# Gunnar Crosshairs Q's



## bolandjd (Sep 12, 2008)

Hey there Crosshairs' owners/former owners. I had a few questions maybe you all could answer since there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of info out there about Gunnars for whatever reason. I'm sort of trying to figure out what I want for my next bike and not sure if I want a better MTB, a better road bike, or a bike that does both pretty. So being of the latter sort, the Crosshairs has dropped into my, um, crosshairs. Doesn't hurt its made in the USA in a legendary factory, and I'm in to that sort of thing. Anyway, on to the querry...

1. Is it suitable for a clyde or will it feel noodly under my 250 lbs?
2. What's the max tire size? Gunnar website says 38mm with fenders, so will it fit a 45mm without fenders?
3. Any notable pros and cons compared to other steel cross frames (besides the obvious like it is made of OX Platinum but Surly's are only 4130)
4. Any relevent threads, blogs, articles (beside the Dirt Rag one - I read that) that I might find useful
5. Cool pictures or threads that feature such.
6. General ravings for or against?

Thanks.


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## cs1 (Sep 16, 2003)

Being under 150 I can't help on the clyde factor. But, you can just call up Waterford and talk to Richard Schwinn. He's very honest and can probably help out. I own 2 Waterfords a 1995 1200 with Reynolds 753 and a 1999 RSE 1100 with Reynolds 531. Quality is superb in both. Gunnar is basically a TIG welded Waterford.


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## krisdrum (Oct 29, 2007)

Richard is a stand up guy. I had a Crosshairs for awhile (I'm 170) and really liked it. But stupid me dropped it on the hanger side and didn't realize I'd bent the hanger and bing bang boom, rear mech in the spokes under load bent the dropout and seatstay. I had it straightened by a local shop with a great mechanic, but I just never fully trusted it after that. I probably should have sent it to Gunnar to get repaired, but didn't know any better. I ended up selling it. I bought it used, so it wasn't a huge loss, but I did like that bike.

Oh, so the point was, you'd probably be ok, but your weight might be pushing the bike a bit. I found it comfortable and not overly flexy, but also not stiff. 

As for tires, pretty sure I was running 42 Acrobats on it without any clearance issues.


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## MShaw (Jun 7, 2003)

I have a Crosshairs and at 200-ish, can't really call it a noodle by any stretch. I've ridden as far off-road as some FS bikes (slower, duh!) and on the road as fast as some of the fast doods around. Its great at doing lots of stuff.

I have an Ouzo Pro cross fork on it and get fork shudder, but otherwise...

I don't personally need/want fender/rack brazeons, but they're there.

AFA tire size? Dunno. Biggest thing I've ever run is 34c. Its got 23c tires on it right now.

I'd recommend em. 

M


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## bolandjd (Sep 12, 2008)

Thanks a bunch for the feedback. Turns out my favored LBS is a Gunnar dealer, so I think I need to go ask them some of these questions. But I still appreciate the info. Especially opinions and impressions. Good stuff. Sounds like I can't lose if I get this bike. But do I really want a cross bike or a rigid 29er? Ugg. I wish I had the coin to just have one of everything.


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## MShaw (Jun 7, 2003)

Whatcha gonna do on it? Cross bikes CAN go offroad about as far as the rigid 29er, but they'll go a lot faster on the road to get there than said 29er.

Cross bikes can be raced in crits and RRs if you stick different tires on em. Not so much on the rigid 29ers.

M


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## veloduffer (Aug 26, 2004)

I had one and it was a really nice bike. Lighter than you'd think and a really stable, solid handling ride. Only nit was the paint was ok but I had an older one (2001-02). The new paint jobs look nicer.

I used mine for all sorts of riding and even pulling a Burley trailer and later a Burley Piccolo (tandem attachment for kid). With my 180lb, 20lb of Piccolo and 50lb of child, it managed fine and I didn't find it noodle-like. Moreover, we have some short steep hills where I had to climb out of the saddle and still didn't get brake rub.

I ran Avocet 700x35s on mine with no problem. I sold mine to pare down the stable but almost bought another one (wife stopped me)


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## bolandjd (Sep 12, 2008)

MShaw said:


> Whatcha gonna do on it? Cross bikes CAN go offroad about as far as the rigid 29er, but they'll go a lot faster on the road to get there than said 29er.
> 
> Cross bikes can be raced in crits and RRs if you stick different tires on em. Not so much on the rigid 29ers.
> 
> M


That's the rub, huh? I've been riding a Long Haul Trucker for a couple years now for commuting, shopping, and all around roadish riding. I was sure I wanted a new mountain bike, since my current one is way, way, way past its prime. But then I started training for a tri with my brother. As much as I love the LHT (and I do), its not exactly a performance machine. So that got me thinking if I going to add another bike to the stable, maybe what I _really_ "need" is a proper road bike. (BTW, I'm not stuck on thinking I need a "fast" bike to do a tri - I'm more than likely going to do this one on the LHT) But I surely don't want a flimsey, pure racer. Then I thought maybe a good solid cross bike is the hot ticket, preferrably one that can take a nice wide knobby, that could satisfy both offroad _and_ onroad needs. Of course I thought of the Cross Check, but its hard to say if it would be a significant improvement over the LHT either on or offroad. Crosshairs looks like a good balance between being light enough to "go fast", but sturdy enough to handle my size and a little rugged riding. I guess I'm looking for confirmation. Thanks for your comments.


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## bolandjd (Sep 12, 2008)

A note/thought on 29ers v. cross bikes:
One thing about a rigid 29er is that it will fit a wide, high volume tire with substantial "suspension" effect to smooth the ride. On the other hand, a cross bike gets its "suspension" effect from the flex in the steel, particularly narrower fork legs that aren't stiffened for disc brakes like rigid MTB fork. So one thing I wonder about is does the increased flex in the cross bike offset the inability to run fat 29er tires as far as smoothing the ride over rough ground?


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## seat_boy (Dec 24, 2006)

No. Fat tires will make MUCH more of a difference than the flexing of the frame or fork. You can ride a cross bike off road, but you won't be nearly as fast as a rigid 29er with real MTB tires.

I had a Crosshairs and it rode really well. Everything good you've read about steel bikes = Gunnar's ride. If it had been a size bigger, I would probably still have it today.


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