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road vs cyclocross bike?

chaloots

Chimp
Mar 16, 2004
67
0
dirty jerz via Bklyn
i want to pick up a bike to ride for when the trails are soggy this winter. can you ride a cross bike on pavement without much penalty? what are the disadvantages bet a cross bike vs a road bike when riding on pavement? if i was going to do a serious ride w/roadys i could always throw some skinny tires on there . any other things i should consider? like how the geometry would affect the ride. if i did get a cross bike id prob ride it off road only 15% of the time.40% of the time in either central or prospect parks and the rest on crappy nyc roads. the reason i'm leaving toward the cyclo-cross is that i'm a mtber at heart and tend to be a little rough.but then again some time on a road bike may make me smoother.
 

LordOpie

MOTHER HEN
Oct 17, 2002
21,022
3
Denver
I've never ridden cx, so I can't comment on that, but will tell you... "i could always throw some skinny tires on there" isn't the right approach. You'll get annoyed if you do that often enough.

Can't you ride your mtb in conditions that you'd ride your cx and just ride your roadie on better pavement?
 

Wumpus

makes avatars better
Dec 25, 2003
8,161
153
Six Shooter Junction
I have a crossbike instead of a roadie. The HT angle is going to be a little slacker on the X-bike. Usually X-bikes are set up with the bars a little higher than a road bike which I like. You can run wider tires on the x-bike which is handy if you are bigger person. If you want to use if for a commuter and run fenders, you are going to have a tough time with the lower profile road brakes compared to the cantis on a x-bike. The only thing I can see a road bike would be better for is if you plan on racing.

What opie said about the tires is true? Sucks to change them out. I'm going to build up another set of wheels for that.
 

recidivist

Monkey
Aug 29, 2002
283
1
Soquel, Cali
I'm sure you'll get an earload about this. I've been riding a cross bike as my road bike for years now and have only felt at a disadvantage when the speeds get really high -- I can't get really, really stretched out in the drop, and it's built for compliance rather than stiffness, which I only really feel in the 53/12 situations.

On the plus side, I've got it set up for a nice upright position which is comfortable. Room for slightly wider road tires (28-30) again good for the long-distance riding. Stable. And knowledge the frame is slightly more burly so it can handle the curb hopping, fireroad adventures my road ride always devolve into.

I would be careful not to overstate the off-roading capacity of a cross bike. Honestly can vs. can't has a lot more to do with the rider than the bike. You've got to ask yourself 'if I had a road bike that I knew I wasn't going to snap like a twig, would I ride it offroad?' Or alternately 'look how much of a man I am riding my road bike off road!' But fireroads and flowy/smooth singletrack? Go for it.

I guess what I'm saying is unless you're a real serious roadie, and differences will be splitting hairs, while there will be advantages.

Oh, right. Swapping tires is a bit of a pain in the butt. Two wheelsets or just deal?
 

mattv2099

Monkey
Aug 16, 2004
192
0
Bellingham, WA
I just converted my CX bike from racer to winter training bike. Basically, just slap on some 23c road tires and you're good to go.

However, there are some differences I find between road riding on my road bike vs road riding on my CX bike..

The cx bike is heavy. My kona jake the snake weighs 25 pounds. My roadie is sub 19 pounds. that 25 pounds comes from: unflattable 400 g tires, fenders, 4 bottle cages. the jake weighs 23 pounds stock but when I converted it the extras added 2 pounds.

Stopping power. My shimano ultegra breaks are unreal. They stop very well. I love them. The cantilever breaks on the CX bike don't have near the stopping power. And I find that I have to adjust them a lot.

Gearing. My roadie has 53/39 with a 11-23 cassette. The cx bike gears are 39/48 with a 12-25. So, it's rather difficult to sprint over 30 mph on this pig.

Also, my CX wheels are thrashed from CX racing. They aren't very round :rolleyes: And they're extremely heavy.

Shifting. The 105 shifters on my CX bike just don't compare to the dura ace shifters on my road bike.


Despite that I'm very happy to ride my CX bike on the road during the winter. I don't want to thrash my roadie in the crappy weather. But I find my avg speed when riding my CX bike converted is almost 2 mph slower than when I ride my roadie.
 

Helmsdini

Chimp
Feb 5, 2009
5
0
Richmond, IN
I am going to bring this one up from the dead- the way dead apparently.

I am currently in the same boat as the OP. I am a dirt clod to the core, but I commute daily and my riding has evolved to about 80% road work. I recently sold off a good deal of my MT bikes and went strictly rigid 29er. My 9er has been my main road/ off road rig for the past year. I throw road tires on it for longer rides, and the fatties when I want to go hit some trails- but as you guys pointed out, it gets really old.

Recently we decided to move out of town a ways which will push my commutes from about 4 miles one way to about 8. I have learned on longer road rides the MTB geometry and extra weight really puts the hurt on you- especially in a headwind. SO- I am looking for a more road-friendly bike for centuries and club rides as well as nice weather commuting. I have never owned a road bike, BTW.

Since I am a mountain biker, I cant seem to overlook the cross bike as a potential candidate. I ride in all weather conditions- snow, rain, etc. I figure the cross bike would be better for this but then again I could always use my 9er for these conditions. I might also add that this area has no local 'cross races or anything like that so I think competitively I would be on the road or on the MT bike if I wanted to be competitive.

My biggest worry is that a road bike would be difficult to commute on- stopping and starting might be more difficult, keeping your head up and watching the traffic around you, not to mention the fact that most road cleats are difficult to walk in etc. OTOH, a cross bike would probably hamper my top end, and when I commute I like to go as fast and efficiently as possible (I see commuting as a training ride)

as you can tell, I am leaning toward the road bike but I want to make the right decision- if anyone that club rides on cross bikes or commutes on a road bike could chime in it would be much appreciated!
 

maddog17

Turbo Monkey
Jan 20, 2008
2,815
105
Methuen, Mass. U.S.A.
use slicks on the CX bike and mtn pedals/shoes for ease and comfort. you wouldn't necessarily need to stay with drop bars, you could go with straits or risers. since road went to threadless headsets it opens up a whole new world for a front end setup. it would be easier if your building from scratch since you can then spec out the shifters. of course you couldn't use STI type on strait bars. just a couple of suggestions to think of
 

JRogers

talks too much
Mar 19, 2002
3,785
1
Claremont, CA
Since I am a mountain biker, I cant seem to overlook the cross bike as a potential candidate. I ride in all weather conditions- snow, rain, etc. I figure the cross bike would be better for this but then again I could always use my 9er for these conditions. I might also add that this area has no local 'cross races or anything like that so I think competitively I would be on the road or on the MT bike if I wanted to be competitive.

My biggest worry is that a road bike would be difficult to commute on- stopping and starting might be more difficult, keeping your head up and watching the traffic around you, not to mention the fact that most road cleats are difficult to walk in etc. OTOH, a cross bike would probably hamper my top end, and when I commute I like to go as fast and efficiently as possible (I see commuting as a training ride)

as you can tell, I am leaning toward the road bike but I want to make the right decision- if anyone that club rides on cross bikes or commutes on a road bike could chime in it would be much appreciated!
I'd suggest a road bike.

The reasons you list for why a cross bike might be better are dependent on setup and road bikes offer a few advantages. On road bikes you can run compact cranks/a triple/a larger cassette if you want lower gears for stops/starts (but it's probably not necessary anyway), run a shorter/higher rise stem if you want a more upright position, run mtb pedals and shoes for walk-ability. For the sake of fairness, I'd also add that a cross bike with the comparable components to a road bike will be very close to the same weight. And cross bike gearing varies a lot and is up to you; it can be set up the same as a road bike (I run a 50-36/11-23 on mine right now).

I have been using a cross bike primarily as a road bike for the last 5 years or so. When I lived in an area with harsher winters, easy (non-tech) trails at my doorstep and lots of dirt roads, it made a lot of sense. Now, I live in an area with rockier trails and very few dirt roads. The only time I feel like it's better than a road bike is on extremely crappy days in winter when I'll use the cross tires for road riding so slush/sand/salt doesn't kill me. If you don't mind riding the 9er once in a while, this shouldn't be an issue.

Road bikes have the advantage (albeit sometimes slight) in weight, aerodynamics, road handling (most of the time, anyway) and brakes (cantis are just okay; I've never seen a setup that has no tradeoffs relative to nearly any regular road brake. Also, some cross forks will chatter up a storm.) Basically, unless you see yourself using the cross bike for trails or racces, there are no real drawbacks to a road bike and a few for a cross bike.

So, that's my opinion. But I bet you'll have fun with whatever you decide.
 

ire

Turbo Monkey
Aug 6, 2007
6,196
4
I don't think a cross bike will hamper your top end when commuting. If you intend on riding dirt or gravel roads along with pavement, I would buy a cross bike. I spend the majority of my time on my cross bike because some of the best rides around here involve gravel roads. If you are just going to ride road, buy a road bike.
 

Helmsdini

Chimp
Feb 5, 2009
5
0
Richmond, IN
Thanks for the input guys. I believe I am going to go ahead and just get a road bike. We really dont have any dirt roads or gravel roads around here that I would ride on- its all pavement albeit crappy at times.
 

Buck Fever

Monkey
Jul 12, 2004
255
0
Hipsterville USA
I'm throwing down my $0.02 even though you already made a decision. I've been thinking about this quite a bit lately.

I'm building myself four new bikes this year. It was going to be 29er, commuter, road, cross. I thought about the setup differences on my road and cross bikes and it comes down to tires, gearing, chainstay length and a 0.3 degree difference in frame angles. BB, Saddle and H-bar relationships are itentical for me. I narrowed it down...no "road" bike, which really means no road race style bike. Having a race style bike has always been more of an emotional decision than a practical one since I don't race road and I always ride my commuter in the winter because fenders can't fit between the tire and stay on my "race" bike.

Ultimately the decision is to build two CX bikes and set one of them up with fat slicks and proper gearing for most of the road riding I do.

Get a cross bike.

Anyone know where I can find 32mm slick tread tubulars? Vittoria makes a file tread CX tire but white? Seriously?
 

ire

Turbo Monkey
Aug 6, 2007
6,196
4
Anyone know where I can find 32mm slick tread tubulars? Vittoria makes a file tread CX tire but white? Seriously?
Grifo makes one that is black, similar tread to the Vittoria

 
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Helmsdini

Chimp
Feb 5, 2009
5
0
Richmond, IN
I havent actually made the purchase yet, but I am looking at something in the 1000-1500 range, and I have narrowed it down to two candidates:

Specialized Allez sport:
http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bc/SBCBkModel.jsp?spid=39253&eid=115

Specialized Tricross sport:
http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bc/SBCBkModel.jsp?spid=38443


I also just talked to the LBS again today and they are trying to put together a local 'cross series this coming winter. If you look at the componentry, I think the Allez is set up a little better than the Tricross- but with the tricross I could always put road tires on it and just rock it down the road- or fenders, or fatter tires, or snow tires, or a front rack for touring, or really whatever I wanted to do.

I dont road race, and I probably wont ever race on the road- the politics of it just dont really appeal to me and I find it comes down to whoever has the most money or best bike most of the time in the local events. I love riding in inclement weather- snow, slush, mud, rain... naturally cross bikes appeal more to me. I would still be open to swinging either way, but I just want to be happy with whatever I get. I know both could technically do what I want them to do- just not sure what would suit me better.
 

SuspectDevice

Turbo Monkey
Aug 23, 2002
4,157
359
Roanoke, VA
Tufo's 30c filetread is a great road tire. Way more durable than anything else in the 30-32 tub range. And virtually flat proof when run with sealant. It's my tire of choice for summer riding on my cx bike.
 

Buck Fever

Monkey
Jul 12, 2004
255
0
Hipsterville USA
Tufo's 30c filetread is a great road tire. Way more durable than anything else in the 30-32 tub range. And virtually flat proof when run with sealant. It's my tire of choice for summer riding on my cx bike.
Tufo's are tough. But given the choice between white and yellow...I'm going white. WTF tire manufacturers? Can't we get some purple up in here?
 

SuspectDevice

Turbo Monkey
Aug 23, 2002
4,157
359
Roanoke, VA
Tufo's are tough. But given the choice between white and yellow...I'm going white. WTF tire manufacturers? Can't we get some purple up in here?
There are certainly some N.O.S. black treaded Tufo's kicking around in someones garage or bikeshop... Delve into the vastness of the Portland bike cult, and I am sure you will be delivered!
 

roadcross

Chimp
Apr 30, 2009
1
0
What about geometry? I'm in a similar situation - deciding btw road and cross. I believe in general cross bikes have greater bottom bracket clearance and the handlebars on some are set up higher, with the stem angled upwards, like the Trek X01 (link below). Any impacts on comfort and ride? Thoughts on the functional differences in geometry between road and cross? I'm looking at the X01 - it's got Shimano 105s all around and it's a good price, but wondering about comfort, efficiency, speed, etc. Your thoughts are appreciated. Cheers.
http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/bikes/road/xo/xo1
 

sanjuro

Tube Smuggler
Sep 13, 2004
17,373
0
SF
I have a slightly different opinion about this:

If you are going to race road, you have to get a road bike. Cross, the same logic.

But for commuting, does it really matter?

The weight comes down to an alu vs carbon fork mostly. And the braking is better on a CX bike, as well as more fender clearance.

But I've done long distance rides on bikes as varied as my custom road racing bike to a FR hardtail. I think each has its advantages, and I find myself enjoying the nuances.

Now I don't recommend the FR bike for road rides, but I find that the subtle differences between road and cross is not that big of a deal.