shopping for a cx bike

[carl f]

Defo leaning towards the px bike in the under a 1k bracket and as Andrew sais can slightly modify it in the bargain basement
John- don't know too much about cross bikes but the one i'm after needs to be versatile so i can use it for the winter training etc,thats not saying i havn't done hours of research on the net-part of the fun of it. The only thing is i'm a bit unsure of the sram set up on the px bike as never used it before

[Lucyap]

[quote]needs to be versatile so i can use it for the winter training

[Andrew G]

I forgot to say to check Pearson's. They do a nice own branded aluminium CX bike, Mark Leedham has one, and they were doing a special offer on buying two as a sort of his and hers. Don't know if they're still doing that though and one of you may have to borrow a frock for the trip to the shop.

An advantage of the Pearson model is that Guy would help sort you a good deal to get full value of you 1k bike for work scheme so you could get him to switch bars, brakes etc upgrading the base bike to use the full value of your voucher.

[carl f]

now i'm really confused!, like the idea of buying from pearsons especially one of there own frames specced up
There is also this which i have seen sub 1k
http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/ ... -10-35466/
Going to have to take a but of time over this and try a few before i buy i think

[Sylv]

[quote="carl f"]Going to have to take a but of time over this and try a few before i buy i think

[Lucyap]

My bike is not the best ad for Specialized
I felt inspired by this thread to hit the trails today . . . after doing all the housework of course! Bike has now developed a problem with the front wheel. Making a horrible noise when it spins. The freehub broke on the back wheel a few months back, but I managed to get that fixed under warranty (never had so many problems with a bike before). Back to the shop tomorrow . . .

[carl f]

Thats not good Lucy spesh are supposed to be good with the after sales might be worth contacting them direct?
Contacted Pearsons today they rate the Ridley along with their own brand, hoping to pop over to the new shop in Sheen and check a couple out on the weekend
Sylv-hoping to be kicking off the cx season starting at HH 2nd Oct if i have the bike by then

[carl f]

Well after lots of window shopping and web surfing i thought i had decided on a kinesis cx bike, a few weeks wait until the newer model comes out which would mean the 1st couple of cx races on the mtb,fair enough but then for the same price i have seen one of these with disk brakes which is surly the way to go with off rd racing?
http://www.whytebikes.com/2012/bike_pag ... W-1-037-12
Also bike radar are reviewing the latest focus entry model which also has disk brakes and comes in under the ctw budget
decisions decisions

[Andrew G]

Are you allowed cx bikes with discs in the London League? I know you MTBs with discs but don't know about cx bikes.

You can't use them in UCI events so couldn't do Nationals with them.

[Grahame]

UCI rules have apparently changed to allow disc brakes in at least some cross races.









UCI in recognising technology advances shock!

[Andrew G]

It won't last Grahame.

[Grahame]

[url=http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/uci-allows-disc-brakes-for-cyclo-cross]Here's an article outlining the change of heart/seeing of sense by the UCI.[/url]

The other bit hidden away is the restriction of tyre width to 33mm maximum in UCI cross races, with no spikes or studs (so no snow tyres) allowed. This does not necessarily mean that your 700c35 tyres (or even my 700c38s)will be illegal, just that you will need to measure them to show the Commissaires that they are less than 33mm at their widest point. Of course, it will be easier to stick to 700c32 tyres. This could also be a useful tool for appealing against results that you don't like .

[Andrew G]

Puts a stop to Nys and the Dugasts he tested then.

[carl f]

If the UCI rules have relaxed rules on using disks i doubt if the london league will be to bothered if you turn up on a cx bike that has disks.......

[Sylv]

Carl, you could probly turn up with an electrically assisted bike at London League. In fact I'm suspecting that's what some of those pesky juniors who are trusting the podiums are doing.

So, you doing Herne Hill or not?