HasteTheMoment

sick of having one gear, unavailability to go on dirt tracks, left knee popping after a proper fit.

what is a good/decent cross bike that will last me , and wont cost me? after going on ebay they seem to be in the 800-2500 dollar range. Should i be looking at 1 x 10/11 gearsets? these bikes rock because they can do it all...and with some 23c tires, It should outperform my fixed gear.

5'9"-5'10" seems to need around a 56cm frame...which is a large(this part seems off..)

nocluejimbo

You can probably track down a pre-owned canti Macho Man at the low end of that price range. The All-City stuff is steel, well built, looks great, and ready to get dirty.

bikemig 

Bikes Direct bikes are reasonably priced. You should be able to find one on CL if you are patient as well.

HasteTheMoment

Great! Do you think coming from a carbon fiber/ aluminum setup... All steel will be too heavy? Also will gears help my knees?

Planemaker

Don't overlook Felt. I have a Felt FX5 carbon fiber bike and it is a great bike. The prices are reasonable as well.

Kopsis

Depends on how you define "too heavy". Most of what you find under $1500 will be 22 - 24 lbs. You can certainly get lighter (my steel CX bike is right around 20 lbs) but usually not without a bigger investment. Aluminum will be the biggest bang for the buck in terms of performance. Something like a used CAADX will get you a lot of performance at a pretty low price.

As far as your knees are concerned, gears might help. "Mashing" (high effort at low cadence) is what most people have problems with and gears will help you avoid that. However, if you have a latent knee problem, I would definitely see a physician before buying another bike as it may be something that will be aggravated by any form of cycling if you don't get it treated.

practical

Where do you live? I've got a Norcross Blue with an extra set of Easton wheels and Clement tubulars that I would sell in your rpice range. I live in Middelbury, VT and if we live somewhat nearby we should talk.

HasteTheMoment

in nashville. thanks for the help everyone.

found this thing up the road…heard some folks just convert a existing vintage mtb/road bike?

https://images.craigslist.org/00B0B_e...Iy_600x450.jpg

fietsbob

Fyxation has a parts kit to build a 6 of 9 cassette wheel that fits in a 120 Track frame (BITD 120 was also 5 speed freewheel width frames.

Six Fyx Conversion Kit | Fyxation

bikemig 

Vintage mtbs are pretty inexpensive and easy to fix up for road riding. You can swap out the knobbies for slicks and swap out the straight bar for a butterfly or trekking bar which will give you some comfortable hand positions for riding longer distances.

They won't be light, though, if that is a concern but the price is right and vintage mtbs make fine all around bikes.

Jiggle

I'm 6'0" and ride 54 cm frames. The CAAD 9 is almost too big in 54.

HasteTheMoment

and they will last….pass down to my kids, easy to put racks on them.

will 650bs swap onto something like that? can the gear sets be swapped to something more modern?

bikemig 

There are some threads here about trying to put on 650b wheels for a 26 inch mountain bike. Strikes me as a non-solution to a non-problem even if you can get it to work right. Changing parts is expensive. Find the right vintage bike with parts that you like.

knobster

This all depends on your measurements. I'm pretty typical with a 32" inseam at 5'10" and I ride a 54cm. At 6'0", you must have a short torso or short legs in order for a 54cm to fit you properly. Someone with ordinary measurements at 6', would typically ride something like a 57-58cm.

To the OP, if you can find something in the 54-56cm, go test ride it for a couple miles and make sure it fits you before buying it. I wouldn't buy anything off the Internet if I didn't know what size I needed exactly and based off the geometry chart for that particular bike.

Jiggle

My inseam is 33". I ride a 56cm road bike. These cross bike sizes can be strange.

knobster

No joke. I had numerous Specialized Tricross's and always rode a 56cm. The 54cm was way too cramped. My Moots is a 54cm though.

Jiggle

I should be riding a 52 CAAD 9 CX. But I'm too lazy to buy a new frameset.