# cyclocross bike as only bike



## noavg55 (Jan 2, 2003)

was wondering who else just has there cross bike?i only have my cx bike and a couple set's of wheels so it works.i have about $1000 extra cash,was thinking of buying a used road bike.but also thought of selling my current cx bike and then buying a top of the line used cx bike.any ideas??? sorry to much free time on my hands.


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## Kram (Jan 28, 2004)

If you're only going to have 1 bike a cross bike is the one to have. Maybe upgrade your crosser, depending on what you have.


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## 88 rex (Mar 18, 2008)

I have just a CX bike as my only bike right now. I sold/parted out my road bike and put a little extra cash into my CX bike for some "upgrades." I will be racing road with it this year as well (Cat 4 road). 

I do have disc brakes so I'm sure it will stand out like a sore thumb. But on a positive note, the group will be more likely to let me go off the front "being the weird guy on a CX bike with disc brakes." 

I have 3 sets of wheels that I rotate through depending on what riding I'm doing. 

IMO, and as an anonymous individual giving advice, just pocket the cash. A new CX bike won't make you faster at CX and a road bike won't make you faster than a CX bike with road tires (assuming gearing is fairly comparable). 

That would be the reasonable thing to do, but we always don't make the reasonable choice.  I know I don't.


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## svrider (Jan 14, 2009)

noavg55 said:


> thinking of buying a used road bike


Timely thread. I just picked up my first cross bike yesterday and plan on using it as my road bike as well. Going to be putting my road bike up for sale. What you thinking about buying?


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## LanterneRouge14 (Nov 5, 2011)

ive thought about this ever since i sold my steel indy fab planet cross in '03 (to buy a sweet santa cruz mtn bike for a trip to whistler). that IF cross bike w road wheels was as fast and lively on the road as most of the road bikes ive ever had. ive wished i had kept the IF and sold other stuff instead. 

to those whose road bike is their cross bike, do you feel hindered by having a 46 or 48 tooth ring as your big ring?


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## clydeone (Oct 25, 2011)

LanterneRouge14 said:


> ive thought about this ever since i sold my steel indy fab planet cross in '03 (to buy a sweet santa cruz mtn bike for a trip to whistler). that IF cross bike w road wheels was as fast and lively on the road as most of the road bikes ive ever had. ive wished i had kept the IF and sold other stuff instead.
> 
> to those whose road bike is their cross bike, do you feel hindered by having a 46 or 48 tooth ring as your big ring?


My intention is to run a 50-36 on the front and have a 11-23 cassette on my road wheel That should not hamper me at all on the road- my cross and commuter/gravel wheels will likely have a 12-26


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## 55x11 (Apr 24, 2006)

88 rex said:


> I have just a CX bike as my only bike right now. I sold/parted out my road bike and put a little extra cash into my CX bike for some "upgrades." I will be racing road with it this year as well (Cat 4 road).


the most recent issue of bicycling has an article on disk brakes for road bikes, pros and cons - they will be coming soon, apparently.


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## BCJek (Apr 7, 2006)

Kona Jake the Snake with road tires [25's] is my only bike. I love it.


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## PedalDriven (Dec 4, 2011)

BCJek said:


> Kona Jake the Snake with road tires [25's] is my only bike. I love it.


I bought a Kona Zing road bike for training. I should of just bought a second wheelset with road tires for my Jake the Snake. The JTS rides awesome with road tires. :thumbsup:

-Cheers.


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## 88 rex (Mar 18, 2008)

LanterneRouge14 said:


> to those whose road bike is their cross bike, do you feel hindered by having a 46 or 48 tooth ring as your big ring?


When I had a 48 big ring, I also had a 11 small ring on the rear. I never felt like I had a problem with that set-up. Currently, I have a 50 big ring and a 12 small ring on the rear and it kind of bothers me a little. 

I do have 3 cranks right now that I'll switch in and out just because I like to tinker. The 34/50 is what I have on right now and pretty much hate it. The 34t is useless for me. I really liked the 39/48 and 39/53 with an 11/26 on the rear. (For CX I run single ring with a 11-28). 



55x11 said:


> the most recent issue of bicycling has an article on disk brakes for road bikes, pros and cons - they will be coming soon, apparently.


Very cool! Can't wait to read it.


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## ecub (Sep 2, 2011)

I'm thinking of doing the same. Once more bikes come out with discs brakes, I'm planning to sell my Madone for a CF cross bike with discs. I have summer and fall wheelsets. My summer wheel sets are carbon aero wheels, while the fall are aluminum wheels. I don't want to use the carbon in the fall, becuase of the wet weather, plus it's allot windier and a big disadvantage using aeros. Unfortuantely, changing wheels from carbon to aluminum also means changing the brake pads. Having discs would help me allot with that, becuase it just means I only have to change the wheelset.


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## weltyed (Feb 6, 2004)

those using cross for their road bikes are also running disc: worried about weight at all? do you build up your own wheels? thought about thinning the herd and using a cross with an extra set of wheels. but i was also thinking of ditching the disc brakes and going for min v brakes...


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## November Dave (Dec 7, 2011)

Just beware, any road official who sees a disc bike lined up for a road race is going to pull you out. They aren't legal there yet. 

A friend and former team mate of mine who is a great cx racer trashed his frame days before a big crit two summers ago. Riding his cx bike, he lapped the field in the crit. I'd rather use a cx bike in a road race than a road bike in a cx race, that's for sure.


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## JPHcross (Aug 15, 2006)

If you have 1 CX bike and $1000 extra I would buy another CX bike versus selling your current bike and buying a top of the line bike. Having a dedicated CX race bike and a do-it-all commuter, winter trainer, road bike, pit bike etc is a good way to go. Just make sure that the geometry, rear wheel spacing, positions of the brakes and cog spacing is the same so that you can jump from bike to bike without any differences and easily swap wheels without changing brake/der set-up. If you want to use one bike as a road bike just have different tires 700 x 23 and a big ring 46/36 for CX and 50/36 for road.


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## 88 rex (Mar 18, 2008)

weltyed said:


> those using cross for their road bikes are also running disc: worried about weight at all? do you build up your own wheels? thought about thinning the herd and using a cross with an extra set of wheels. but i was also thinking of ditching the disc brakes and going for min v brakes...



I use to be worried about weight when I was a "newb." I even built up a fairly light (~16.5 lbs) road race rig with some nice deep carbon wheels. Great bike, but overall, I wasn't really any faster on the road bike than I was on a 22 lb CX bike. In full out "race mode" my steel CX bike with discs is under 20 lbs. 

I build my own wheels. Currently have training wheels - Velocity Deep Vs with Shimano Deore hubs, CX/singletrack wheels - Stans Crest to Hope Pro 2 and "Race wheels" - 38mm Carbon Tubular with Circus Monkey hubs.


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## 88 rex (Mar 18, 2008)

November Dave said:


> Just beware, any road official who sees a disc bike lined up for a road race is going to pull you out. They aren't legal there yet.



It is my understanding that they are legal....or at least not specifically banned. The rules only say that each wheel must have a brake, not which type of brake. 

A little google searching popped up this thread on velocipedsalon....Disc brakes for USAC road racing?

That thread is only a week old. :thumbsup:


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## November Dave (Dec 7, 2011)

The UCI and all being as crystal clear as they are leaves plenty of room for doubt, but between Johan Bruyneel screaming that disc brakes need to be legalized, the fact that cross bikes were under the same rules for brakes as road bikes but needed to be explicitly cleared to use discs, plus the obvious evidence that if they were legal people would be using them and Vollagi wouldn't be the only player with that nice of a disc-specific road bike (I do really like that bike) I think it's pretty clear you are hosed for discs in road races. Velobews had some stuff on this recently. I couldn't find it in my 3 second search.


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## ecub (Sep 2, 2011)

My LBS mentioned a few times that Trek was playing around with discs on road bikes.


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## nightfend (Mar 15, 2009)

Yep, get a second cross bike. The second bike as a spare is nice to have. Make the road bike the 3rd bike you get.


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## kerley (Jan 18, 2006)

My single speed Major One has been my only bike for the last 18 months. Don't even switch tyres around. Have to say that the 58 inch gear means I take every opportunity to take off road routes (which is made easy as I live in a large forest)


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## cycocross (Dec 11, 2011)

#16 has the best solution.
the second best option, get the 50/34 crank, then vary the wheelsets with a 11/32 for mountains and snow. and a 11/20ish for speed that should just about take care of your cash. You'd still have a lonely bike.


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## CX Noob (Dec 1, 2009)

I built up a 2012 Super X as my "one bike." I definitely dropped the ball by not running a 50 up front though, the 46 isn't quite enough. Otherwise it's awesome, and simplifies my quiver. Unfortunately I've got to sell the frameset to come up with some much needed money. Check the classifieds if any of ya'll are looking for a real nice frameset :thumbsup:


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## climbinthebigring (Mar 13, 2011)

If your not racing road than I would just buy a really nice cross bike.


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## drd1 (Aug 3, 2008)

what is cyclo cross?


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## joemastro (Nov 21, 2008)

If I were in your position I would put all the funds in a high end CX. I invested in a couple of wheel sets and with that I don't feel the need to have anything else.


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## ez_nv (Feb 12, 2010)

My only bit of caution would be to consider times that your cross bike, as your only bike, might be out of commission but you still need to ride. Two years ago I went all in with a nice cross rig but found some issues between races once the season started where I trashed a bb or broke a chain or needed new cables. All of these can either require an rushed repair on a Monday night after a weekend of racing or the bike spending a few days at the lbs. If you had plans for rides or workouts during the week you are out of luck no matter how many wheelsets you have or how nice your cx bike is. 

I ended up scoring a slightly above entry level road bike on ebay at a fraction of what I spent on the cx bike before last year and have loved having a clean and ready to go bike after a weekend of muddy cx racing. Picking up a second cx bike would probably yield similar results unless it was a nasty enough weekend to wreck both the A bike and a pit bike.


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## noavg55 (Jan 2, 2003)

thanks for all the imput,but i bought a used roadbike!!!!


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## f1junkie (Feb 19, 2006)

noavg55 said:


> thanks for all the imput,but i bought a used roadbike!!!!


Sounds like a good decision - having an extra bike might be good in case of mechanical issues like another poster mentioned. 

What did you end up with?

Dave


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## cs1 (Sep 16, 2003)

noavg55 said:


> was wondering who else just has there cross bike?i only have my cx bike and a couple set's of wheels so it works.i have about $1000 extra cash,was thinking of buying a used road bike.but also thought of selling my current cx bike and then buying a top of the line used cx bike.any ideas??? sorry to much free time on my hands.


I've been thinking and posting a lot about that myself. I have way too many bikes and not enough time to ride them all. My favorite ride is an old Waterford RSE-11. It's more of an adventure bike than true cyclocross machine. I was thinking about selling off the other bikes and upgrading the old Veloce/Mirage group on that bike. Or just buying something more current and selling everything.

My choices for new bike are kind of eclectic. I want, in no particular order, Cannondale Bad Boy, Specialized Carve, Trek Sawyer, Gunnar Hyper-X or Fastlane or the Raleigh Roper. I'm sold on disc brakes and the 29er concept. If I do get more than one bike I want interchangeable wheelsets. That leaves out certain model Bad Boys. All the above mentioned bikes have 135mm 700C/29er disc wheels. 

My experience with Waterfords has been very positive. I'm strongly looking at something like the Hyper-X or Fastlane. If the build is too expensive then the Raleigh could be a suitable, but heavy, alternative. CXM, Cyclo Cross Magazine has a Roper review in the newest edition. Their only complaint is weight and not enough clearance for a true Monster Cross.


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## cs1 (Sep 16, 2003)

ez_nv said:


> My only bit of caution would be to consider times that your cross bike, as your only bike, might be out of commission but you still need to ride.


See my post at #29. That's why I always thought having a second/backup bike that uses the same wheels was a good idea. The backup could be your bad weather bike or set up more for road use. If you use Campy like I do every repair means you have to special order or internet spare parts.


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## Merc (Oct 9, 2011)

Can anyone recommend an affordable disc wheelset? My idea is to get a second wheelset and put a set of road tires on them. I have a specialized apex crux disc bike.


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## AlanE (Jan 22, 2002)

Last winter I bought a use S-works Tricross that I intended to use as my winter / foul weather bike. My regular road bike is a Trek 5200 OCLV. I put the cross tires on a spare set of wheels and have been running 23's on the road. As it turned out, I like the cross bike better than the Trek, and have been riding it almost exclusively. It's lighter & stiffer. Gearing is 48/34 x 11-28, so that pretty much covers what I need for the terrain here. I throw the other wheels on for the occasion dirt road fest. I don't race. 

Other than a small aerodynamic penalty, I don't see any real drawback to a cross bike versus a road bike. Plus, it's a topic of conversation on a group ride, and it gives me a built in excuse - "yeah, I'd be able to keep up with you guys if I had a road bike"


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## hxc240z (Jun 14, 2011)

My Empella made a fun commuter, but I kept breaking something right before a race while commuting so that is something to think about. It also was usually tubies I kept braking and didnt have the dough to keep a spare around. What did I do? Buy another crosser! swobo crosby is my daily driver so to speak and backs up as a emergency race bike though I too will look a little odd on my ss disc brake bike.


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## champamoore (Jul 30, 2012)

my only ride for the last few years has been my jake the snake. figured it would be a good bridge into road riding from mtb. 16,000 (99% road) miles later, i have no regrets - but i do long for something of a road race bike, now. conti gp4000s 23s helped me keep up with my nycc brothers and sisters for group rides without too much trouble, as long as i got my training miles in.

i have recently switched out rings to 50/34 and put an 11-28 in the back (from 46/36 and 11-27, respectively). i never missed those extra teeth under the old configuration, but i sure do appreciate them spinning up/hauling ass down hills. 

the weakest link on ruthann (my bike) is the fsa crankset, which i look forward to swapping for shimano ultegra soon.


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## austincrx (Oct 22, 2008)

If I did it over again, I'd buy a really good CX bike, a 130bcd 53/39 crank, and another set of wheels to race on the road with. The geometry of a CX bike is a little different, but you really wouldn't notice. I'd also make sure to get the proper size bike, you can always change the stem, but i'd stick with your proper road bike size. A crappy road bike is no worse than a crappy cx bike, and a good CX bike is no worse than a good road bike, as long as you're not Bradley Wiggins...and I'm pretty sure you're not.


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## ts8169 (Feb 23, 2009)

champamoore said:


> i have recently switched out rings to 50/34 and put an 11-28 in the back (from 46/36 and 11-27, respectively). i never missed those extra teeth under the old configuration, but i sure do appreciate them spinning up/hauling ass down hills.
> .


Did this switch make a huge difference? Do you think you could still race cross with a 50/34? I'm mostly on the road with a 46/36 on the CX bike but still race cross in the fall. Don't want to shoot myself in the foot by making a drastic change up front.


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## pretender (Sep 18, 2007)

I wouldn't like the jump from 34 to 50. I think 44/34 would work well for cross season, then use the 50t big ring the rest of the year.


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## champamoore (Jul 30, 2012)

ts8169 said:


> Did this switch make a huge difference? Do you think you could still race cross with a 50/34? I'm mostly on the road with a 46/36 on the CX bike but still race cross in the fall. Don't want to shoot myself in the foot by making a drastic change up front.


I have never been near a cross race, so can't really answer this for you. I do love the setup for the road, tho.


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## ts8169 (Feb 23, 2009)

pretender said:


> I wouldn't like the jump from 34 to 50. I think 44/34 would work well for cross season, then use the 50t big ring the rest of the year.


So to switch outer rings post-cross season you would also need to re-adjust the FD clamp, pull cable taught and be done with it?


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## pretender (Sep 18, 2007)

ts8169 said:


> So to switch outer rings post-cross season you would also need to re-adjust the FD clamp, pull cable taught and be done with it?


Precisely.


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