Thread: Are cyclocross bikes a waste of money?

I recently tatered my knee so it looks like I have a future of spinning in front of me. I figure this is a good time to add a bike to the stable. Tempted to get a cross bike, but I'm worried it would be a jack of all trades master of none kind of tool.

Where I live we have a few good paved routes to ride and plenty of gravel roads that stay free of snow. Would a cross bike just be painful on potholed dirt roads or would a hardtail 29er be more of the ticket (Gasp! I thought I wouldn't go there!)?

Injured and tossing around lots of ideas, what does the collective think?
Open to all takes on the matter.

I think a cyclocross bike is an absolute master of cyclocross and jack of many other trades. Gravel road is perfect for it too. A 29r hardtail would be a close second but I'd give the cyclocross the edge on gravel roads.

Cyclocross is perfect for that, plenty durable with the right wheel set. Get an extra set of slicks to throw on too if you want to do some longer road training.

If you really don't care about speed at all, the hard tail 29er route would be fine, but so much slower and heavier.

Consider that on a cross bike your only suspension is your knees, ankles, wrists and elbows. You will find yourself needing to stand on the pedals a lot especially on washboarded dirt roads so if your knee isn't up to the rattling and shaking it could be painful. At least on a 29er you can run higher volume tires to absorb some of the higher frequency vibrations and it will be easier on the knees when standing on the pedals. You'll find it slightly undergeared compared to a cross bike and you may be looking for something quicker but it will be more comfortable.

Originally Posted by bfree

Cyclocross is perfect for that, plenty durable with the right wheel set. Get an extra set of slicks to throw on too if you want to do some longer road training.

This is what I am thinking. My wife has been rocking this setup for years. I guess another factor is that in reality I will use it alot while injured and late fall (probably for the Yellowstone park roads when the gates close), and spring. I will spend most of the summer months riding the full squish.
Good info people, keep it coming.

also cross bikes are coming out with disc frames/wheels now too. makes stopping less scary.

CX bikes increase your possible ride options here from, say, a few hundred miles of paved roads to thousands of miles of options, including all sorts of combinations of pavement, gravel, dirt, single track, double track, etc.
A great tool, can't imagine my quiver without it.

Originally Posted by mntlion

also cross bikes are coming out with disc frames/wheels now too. makes stopping less scary.

I always thought scary was part of allure.

I don't own one, yet, but I think a cross bike sounds perfect.

Originally Posted by rideit

A great tool, can't imagine my quiver without it.

agreed... 'nuff said

I have a 29er (albeit full suspension)
Was looking for a road bike for pure mileage logs.
I ended up getting a cross bike. My take on it is that I can beat the shit out of it and not not to baby a road bike. I ride road tires on the road, and cross tires when I'm too lazy to change into anything else. I have raced it, and just did a 100 mile tour with it. Leaving for Mexico in 2 weeks for another. To me it is just a road bike with the option to put bigger bad ass dirt road tires on it. It's light and durable.
Good luck

Cyclocross bikes are my favorite kind of bike because it can be set up as a road bike as well. Now the geometry of a road bike is a little different than a cross bike but it is close. I recently sold my road bike and am now using my cyclocross bike for my road bike as well. A 29er is going to be more forgiving on a washboarded dirt road, but what you sacrifice in comfort, you will pay for in weight gains. Go for the cyclocross bike!

I saw a guy in montana when I was doing the continental divide route absolutely pinned on a CX bike down a dirt road we were climbing. Looked pretty friggin rad.

If you get one, you have the bonus of also having a road bike with a second set of tires. Those are good on pavement. Rehab and pavement go well together.

I'm sold. I'll be searching for one starting now. Looking for a 59cm or 60cm size frame (I'm 6'1", think that should be about right). It's the plus side of getting injured when it lets you justify another bike!

go for disc frame/wheels and a 105 parts spec for best durability vs price vs weight vs options.
and see if the frame/fork is wide enough to add bigger volume tires if you go off road more.
I had the older version on this
http://www.bikes.com/main+en+01_102+...ATID=27&Y=2012
and it was the same frame as the racey cross frame, but with urban paint, and discs...
I ended up building a 29er frame into a monster cross bike to get bigger volume tires in.

Cross Bike: Paved and Dirt Roads.
Hardtail MTB: Dirt Roads and singletrack.

Which are you honestly going to do?

Originally Posted by XtrPickels

Cross Bike: Paved and Dirt Roads.
Hardtail MTB: Dirt Roads and singletrack.

Which are you honestly going to do?

1st option, cause as you know there isn't shit for dry single track around here for a long time in Spring and late fall. Once the actual riding is clear around here I'll be on my c nomad .

Mntlion- that looks like a pretty cool option. I like the idea of discs, but I may keep it simple and cheap to have 2 wheels sets (1 road, 1 cross).

I went with a VERY light 29er tire, to get the volume to absorb vibrations, and still rides fast.
stans crows...

Salsa Fargo, go "monstercross" unless you are really speed concerned. Voodoo Nakisi if you want to roll your own

I can run 45mm studded snows on my Redline Conquest Pro, turns it into an adequate winter bike.

This fall I picked up a Colnago World Cup. It can take cable disks, I changed out the roadie cassette for the same I run on my mtn bike plus an XT der and Stan's hoops. It feels more familiar this way. I am using it for base miles this winter, gets me out more frequently I guess. I do like the amble around piece of it, riding sand covered asphalt, gravel, whatever. Not sure if I'll put road tires on in the summer, I spend the bulk of my time on the mtn bike in summer. When I was looking at them the guys at the shop were all oh the geometry is whack, brakes suck-compared to their very high end road bikes. I am coming from a blinged out Niner with XTR trail disks, and having always been on a mtn bike-everybody's brakes suck comparatively. Blazing downhill in the drops and grabbing the binders took some getting used to for sure. That plus the rim brake thing has been a while. You forget wet means scary stopping with calipers. I'll see about putting disks on it this fall.

Neat monstercross from BikesDirect, $800:

http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/...y/zilla_xx.htm

I would go check your sizing. I'm 6' and ride a 54-55cm cross bike. I road a 56-57 cm road bike. I still have the cross bike for cruising around town and it works great.

a cross bike would be sick for the park