Road Racing on a CX bike?

colm_gti

Sold my road bikes before I moved to London and picked up a bargain of a Cannondale CAADx when I got here to commute on and try some CX (though I left it a bit late and never actually got around to it).

Plan is to have a good crack at racing track this year as I'm a 10 minute cycle from Herne Hill and not too far from the Olympic velodrome (which opens next month). Picking up a track bike for such duties.

Now, I'm very tied for space, even 2 bikes is pushing it, but I'd still like to do a few road races this year. I already do weekend club spins and midweek chaingang sessions on my CX bike and don't feel at any disadvantage. With faster wheels and tyres, and a bigger chainring (currently 46t), is there any reason I couldn't ride a few road races on it? Brakes are plenty sharp with upgraded pads and set up properly, but have ordered mini-v's as I'm told they're even more powerful.

After all, AG2R and Europcar used cx bikes on last years Paris-Roubaix :pac:

Wicklowrider

I got a caadx disc for winter. With huge mudguards and 35C tyres over the course of the winter I didn't see any significant fall off in performance to my Colnago on 23c gp4000. I base this on comparing recorded Garmin rides. I have no doubt you can race on the road on one - particularly if you go to lighter tyres. If you were elite level there may be a slight advantage in using a pure road frame geometry and any slight advantage is significant at that level ( I'd imagine ...).

Raam

You can race on it fine, not ideal but you can do it. You will feel a little dirty, and rightly so, but you can still do it. One lad I know raced the Swords league on his CX bike. He says it didn't corner anywhere as good as a proper road bike and my own experience of my CX bike v my road bikes match that.

LennoxR

Are the gears on a cx bike a little low for road racing?

Wicklowrider

Raam wrote: »

He says it didn't corner anywhere as good as a proper road bike and my own experience of my CX bike v my road bikes match that.

Same size / quality tyres? just wondering.

LennoxR wrote: »

Are the gears on a cx bike a little low for road racing?

Yes. typically 46/36 front but that can easily be changed

LennoxR

Wicklowrider wrote: »

Same size / quality tyres? just wondering.


Yes. typically 46/36 front but that can easily be changed

Ah yes but I think the question was about an unmodified cx bike?

couerdelion

Raam wrote: »

He says it didn't corner anywhere as good as a proper road bike and my own experience of my CX bike v my road bikes match that.

Do CX bikes have a higher bottom bracket and therefore a higher centre of gravity? Would explain the cornering not being quite as good?

dave2pvd

couerdelion wrote: »

Do CX bikes have a higher bottom bracket and therefore a higher centre of gravity? Would explain the cornering not being quite as good?

Sometimes. Depends on the brand/model. For example Giant make CX bikes with very high BBs. However: higher center of gravity does not affect cornering ability - that's a misconception. It can have an effect how quickly you can change direction, for example in a very tight chicane. But how often do you encounter that in road racing?

I race against a guy here (in the US) who has done quite well racing criteriums on his CX bike.

The only caveat is, if the bike has cantis, they have to be set up right (as the OP mentioned). Any cantis I've ever used have been very good at stopping the bike, but only if properly dialed in (straddle cable length, brake pad alignment, etc).

columbus_66

Hi Colm,

I think the biggest disadvantage is the brakes, I have my Avid Shorty 4 setup ok but they are nowhere near as good as normal road brakes, just try having to brake suddenly in a group on a wet descent at 60kph on canti's and you'll know all about it!

Lumen

columbus_66 wrote: »

Hi Colm,

I think the biggest disadvantage is the brakes, I have my Avid Shorty 4 setup ok but they are nowhere near as good as normal road brakes, just try having to brake suddenly in a group on a wet descent at 60kph on canti's and you'll know all about it!

They're probably no worse than conventional callipers on wet carbon rims.

lennymc

I'd be more inclined to see what British cycling says TBH colm, as you will be racing under their rules.

I have seen people race in leagues here with CX bikes, but not in open races. From doing some training on a cx bike, I dont think Id like to race a road race with it. Just felt wrong. I like a low front end, but on the cx bike i have a high front end. It just felt wrong. Maybe I could have sorted that with readjusting the stem and spacers, but Im not sure if that would make much of a difference.

columbus_66

I think carbon rims in the wet have a little delay on them compared to alu rims, but cantis just don't have the same stopping power, I believe it's all related to the Law of the Lever!

Lumen

columbus_66 wrote: »

I think carbon rims in the wet have a little delay on them compared to alu rims, but cantis just don't have the same stopping power, I believe it's all related to the Law of the Lever!

More pragmatically, when extracting oneself from a pile of bodies and broken equipment after a pileup in a wet race I wouldn't like the one with the cantis.

"Who caused that one? Not sure, but did you see that dude on a CX bike? F'ckin cantis and everything."

colm_gti

Cheers for the replies lads, just to note I'm in London so no big descents to worry about, its all flat closed circuit crits.

columbus_66

Hi Colm,

I'd say well setup canti's in the dry on a flat circuit would be ok, in Belgium some of the Crossers would ride their cross bikes coming up to the cross season, and there's wouldn't be a problem. The cantis need a bit of regular maintenance to keep them working well, repositioning the brake blocks usually as they tend to go under the rim!

daragh_

colm_gti wrote: »

Cheers for the replies lads, just to note I'm in London

This is a local thread, for local people.

outfox

couerdelion wrote: »

Do CX bikes have a higher bottom bracket and therefore a higher centre of gravity? Would explain the cornering not being quite as good?

I think I read somewhere that cornering on knobbly tyres is worse becasue the knobs tend to deflect in the corners. Cornerning on my CX is definitely a bit poorer than on my road bike. Using 23 mm road tyres should eliminate that problem.
Braking is definitely the biggest issue.

Wicklowrider

outfox wrote: »

I think I read somewhere that cornering on knobbly tyres is worse becasue the knobs tend to deflect in the corners. Cornerning on my CX is definitely a bit poorer than on my road bike. Using 23 mm road tyres should eliminate that problem.
Braking is definitely the biggest issue.

I found that to be true on sammy slicks.
There is a "moment" where it felt like the grip is giving way. I think its the knobbles deflecting on the tarmac. Once I got used to it and realised there was no loss of grip it was fine. I had gp4000 on while I was waiting on a pair of durano plus and the bike was brilliant on the road - that is what prompted my question to raam.

Wicklowrider

LennoxR wrote: »

Ah yes but I think the question was about an unmodified cx bike?

Colm said:

colm_gti wrote: »

With faster wheels and tyres, and a bigger chainring (currently 46t), is there any reason I couldn't ride a few road races on it? Brakes are plenty sharp with upgraded pads and set up properly, but have ordered mini-v's as I'm told they're even more powerful.

lennymc

I had a look at the british cycling regs and two things stood out. I'm paraphrasing, but one paragraphs said that bar ends must be plugged, and anything else that sticks out must be made safe, and a second paragraphs said that it is at the discretion of comissaire as to whether they will decide on a bike being allowed or not under safety grounds. You know the only answer is to get a bigger place to allow you buy another bike. N+1 and all that. What do the guys you ride with over there think?

Raam

Wicklowrider wrote: »

Same size / quality tyres? just wondering.


Yes. typically 46/36 front but that can easily be changed

Can't quite remember what tyres/wheels I had but they were a set which I would have used on my road bike, so probably GP4000S on Ksyrium SL. Actually, the fork I had on the CX bike at the time was rubbish so it didn't help. I have since changed it to a much better fork which totally changed the feel of the bike. I never did a long road spin on it since the change and I haven't had road tyres on it either since. Probably it would feel much better with the improved fork. It certainly feels better off-road and and on the short road spins I have done (with CX tyres) in order to get to a training spot.

c50

Ive ridden a cross bike through the winter with r sys wheels and sram red throughout, just for sh*ts and giggles. theyre fine and i could definitely benefit on the fairly steep climbs that had crap road surface where you just power up them without any cares about your bike. however on flats, even with 23 slicks i find that you cant get the same power out on a cross bike, presumably down to geometry. the reason im noting red/r sys spec is the face that the bike was pimped so it wasnt down to componentry. id clutch on for dear life if any of the lads put the power down which i shouldnt have had to do any more than just ride hard.
I know you said it in jest about ag2r in roubaix and i know madison dominated in some uk stage race a few years ago when deciding to do the same when they knew the road were gruesome but that doesnt compare of course to your normal 80km race!

Conclusion
Can it be done? yes.
Is it ideal? Definitely not.