[Closed] A bike to do them all: CX, Off Road, Road - Best Options?

I'd avoid having a nice specced bike in 3rd and 4th cat. You will crash and you will break it.

Especially one burly (heavy) enough to take off road.

I would've thought that any bike that has off road pretensions would be limiting in a race. I am happy to ride my Tripster on the road, but it is heavy/clumsy  for a pure road road bike & I certainly wouldn't consider racing it.

All depends where you want to compromise.  I ride a track bike (with 25c tyres) on the road where it is good, I ride it on gravel where it is still fast (but not great on comfort or cornering grip) and I also ride it off road where even easy off road becomes a challenge.   My choice is for something that is fast on road ad gravel and just about gets by off road.  If I used gears I would just use a road bike.

Agreed with the -ves. Cross bike on the road mostly works but to race on the road too, not so sure. Also, I'd be thinking two wheelsets not different tyres. Switching tyres will become boring fast. It would also allow you to tinker with tubeless which imo does make a bit of a difference with cross/gravel tyres. You also could have a diffent cassette on each to make the most of each enviroment.

Singular Kite! Lovely on the road, lovely off the road, made for CX, generally great.

I have a spesh diverge that does that, well it doesnt do any road races but I'll happily ride it on quickish club rides with slicks on.

Decide where your priority is, build the bike around this and accept the compromise is in other areas. Lets say your focus is racing and road, I would be looking for something that has racey angles, is quite stiff but could perhaps take a 30mm tyre. It'll be limited and jarring off road but it will do the job, particularly if you have 2 pairs of wheels with different tyres and cassette's. I'd therefore be looking at something branded as a winter training bike as most can fit 28mm tyres and guards which means it'll likely fit 30mm tyres without guards, something like a Kinesis Racelight perhaps.

What's going to mostly reduce your options here IMO is what compromise are you prepared to make as regards tyre clearance for off-road and gravel riding. If -38mm is enough for you, there are plenty of options, but north of 40mm they become quite limited.

https://www.rutlandcycling.com/bikes/road-bikes/giant-tcx-slr-2-2017-cyclocross-bike-black_372169# doesn't look bad for £824 using the promo code

http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bikes/cyclocross-bikes/boardman-cx-team-bike-50-53-55-5-57-5cm-frames *

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/vitus-energie-cyclo-x-bike-apex-1x11-2018/rp-prod159446 but limited sizes left*

http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bikes/cyclocross-bikes/boardman-adv-8-9-mens-adventure-bike comes with 40mm *

https://www.rutlandcycling.com/bikes/road-bikes/cube-nuroad-pro-2018-adventure-road-bike-black_381457 looks interesting to me with ~45mm clearance, albeit I don't like "stealth" colour bikes

* Before 10% BC discount

If you want to road race on it, then you want something that builds-up reasonably light with skinny wheels - I would suggest a used CX race bike, particularly with canti-brakes as they can be picked-up relatively cheap - you can get a decent used bike with carbon frame for £500-600.  I've negotiated all the black runs at Inners and GT on mine, it's 17lbs with carbon race wheels and it takes 40mm CX/gravel tyres and done things like the Dorset Gravel Dash or SDW.

yes you can negotiate it but you wont enjoy it

I would get a full carbon CX bik that took widish tyres[30-35] and then change out the wheels for road

I suspect it will be too compromised on the road bit to make it actually worth doing this

or get a road bike that will take 30 mm tyres and be poor off road  but again i dont think its worth doing

The best you can get is a the wrong bike that will sort of do the other part

Decide if the compromise is tolerable

I've not done exactly what you're going for, but something along the same lines.

I have a 650b hardtail with a set of 700c wheels on at the moment for light offroad/gravel stuff with lots of road links in between. When I want to ride proper MTB trails, I put a 650b in the back and a 29er wheel at the front both with 2.4/5 inch tyres, and switch the (set-back) rigid post for a dropper.

It's a nice way of changing the geometry with a simple wheel and seatpost change, without having to faff with handlebar and stem and fork length.

If you could pick something up that was quick and responsive enough for proper road riding with 700c x 25-30mm tyres on it, but had the clearance for a 45mm 650b tyre at the back and 45mm 700c at the front, you could do something similar.

The new Pinnacle Arkrose would do it I think, or the Genesis Fugio, probably loads others I'm not aware of

Was going to say Tripster (invoking STW privilege) but I wouldn't ride it in a 3rd Cat road race even if I could qualify for one.

I run it with two wheelsets, discs take seconds to re center (usually) and 'race' cross on it but I'm mainly only a danger to myself there. Now I'm thinking I'd actually be better off (due to my usage at least) with a reasonable carbon road bike and an alloy cross race day only (1x setup), which I could probably pick both up second hand for resale value of the Tripster...

http://road.cc/content/review/233295-orro-terra-c-105-hydro

http://road.cc/content/review/222849-genesis-datum-10

There's a few other options around - Specialized Diverge might be worth a look, Mason have their new (and incredibly expensive) Definition 2 for example.

Whatever you end up on you'll be compromised somewhere and probably committed to spending more money on a second set of wheels (because changing tyres, especially tubeless, will get very dull very quickly).

Especially one burly (heavy) enough to take off road.

A bike capable of light off road needn't be heavy, but any entry level one will be, and it will feel sluggish in a road race, tho nice light wheels and tyres would make a difference.

I have a Cannondale Slate which is great on/off road.

On road the stock tyres are great. For off road Surly Knard are superb. If you need convincing for the off road capability of the Slate as Postierich off here.

You may be able to pick one up from last year's stock

Any race cx bike that will be cool with 35mm tyres. Discs and swap tyres for road

Probably biggest compromise on the trails but doable.

Think 3 peaks.

Loads of lads from the club do chain gangs etc on cx bikes when weather's crap.

Yeah I have ridden road before on some decent canti cross bikes and had some OK results. They are not too much of a compromise. I really want discs though this time and maybe something that can take more than a 35mm tyre. I have done monkey and follow the dog including all the blacks on an old paul milnes cx bike I had. With the 32s though I did get a couple if punctures and I did feel a bit more tyre may have had it a lot more comfortable. I don't want to dwell on it being used for road racing too much. I just dont want it to be a complete slouch on the road. I really like the tripster and it could work. What else is out there like it?

Also I really like the look of that Fugio but its way out of my price range at the moment.

What's your budget?

I'm loving my Pickenflick, currently in 'road' mode with 28 tyres. It's not up for cat 3 road races, but then, neither am I. But, decently light-ish, stiff-ish, compliant frame (stock wheels a little heavy), Hydro brakes, good clearance (700x43 / 650b x 2"ish). 2 sets of wheels and most bases covered.

I reckon this is a job for 2 wheelsets. One for race, and one for everything else.

My experience is that anything less than 2" offroad is too limiting.

You can ride offroad on 23mm tyres but you're watching for every little obstacle to avoid damaging your rims or snakebites. Sucks the fun out of it. Also in a wet climate quite often tracks tend to be on the soft side, so a higher volume tyre just works better.

But if you're racing, it's probably better to have a dedicated bike with no compromises, and a general duties bike.

No idea what your budget is, but I had similar requirements (although I don't think I'll be road racing on it!) - I wanted a bike that was comfortable enough to ride all day on the road, but when faced with some technical off-road, would be able to eat it without choking.

In the end, I went for a Ridley X-Trail Carbon and really like it. I picked up a 2017 (last year's) Ultegra model for pretty much half price and, while I've not ridden it a whole lot yet, I'm very pleased with it. I specifically wanted a 2x11 groupset with hydraulic discs but was flexible on spec based on the price. I wasn't actually going to go for a full carbon bike, but I admit that heart overrode wallet as the thing just looks fabulous in the flesh.

I've swapped the tyres from the stock Clement X'Plor MSO to Schwalbe G-One to get a better rolling bike on the road / hard pack (which is where it will spend most of its life) and converted it to tubeless along the way, but otherwise I'll probably leave it as it is. I'm running 38c tyres and these are about the largest you'd squeeze into the frame, although you could go bigger at the front if you wanted to.

Bike weight is 8.7kg after the tyre swap.

If you want to ride off road AND road race, gearing not frame or brake choice will be your issue. You will need a compact 50/34 chainset and at least two sets of wheels. For racing you will want an 11-23 or 11-25.

For off road, a decent cross bike with old-school aggressive geometry will suit, avoid super slack gravel frames with anything leads than a 72 degree head angle. Avoid heavy no-name steel too.

I have raced a boardman CX pro with canti brakes in an E123 race before discs were legal. Now you can ride discs, so I'd probably go with those, if only for off road use.

My cross bike is titanium, 1x10 with a 38T and the 23-11 wheels for road and a 12-32 off road.  This is under-geared for racing, you will need that 50T. Around Swinley it was absolutely fine on the blue in the snow. Tyres limited me more than the bike and bars.

I do think one bike can do it all if needed, but you will need an extra set of wheels, Ksyrium disc would be a nice choice for racing.  You will be compromising more off road than one, and do not go for something heavy, slack and "on trend". Older cross bikes were more than capable of racing on and off road, being basically road bikes.

and do not go for something heavy, slack and “on trend”. Older cross bikes were more than capable of racing on and off road, being basically road bikes

Agree.  My track bike is similar geo to a cross bike and I can ride everything I used to ride on my MTB (admittedly a rigid MTB).  It is only when it gets particularly rooty or rocky that I am noticeably slower.

I've got a KTM Canic CXC and I reckon it'd handle Cat4 road races, it's very similar to the KTM Sky Revelator in terms of geo with slightly longer chainstays.

It'll take 40c gravel tyres (that's what it's currently wearing) and will happily do road and off-road on those, think Gisburn Red Trails, Welsh Blues & Red's etc for off-road.

I use it to commute on as it's currently set up, gearing wise it has a 42t front and 11-32 out back, this would be under geared for road racing, but being single ring and the nature of a lot of road races round my way is that a single ring up front would do, so that's easy.

The stock wheels are very good, DT Swiss CR1600 tubeless ready, and I've also got a set of Stans Grail on Switch Evo hubs that could take a nice setof 25/28mm fast road tyres if needed.

I'd definitely consider it a "do it all" drop bar bike with the right set of tyres & wheels and front ring, maybe a longer stem to get a bit more aero, but that's a 5 minute job.

I read a review of the Scott Addict Gravel the other day and it sounded like a quick bike that was OK off road, but definitely aimed towards fast rather than burly. It might be worth a look?

I'd have thought that any off roading would coat the drivetrain in cack that would then mean things wear out faster than if you had a dedicated road bike, and particularly if you're going to do a few races there are going to be compromises.

That said, if you get your position sorted and the right tyres and gearing on for racing the additional weight won't really make much difference - depending on how you're hoping to do in the races of course.

I would echo others that perhaps a cheap disposable bike might be better for racing though.

Been idly looking at this myself.

I think that you have to compromise somewhere, as Road racing to MTB singletrack is quite a broad range of application.

Looking at what you want to do, you don't mention bikepacking or epic touring type stuff, so you're lookig at the same kind of bikes that interest me, suitable for shorter faster rides, potentially sacrificing all-day comfort for speed but capable of unexpected gnarl.

At the boutique (eye-wateringly expensive) end there are gravel race bikes (Open UP, Rodeo Trail Donkey, Niner RLT RDO, Lauf True Grit, carbon Specialized Diverge, Canyon biplane thing Grail, Rondo Ruut)

There are growing number of allroad things, usully with less clearance, around 38mm  (Focus Paralane, GT Grade) pretty close to CX bikes.

Planet x have a few options, but most are limited to 38mm for 700c wheels - Pickenflick, Space Chicken, Strada Bianca.

Then there are loads and loads of alu versions, but I suspect that most alu-framed gravel/adventure bikes are going to be less rapid than carbon framed bikes on the road : Pinnacle Arkose, NS Rag+, Rondo Ruut or Specialized Diverge in alu and so on.

You can probably build a reasonably sized shortlist by setting budget, max clearance and geometry (a lot of the allroad/adventure bikes have quite a big stack, even compared to endurance road bikes)

I think this depends on whether you do (and / or enjoy) more road or MTB.

I understand the desire to simplify and remember those halcyon days when I had just a lightweight MTB to do it all.  In reality...while I did do John O'Groats to Land's End on an XC bike with slick tyres back in 2001, a modern roadie with discs would have been much more suitable.  But then that would have been rubbish off-road!

At the moment, I have three bikes of the kind of bikes that could conceivably meet the spread of needs.  They are: an "all road" bike (Shand Stooshie), cyclocross (Surly Straggler) and XC MTB (Genesis Mantle).

The point I'd make are that they are really quite different.  This is a pic of the Shand and Genesis, to make the point about differences between two bikes that could be considered quite close in world of bike niches:

Admittedly, the Shand could be set up with fatter tyres - but I still don't fancy it on my local singletrack loops.

If I were really only going to have one bike and MTB was part of the picture, I'd go for two wheelsets on a light XC MTB.

Forgot to add the 3T Exploro and Orbea Terra.. and probably a lot more

just regarding the OPs initial thoughts about the NS Rag - although the frame and clearances would be fine for a front mech there's no cable routing for one so that would not be an ideal frame for road racing. I have no experience of what a cat#  road race involves but I have done a TT on cx bike and not been last.

I think multi-purpose bikes are a great solution for the 'recreational' rider but once you start getting more competitive then a more specific tool for the job is a better route.