e. mudguards, rack, big/spiked tyres).

I commuted ~7000km in Dublin last year on a cyclocross bike, with cantis for a while then mini-V's. Either brake type was a pain. Canti's were too weak for use on the road, especially with panniers, or in the wet. Mini-V's were much sharper but less rim clearance so more rubbing, rim wear and re-adjusting.

The upper rack mounts, 2 rack support bars, a mudguard bolt, brake arms, cables and brake mounts were all within a few inches of each other.
Combine this with maximising tyre/mudguard clearance for 35mm spike tyres in winter. It was possible, but a pain to access or adjust anything. Using a multitool was difficult or impossible. Mudguards had to be trimmed to clear mini-V brake cable. Add in difficult-to-clean brake dust and road crap which builds up in the whole area and it's a disaster.

Moved country this year and bought a disc brake commuter (a Salsa Vaya - tourer rather than CX but advantages here are the same). The discs have made a huge difference. Brake power is somewhere in between Canti's and mini-V's, but it's consistent and predictable wet or dry. No build up of crap to be cleaned, and easier cleaning generally. No wearing out rims. Quicker to remove wheel for punctures. Fitting mudguards etc was much easier. Bolt the stays to the rack to make the removal process easier for CX races. I haven't had any brake set-up issues (Avid BB7's, which are supposedly easier than the BB5's on the Boardman).

For me, a winter road bike doesn't make sense. It's still a compromise for actual winter cycling and it won't do commuting particularly well.
A CX with discs will be a much better commuter, allows for CX races, and can still be a decent road bike/trainer (drop bars, can get similar position etc). A little bit of extra weight won't be an issue when you have a nice road bike anyway.

RobFowl

Cross is great fun (my favourite form of racing) but the bike needs tlc and is not one you can use day in day out as a commuter and race on. Things regularly need replaces and cleaning after racing training is quite a laborious process.

Lumen

joker77 wrote: »

Could you expand on the bit in bold?

With cantis I ran a lot of pad-rim clearance for racing to avoid clogging. This was not confidence inspiring on the road.

So I'd have to adjust the brakes before and after racing, which IIRC involved chewing up the cable as there weren't any barrel adjusters.

I also (at the time) used mudguards, a rack and a bottle cage which had to go off and on. And the tyres, unless you're going to have dedicated race wheels.

Dedicated race bike really make sense. As RobFowl indicates, commuting into work after ripping the rear derailleur off is going to be tricky (this happens a lot in CX).

It's a big commitment to blow your BTW money on a CX race bike when you may end up hating CX and then it's just an expensive, compromised commuter bike. I did this, although the bike ended up stolen so I didn't have to deal with ongoing canti hate.

Lumen

God I hate cantis. Did I say that already?

RobFowl

Lumen wrote: »

God I hate cantis. Did I say that already?

I like them but only since I resigned my self to the fact that they don't actually stop you.....

Chips Lovell

Someone I know has recently acquired a Canyon Infinite Al as a commuter. I've been coveting it ever since. Geometry seems fair roadish, can take mudguards, and runs discs. Take off the mudguards, bang a set of race wheels on it and you've got a cross bike.

Having said that, RobFowl's point about cross bikes needing a lot of TLC is worth some consideration.

nak

RobFowl wrote: »

I like them but only since I resigned my self to the fact that they don't actually stop you.....

The TRP ones aren't so bad with Swisstop pads.

Lumen

Having owned a road going drop bar disc braked bike, one of my annoyances was that the BB7 brakes move only one pad, which tends to make for either scrapy scrapy noises or a big dead spot at the start of lever travel.

...but Spyre brought out some mechanical disc calipers this year with a dual-piston design.

"TRP has also given the Spyre a symmetrical dual-piston design with two sets of ramps and ball bearings that move the pads evenly against the rotor, as opposed to the single-piston layout used by every other major contender.:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/trp-spyre-road-disc-brake-first-ride-review

Unfortunately they got mixed reviews and then more recently were recalled....

http://velonews.competitor.com/2013/12/bikes-and-tech/trp-recalls-spyre-mechanical-disc-calipers_310996

...along with the SRAM hydro discs whose seals failed in extreme cold.

You'd think disc brakes on bicycles were a new invention. :rolleyes:

edit: to be fair to SRAM and TRP, Shimano mechanical disc calipers for road bikes were also recalled this year.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/shimano-issues-disc-brake-recall

joker77

Definitely getting put off getting a CX racer as an all rounder...

Cheers for all the tips though, good to know

outfox

I use an alu CX bike for winter cycling and club spins. Advantage: 35 mm tyres are great for crappy roads, and its surprisingly light.
Disadvantage: The canti brakes are shocking, particularly when its wet. I end up taking descents at snail's pace on bendy roads. Pity, cos otherwise its a great bike, with Ultegra and superb DT Swiss wheels.
If you go with a CX bike, stay clear of cantis.

DKO

Just commit to racing next season and buy a decent CX bike.

You will not regret this, its brilliant fun and there are now so many races to choose from.

The main issue is the cantis for road riding, but once you know this and take the necessary precautions then it should be fine.

There have been a bunch of guys training like savages on cx bikes on the road since september and night in all conditions with canti brakes, average speeds on these training spins have been as high as 37kmph! So cx bikes on the road can work, just need to know how to handle the braking. So while not optimum it can be done, so long as you get the hang of it.

So its decision and its all really based on whether or not you are keen to have the greatest fun racing a bike next autumn or whether you'd spend your sundays doing grim miles on the roads :-)

See you at the cx races next year!