Shopping for 1st cyclocross bike
#1
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Shopping for 1st cyclocross bike
There's a new out there as a 'gravel biking'? What's the difference?
I like Cannondales and own Synapse f105 disk. Like to stay with Cannondale on cross but open to others as well. Like to stay within same price range. Below $1500 or $2000.
Looking into Cannondale a SuperX and Ibis the Hakka MX. Any opinions please?
Thank you!!
I like Cannondales and own Synapse f105 disk. Like to stay with Cannondale on cross but open to others as well. Like to stay within same price range. Below $1500 or $2000.
Looking into Cannondale a SuperX and Ibis the Hakka MX. Any opinions please?
Thank you!!
#3
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CX can take smaller tires and has more aggressive geometry
Gravel can take bigger tires and it's more relaxed
Most CX bikes can only take up a 35c tire max because the UCI limit for CX racing is 33 now.
Unless you are care for racing geometry and will be racing cross I would go for a "gravel" bike as they are more versatile. Cannondale makes 2 gravel bikes, the Slate and the Topstone. The Topstone is well within your price range.
Gravel can take bigger tires and it's more relaxed
Most CX bikes can only take up a 35c tire max because the UCI limit for CX racing is 33 now.
Unless you are care for racing geometry and will be racing cross I would go for a "gravel" bike as they are more versatile. Cannondale makes 2 gravel bikes, the Slate and the Topstone. The Topstone is well within your price range.
#4
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nevermind,
Apparently it was to be a shopping thread,
when I lived in SF any races were needing a car.. I could not afford one..
they were far away.. like in santa cruz..
....
when I lived in SF any races were needing a car.. I could not afford one..
they were far away.. like in santa cruz..
....
Last edited by fietsbob; 11-08-18 at 04:39 PM.
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Gravel bikes are going to be more endurance focused, CX more like a road bike or a crit bike.
I wrote more in a thread: https://www.bikeforums.net/cyclocros...vel-bikes.html
but basically
Some older cross bikes are stiff and possibly twitchy and have limited tire clearance.
These days a good cross bike will be compliant, stable at speed, and take 40mm tires. The gravel trend has had its influence.
I love the Specialiized Crux, and Canyon Inflite. (both are available in Carbon or Aluminum).
I wrote more in a thread: https://www.bikeforums.net/cyclocros...vel-bikes.html
but basically
Cross bikes: Quicker handling at the cost of stability.
Dynamically, a cross bike would be more agile, designed to be ridden more aggressively, accelerates and climbs a little faster, could corner harder/sharper (requiring more care on sweeping loose turns), less worry about pedal strike.
Gravel bikes tend to be more stable in loose terrain, and fast descents, a bit easier and more comfortable to ride, require a little more intention on turn-in (swinging wide too wide on very tight turns) and a generally more relaxed demeanor.
Cross can pull some high G-s in corners, where a gravel bike can to a loose sweeping turn without washing out.
Dynamically, a cross bike would be more agile, designed to be ridden more aggressively, accelerates and climbs a little faster, could corner harder/sharper (requiring more care on sweeping loose turns), less worry about pedal strike.
Gravel bikes tend to be more stable in loose terrain, and fast descents, a bit easier and more comfortable to ride, require a little more intention on turn-in (swinging wide too wide on very tight turns) and a generally more relaxed demeanor.
Cross can pull some high G-s in corners, where a gravel bike can to a loose sweeping turn without washing out.
These days a good cross bike will be compliant, stable at speed, and take 40mm tires. The gravel trend has had its influence.
I love the Specialiized Crux, and Canyon Inflite. (both are available in Carbon or Aluminum).
#6
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Gravel bikes are going to be more endurance focused, CX more like a road bike or a crit bike.
I wrote more in a thread: https://www.bikeforums.net/cyclocros...vel-bikes.html
but basically
Some older cross bikes are stiff and possibly twitchy and have limited tire clearance.
These days a good cross bike will be compliant, stable at speed, and take 40mm tires. The gravel trend has had its influence.
I love the Specialiized Crux, and Canyon Inflite. (both are available in Carbon or Aluminum).
I wrote more in a thread: https://www.bikeforums.net/cyclocros...vel-bikes.html
but basically
Some older cross bikes are stiff and possibly twitchy and have limited tire clearance.
These days a good cross bike will be compliant, stable at speed, and take 40mm tires. The gravel trend has had its influence.
I love the Specialiized Crux, and Canyon Inflite. (both are available in Carbon or Aluminum).
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Also the new Grail AL has a good build kit for $1900 with Rival 1x 10-42 if you care to look at gravel.
The Inflite AL SLX 8.0 is also a nice bike for $1500 right now with a cool paint scheme.
The Inflite AL SLX 8.0 is also a nice bike for $1500 right now with a cool paint scheme.
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https://road.cc/content/review/24877...al-slx-60-race
But, the carbon inflite is $800 off!!!! Dang!
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https://www.canyon.com/en-us/road/inflite
#10
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Start shopping around. The summer season is over so not a lot of bike are being sold now so you might be able to find a marked down bike somewhere...
Are you going to race CX? If yes, then get a CX. If not then what are your priorities? I got a CX due to its handling. I like a quick handling bike I can also use on the road. I felt like the gravel bike was a bit more relaxed and somewhat "slower". With that in mind a quick tire change and you got a road/light gravel go anywhere fun bike. Might want to look for a carbon frame though. They are pretty nice riding. My $0.02...
Are you going to race CX? If yes, then get a CX. If not then what are your priorities? I got a CX due to its handling. I like a quick handling bike I can also use on the road. I felt like the gravel bike was a bit more relaxed and somewhat "slower". With that in mind a quick tire change and you got a road/light gravel go anywhere fun bike. Might want to look for a carbon frame though. They are pretty nice riding. My $0.02...
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Go to your LBS and see what they have and try them out. Also check Nashbar/Performance Bike currently. I think they both have 20%-22% off total price including most bikes..
#12
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I can't recommend the Giant TCX enough. Cross bike with huge tire clearance. Getting into a carbon TCX isn't bad either. There are good sales right now on the 2018 TCX Advanced SX's. You could probably find one sub $2000.
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Unless you will be racing on UCI events a gravel bike might be your best bet. They are more versatile. Unless you have to have the racy CX geometry for some reason.
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Still, I need an agile bike, so I need racy CX geometry. The pop on acceleration, and the ability to carve hard turns make biking fun for me. For those that like to spend 4+ hours in the saddle, more of an endurance design (i.e. Gravel) is going to be a lot more comfortable.
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I feel like in that video larger tires won. Not the actual bikes. The better comparison would be to have the same tires on the two bikes. I know that CX bikes have smaller clearance for tires and at some point the CX bike will be restricted on tire clearance before the gravel bike, but most CX bikes can clear 40mm tires.
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True in General - but on those specific bikes there is little if any difference in tire clearance. You can only go so wide using road components and a 2x compatible frame (unless you get funky with the chainstay (dropping it, using plates, etc)). Canyon made a conscious decision not to go extra wide on the Grail frame, in order to hit their design targets.
Many modern CX designs can take 40mm, and they have huge mud clearance at 33mm
Many modern CX designs can take 40mm, and they have huge mud clearance at 33mm
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