Originally Posted by rudetay
So, I'm a poor college student hoping to begin racing. I am most interested in cyclocross, but will also race the road season. Are there any cyclocross frames that near road geometry or would work decently for both styles (perhaps a different wheelset for each)?
Before I invest in a road bike that may require me to buy another bike later, I thought I would see what the "do-it-all" options were, if any.
I'm going to race for fun, and this will be my first season, I doubt I will be very competitive for the first few years here, so cost effectiveness and overall performance is really more important to me than getting a bike that will shave 1.5 seconds off a crit lap.
Any ideas?
I'd go with the cross bike. I've used a road bike outfitted with 29c cross tires in races: it works, but not a great way to go. As far as riding your cross bike on the road , I will second the comment on the braking. Cantilever brakes just don't have the same kind of modulation as the standard dual-pivot road brakes. They have more of the on/off feel. Nice and strong for a muddy off-road race, but a bit much when it comes to bleeding off speed heading down a twisty road descent. Jerky would be the best way I can describe it.
Also, the front cross forks can be very chattery under hard braking - on some forks outright dangerous. This can be corrected somewhat with toe-ing in the front pads - but even then, under hard braking the same control isn't there as you get with a road fork.
As for the different in the cross frame vs. road frame - it depends on which frames you are comparing. In the past I've gone from using a steel Jamis road frame (which I sold) to an Indy Fab steel cross frame in road races. The cross frame, with the additional chainstay length, was noticeably twistier out of the saddle (climbing, accelerating, etc.). Then again, I've used a Ti Indy Fab Planet X in crits and it felt pretty stiff at times (go figure). Wheel choice will have an effect there perhaps. I never had an issue with the cross geometry in group racing, it performed fine in corners with the slacker front end. Just a little less punch out of the saddle.
With all that said, if you can only have on, grab maybe an aluminum cross bike - which would give you better stiffness for the road races.