Cyclocross newbie

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 Urban5teve 22 Dec 2012
Thinking of getting a cyclocross in the new year and I'm not up to speed on bike jargon. I have a grand to spend (cycle to work scheme) and have been given two options so far.

http://images.ratrace.com/79012/products/ridley-x-bow-105-2013.aspx

http://road.cc/content/review/60850-kinesis-crosslight-fivet

Any advise would be great or a possible alternative suggestion. Thanks for your time.
 beardy mike 22 Dec 2012
In reply to smithers25: my mrs has a five t for riding to work on. Had a couple of goes, not off road unfortunately, but from what I could tell it'd be really really good. Light, fast, good acceleration but not at the cost of a good comfortable riding position.
 JLS 22 Dec 2012
In reply to smithers25:

The Kinesis looks the most authentic to me. I don't fancy that spoke arrangement on the Ridley if it is to be used off road - those wheels look too delicate for riding over logs.. The cable routing on the Boardman suggests to me the frame has not really been designed as a true crosser.
 JLS 22 Dec 2012
In reply to JLS:

Ha, after saying that I just spotted the front mech cable route on the Kinesis! While the Ridley has proper cross routing. Which is the lightest?
 TobyA 22 Dec 2012
In reply to JLS:
> The cable routing on the Boardman suggests to me the frame has not really been designed as a true crosser.

I have the slightly cheaper Boardman CX, the comp, can't say I've noticed problems with the down tube routing and thats riding it in lots of mud and more recently slush, followed by snow, followed by real cold. I've done a few races on mine as well since getting it in Sept.

The tapered steerer that Boardman use seems to win them lots of plaudits and the full carbon fork seems very good.
OP Urban5teve 22 Dec 2012
In reply to JLS:

Both around 10k I think.
Rigid Raider 23 Dec 2012
In reply to smithers25:

If you buy a proper CX bike you might find it a bit racy for commuting or touring. I tried a Kinesis yesterday and it's a lovely bike but very "arse-in-the-air" and probably not so comfortable over long distances.

I have a Specialized Tricross disc, which has a "Roubaix" frame geometry so is very comfortable, I rode it 70 miles to Windermere and it was 1 mph slower than my roadie (which is a Spesh Roubaix) and a heck of a lot more comfortable. It is also excellent loaded with a rack and luggage. However it's not a proper cyclocross bike, more a "cross-purpose" bike. Last time I was in my LBS I noticed that trek have brought out a me too version of it. With mudguards fitted it is doing great as a winter trainer as well, the rugged 32 mm tyres and discs are perfect for muddy country roads.
 quirky 23 Dec 2012
In reply to smithers25: A guy at work has the boardman cx and is very pleased with it...check check and check again if you get Halfords to build it tho! I have a pinnacle which is a great bike. Very versatile, not sure how "cyclocross" it is but i use it off road with no pros, also use on my daily commute, it opens up all possibilities for the route home! I would say of all my bikes it is the one i choose to use the most...not as good on the road as my road bike...not as good off road as my fs mountain bike....but everything between!
 beardy mike 23 Dec 2012
In reply to smithers25: One more thing to add is that if you intend to ride off road, anywhere near a moderately steep slope, then whatever you do, DO NOT GET A BIKE WITH OLD STYLE CANTILEVERS. They are the spawn of satan and do precisely sweet FA. Either Mini V brakes or discs. Unless you want to die. In which case crack on. I went to barend friction shifters, full size v brakes and tektro v brake drop levers. They're much much better but not perfect...
In reply to smithers25:

No fancy cyclocross bikes here!

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=we...

The title is wrong - it's actually about 1961-2 -- I rode the event in 64 against many of the guys featured. Standard equipment was a winter bike with mudguards removed and knobbly tubs - though one or two did have an early style cyclocross bike with cantilever brakes which were just starting to appear.
 alisonk 23 Dec 2012
In reply to smithers25: Are you looking to get a bike to race CX? Or to use as a winter bike?

I have a Ridley XBow which I race on, two sets of wheeels (better ones for racing) so for winter rides I put on clip on mudguards and a bottle cage,as the CX season finished in a fortnight I'll then swap to full mudguards. However if I didn't want to use it as a winter bike then I'd be going for a XFire. However with the disc frames just starting to come in now would probably get a disc frame as I only have one race bike.
 mikehike 25 Dec 2012
In reply to smithers25: Dolan Multicross ?
 Oo 25 Dec 2012
In reply to smithers25: I've only ever owned one CX bike, a Genesis Croix de Fer, so don't have a lot to compare to but love it. Put guards and a rack on it and went to Geneva. Now use it as a winter trainer / commuter. My advice is loose the guards if you're going off road. Tried it once (by accident, dodgy route planning by my buddy) and the mud and gunk just wedges the tyres to a halt. Disc brakes are worth a lot for that reason if you're going off road.
 JLS 25 Dec 2012
In reply to Lord of Starkness:

Liked that!
 mikehike 26 Dec 2012
In reply to mike kann:
+1

Fork Judder under braking is deadly on the front of my Dolan Multicross it uses Tektro Cantis. Its caused by a combination of bike components ingredients, Carbon Fork + Cantis + Outer Cable Stop Bracket.

Im currently looking to buy Tektro Mini V asap. Other than that the bike is very stable handling and nice to ride.

Interesting reading here explaining the issue that occurs on many bikes having the above setup.

http://velonews.competitor.com/2010/09/news/cyclocross/technical-qa-with-le...

http://bikehugger.com/post/view/trps-cx9-cross-specific-v-brak
 Tricky Dicky 02 Jan 2013
In reply to mike kann:
> DO NOT GET A BIKE WITH OLD STYLE CANTILEVERS. They are the spawn of satan and do precisely sweet FA. Either Mini V brakes or discs.


Agree with this whole heartedly

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