blakesimus

3speedslow

andrei_r

Just wanted to say that a quick CX will do just fine on a 20k ride, maybe not road bike fast but quite comfortably.

subgrade

20k isn't really that long a distance, and if you are in decent shape then once your butt has gotten used to riding, it's easily doable on pretty much any bike. The right fit and saddle will make most of the difference.

blakesimus

hokiefyd 

I agree that fit is one of the most important things. Beyond that, buy what you like. I have a Giant Roam (similar to the CX) and my longest ride on it so far is 30 miles (nearly 50km). At the pace that I ride (about 12-15 mph), that's about as long as I have (in terms of an uninterrupted block of time), so that's the limiting factor for me.

Craptacular8

I have the men's version of the Quick. Bought it as a gravel/winter bike. Pretty much only use it for winter riding now, but it is a very capable hybrid. Aside from the saddle and color, there is no difference between the unisex version, or the women's. I'm a 5'7" women, and ride the men's medium. I could easily have ridden the large too, there's little difference in reach, and I have a long torso/arms. I'd let preference rule on that one, as there is no other difference. I always swap out saddles and pedals anyway, and tires. I initially put Compass Bon Jon's on there for summer gravel. It was a really cushy ride, suspension would have been overkill. As a winter bike, I just leave the 45Nrth Gravdal tires on there, it rides really nicely, and is substantially lighter in weight, even with the studded Gravdals on there than my Trek FX 7.2 I keep at the office as a lunch time errand bike.

blakesimus

Awesome, thanks for the info! I'm pretty torn between the CX and just regular Quick. I've read from a lot of people that the suspension adds a lot of tedium to the ride and may not be worth the hassle. (this may just be the 'suspension doesn't belong on a hybrid regardless' crowd). How's it been for you? Our roads are kind of crappy...

IchbinJay

I think both bikes are a great choice, however, it all depends on the condition of the trails and roads. If the Cannondale Quick CX has a lockout fork, it might be a better option. Basically, lockout allows you to disengage the suspension fork so it doesn't feel "squishy" when you're really pounding up a hill. I used to ride an older mountain bike on the road and found it extremely comfortable. The wide tires were a drag, but the suspension fork didn't slow me down when it was locked out.

wombat_alex

Agreed. I have no experience with the CX but I commute >20k one way to work on a Quick 4, and also did a century on it earlier this year with a pretty decent time of 5hrs 50+ mins. If you're that much concerned with road conditions, replace the stock tires. I replaced mine before the century ride anyway. Have no issues going 20-25mph on flats (32 - 40 kph).

wombat_alex

I would also pay attention to the gearing and gear steps. Quick 3 is supposedly a better model but gears were spread much better for me on the Quick 4. I know, hydraulic brakes are another advantage of the 3 but I also locked the wheel with rim brakes a few times already; what happens next depends purely on the traction of your tires and their grip: most likely, you'll skid regardless of the brakes system if the ground is wet or covered with leaves/dirt/ice. That's why "better stopping power in wet conditions" is a bit of a marketing statement: yeah, better power, but locking the wheel isn't coming to a stop.

Edit: oh, look, the 2019 Quick 4 also comes with hydraulics this year. So the difference between Quick 3 and 4 this year basically comes down to gearing (50/34 48/36/26 respectively, both 9 speed). I like the 48/38/28 9-speed, not sure how 48/36/x would work. The issue with compact 50/34 of Quick 3 is that it's still 9-speed which means bigger steps between gears, and you'll only be using 50t ring unless you're climbing a steep hill. 11-speed would work better with the compact but then you're looking at Quick 1 which is in a different price category. Quick 4 CX is geared with 48/38/28 crank this year but it's 8-speed so you may not like it. Bottom line, I'd do the math on gear ratios and shifting patterns. It seems to be the only meaningful difference between Quick 3-4 + CX this year.

Quick LTD is geared with 1x but the crank is 42t, which is paired with 11-42 10-speed cassette, you may want to consider this option too. I can see how my answer only complicated things for you but I believe that gearing is the single most important difference among the bikes you're considering.

blakesimus

I really appreciate your response. It give me a lot more to consider. I'll definitely look into gearing and see if I can get a hold of both to try out.

Thanks again!

KraneXL

I vote Quick 3 of those two choices for the reasons you gave.

daoswald

I have the Quick CX 3 (2014), but would have also been happy with the standard Quick. The CX was just the right price, the right place, at the right time. Both are great for sub-$1000 hybrids. The non-CX is a little more road oriented, but happily accepts trail tires. And the CX is more trail oriented, or rough roads, but also happily accepts slicks for road use. If tires are taken out of the equation it comes down to the lock-out suspension on the CX versus rigid (lighter) fork on the non-CX.

For a 40km round trip ride on the roads either one is fine. My preference would be to fit road tires. For 60km round trip, still either is fine. For 100km round trip I would favor the rigid fork, but by that point I would strongly prefer my drop bar road bike anyway.

if it's your only bike and you mostly ride on the road get the non-CX. If you have a road bike already or ride more abusive roads or light trails, the CX. But really it's easy to be happy with either one on your 40km rides so long as it fits .

blakesimus

Thanks!