cyclocross bikes

[carl f]

After taking my son to a couple of races this winter and watching the seniors thrash it out cross bikes i am thinking of buying a cross bike and having a go next season. I can justify it by selling my ribble bike, spare frame and clutter i still have lying around and using the cross bike as a commuter/winter training bike as well
Whats anyone opinion on this one please,or any others in this price range
http://www.raleigh.co.uk/b_details.aspx ... 14&brand=8
Cheers

[Alex S]

Some other names to throw in:

Sp tricross sport (2010 model is 850 RRP) (i am buying one of these this week)
-popular, tiagra/deore-LX. universal complaints about brakes squealing.

Giant TCX 2 (2010 model 750 RRP)
-a beautiful looking bike for the price, Sora/Tiagra. which is a shame because sora gear levers have the stupid thumb shifter

or the Pinnacle Expede series (Pinnacle is exclusive to evans so I may be biased having worked there in the past) actually got really good reviews as they are decent quality bikes with good value for money.

Raleigh just screams "heavy" at me every time i hear the name. In my opinion they run on name recognition to win customers as a pose to some of the other brands that use well researched technological advances in their frames like bianchi, specialized and giant.

[George]

Doesn't matter what bike you get just do it Carl!
If you enjoy it then splash some mega cash later.
I'm buying a new cross bike later in the year ready for next season , I'll probably buy a Ridley or a Kinesis Crosslight

[higg]

If you already have the bits from an old bike then maybe just get a frame. Pre the sterling crash you used to be able to get something half decent for £150-200 but it's maybe more now.

Just for reference, the new (ie) non-road items you will need are :

frame
canti brakes
tyres

You might also want to change the stem (more upright) and the chainrings (compact preferably) for comfort but these are not essential.

If you get a frame get some replacement drop-outs at the same time.

Try Kenesis, Planet X ar similar.



Aodan.

[Jon H]

[quote="higg"]Just for reference, the new (ie) non-road items you will need are :

[carl f]

Cheers guys
Alex- i read that the raleigh fame was good enough for later upgrades,hence looking at them in that price range. I'll check out the others you mentioned though
George- . i would buy any old thing,as i know it will just get thrown(with me) around a muddy course but i will need to use it for winter training and commuting so need to buy somtehing half decent i guess,with a tiagra or 105 build
Aodan- i havn't got canti brakes or a cross frame lying around,think it might just be easier to make the effort to sell off my old road bits and start again
Might keep a lookout for 2nd hand seeing as the season is coming to a close,got all year to find a bargain!
I do of course have Andrew's old mtb to race but i want a new toy......
Cheers

[Andrew G]

Check out the Planet X website for the Uncle John build you could do. I had a quick look and it wouldn't be much more to have one of them with an ultegra/105 build, plus you could probably drop some of the build kit such as seatpost/bars etc if you have spares laying around of those, or the PX Superlight stuff is pretty good and is often free with the build rather than an upgrade additional cost of some of the others. If you're thinking about possible upgrades later it would probably be a lot more cost effective to spend an extra £100 initially on a custom PX build, as an example, than get something out the box and then have to buy bits later and have old budget stuff laying about you don't want or need.

I did a couple of cross races on that MTB . It's fine doing the cross races on a MTB if you are just doing tehm for fun and training, although they are a lot slower on the grassy section with their extra weight and fat tyres. At Herne hill for example I can work my way through folk on the singletrack section out back but get back to the infield and they are so much faster for much less effort that they come back, so I end up yo-yo-ing with a group in the middle of the pack somewhere. It doesn't bother me as I've only done them for fun and training but if I looked to race more cross then I'd get a proper bike for it. Any dismount sections are also a damn site easier with a cosss bike.

[carl f]

Looked at the px cross frames-they look good value as well. Going to look out for some deals or buy 2nd hand i think,there is no rush after all
Cheers

[carl f]

Wiggle have this for £600.00 at the mo whada think?
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/images/focus-ma ... 0-zoom.jpg
Cheers

[Ivor]

[quote="higg"]
Just for reference, the new (ie) non-road items you will need are :

canti brakes

[Andrew G]

So they don't get clogged with mud.

[Ivor]

[quote="Andrew G"]So they don't get clogged with mud.

[quote="Ivor"][quote="Andrew G"]So they don't get clogged with mud.