Hmmm

A major plus for me on the TCX was tire clearance.

Out of curiosity does anyone else know what other 'cross bikes can fit 45mm tires?

chas58

None. That is a gravel bike.

Cross is obviously designed around 33mm tires. Adding width for 40mm tires satisfies the gravel market demand and gives lots of mud clearance. That is a win/win. But going beyond that requires some design compromises that you generally are not going to find in a dedicated race bike.

redlude97

Open U.P. might be the closest?

Markus_79

SuperX new models can fit up to 42 - with little clearance left, but you can use 45 tyres with a 650b wheel.

Hmmm

Hahah no way. Really? What design compromises?

Seattle Forrest

This reminds me of the emporer's new clothes.

redlude97

Mainly chainstay length. As the tire gets wider it also get larger in diameter so you habe to make the dropout farther from the BB. Kinda of a big deal on a cx bike that needs to be short and nimble around a tight course with other racers. Also you mught have to make sacrifices on BB drop because if a higher BB it optimized around a 33c tire its going to feel insanely tall with 45+ tires

Markus_79

This is going towards a more "gravel" geometry... which is not a bad thing if you don't want to use the modern Cx bikes for racing. This is why I started to look at new models in the Cx category. It looks to me but the enduroad/gravel bikes from just 2 yrs ago - as the Gt Grade and similar - are going to be replaced by new endurance bike, the gravel segment is moving more towards the off-road side, and - just my opinion - new Cx bikes became the do-it-all bikes that many people are looking for.. even if they are not advertised as such.

chas58

Yep, that is probably the biggest compromise with large tires. There is also Q factor- when getting that size you need to switch to mountain bike bottom bracket to get wide enough - either that or do funky things with the chain stays - then you start limiting what size chain ring you can put on the bike and make 2x impractical. Lots of compromises where you are going to impact that snappy acceleration (and tight turning radius) that you need for a technical race bike (as opposed to an endurance race bike).

chas58

Its kinda like mountain biking. If you are bombing down mountains, you want long, low, slack on a gravel bike. But that kills maneuverability and acceleration.

I surprised a pack of roadies (and myself) yesterday when blew off the front of the pack, hit two sharp turns at 35mph, and sprinted up a hill. An endurance gravel bike wouldn't have done that - it would have swung wide on those turns (or forced me to slow down), and I wouldn't have been able to power out of that 2nd turn and up the hill until I was out of the pedal strike zone. I hate losing momentum...

The only drawbacks I see to my CX bike is that it has low stack (Its aero but not good for >6+ hours in the saddle), and its not great at bombing down gravel mountains. Its smooth, comfortable, and takes 40mm tires - which are what I expect
.