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  1. #1
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    Mar 2005
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    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.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
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    Down the valley a bit further on the good side of the 49th
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    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.
    It's not so much the model year, it's the high mileage or meterage to keep the youth of Canada happy

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
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    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.

  4. #4
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    Jan 2007
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    If you really don't care about speed at all, the hard tail 29er route would be fine, but so much slower and heavier.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
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    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.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
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    Quote Originally Posted by bfree View Post
    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.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
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    Banff
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    also cross bikes are coming out with disc frames/wheels now too. makes stopping less scary.


  8. #8
    Join Date
    Nov 2005
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    Down In A Hole, Up in the Sky
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    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.
    Forum Cross Pollinator, gratuitously strident

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
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    Quote Originally Posted by mntlion View Post
    also cross bikes are coming out with disc frames/wheels now too. makes stopping less scary.
    I always thought scary was part of allure.
    a positive attitude will not solve all of your problems, but it may annoy enough people to make it worth the effort

    Formerly Rludes025

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Dec 2003
    Location
    Wasatch Back
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    5,424
    I don't own one, yet, but I think a cross bike sounds perfect.
    A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.
    Science-fiction author Robert Heinlein

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
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    Canadian Rockies
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    Quote Originally Posted by rideit View Post
    A great tool, can't imagine my quiver without it.
    agreed... 'nuff said

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    North Vancouver
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    734
    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
    What if "Alternative" energy wasn't so alternative ?

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Jul 2011
    Location
    Lakehood
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    53
    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!

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    in your second home, doing heroin
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    14,690
    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.

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
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    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!

  16. #16
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Location
    Banff
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    22,210
    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.


  17. #17
    Join Date
    Jul 2005
    Location
    Boulder
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    Cross Bike: Paved and Dirt Roads.
    Hardtail MTB: Dirt Roads and singletrack.

    Which are you honestly going to do?

  18. #18
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    Mar 2005
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    Quote Originally Posted by XtrPickels View Post
    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).

  19. #19
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
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    Banff
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    I went with a VERY light 29er tire, to get the volume to absorb vibrations, and still rides fast.
    stans crows...


  20. #20
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
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    near zombies
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    421
    Salsa Fargo, go "monstercross" unless you are really speed concerned. Voodoo Nakisi if you want to roll your own

  21. #21
    Join Date
    Nov 2005
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    Down In A Hole, Up in the Sky
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    I can run 45mm studded snows on my Redline Conquest Pro, turns it into an adequate winter bike.
    Forum Cross Pollinator, gratuitously strident

  22. #22
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    co
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    2,297
    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.

  23. #23
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    North Idaho
    Posts
    1,149
    Neat monstercross from BikesDirect, $800:

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


  24. #24
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Location
    Idaho
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    10,953
    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.

  25. #25
    Join Date
    Nov 2002
    Location
    Eagle River Alaska
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    10,964
    a cross bike would be sick for the park
    Its not that I suck at spelling, its that I just don't care

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