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I am thinking of buying one of these frames for road / gravel duties. Is there any reason not to do it? I won’t use for CX, which is what it’s designed for.
It’s appealing because of low weight and price. It’s a bit low on stack height and reach but I can live with that.
Any reason a CX bike shouldn’t be used for road and gravel? I’ve read a couple web pages about the differences between CX and gravel but I’m still feeling none the wiser.
Thx
Rich
Use a CX bike for anything other than CX and you'll be killed to death! Much like riding a trail bike for XC
IME
CX bikes don't feel as planted as a road bike so you can't corner as quick but I'm talking race speed quick not regular Joe quick.
CX bikes are slower than a road bike but not by very much and honestly if you're not racing is it an issue? In my case I'm under a kmh slower at threashold on a CX bike.
CX bikes are stiff but then so are road bikes and 32mm tires are more comfortable than 25mm tires.
1x isn't an issue on road presuming you're not pedaling past 45-50kmh and don't have an ideal cadence window of two rpm. The only time I notice it is when I'm trying to do intervals and need to hit a specific power window and then it's only slightly more frustrating
CX bikes are faster on tame surfaces than a gravel bike
CX bikes feel nicer and faster on twisty stuff than a gravel bike
CX bikes don't feel as nice descending steep techy stuff oddly I don't notice much difference going up steep techy stuffy
During lock down I bought a Vitus Energie as a from the front door off road bike and winter roadie, it replaced a GT grade gravel bike that did the same job. I much prefer the Vitus
Thanks for the feedback. Sounds perfect! I will be doing intervals on it as well as TTs , general road and gravel (with 2 sets of wheels). I’ll put 38t/9-46t for gravel and 42t for road if I need to give it some beans on a TT.
I have one and it's a great cyclocross bike - plus in general the standard of finish is high, it looks good. For general riding around it's fine, but there might be better geometries out there for mile munching (don't think I've done anything massive on it, like out all day).
It has high standover like a lot of race CX bikes do which can make your normal road size feel a bit gatey - I'm on a 54 instead of my normal 56.
Definitely try and pre-ride one if you're not a geo-chart man.
42T would fit no prob but IDK about anything actually big for a TT, the stays bulge out a bit for mud clearance (which is excellent on this bike).
I like the idea of 1x on the road, but the reality means that you can no longer go on group rides as you'll get dropped on the fast bits.
We'll all have different riding styles, but I ride a with a 53 chainring with 11T on the cassette because I love to be able to push on as much as possible. If you are training for TT's you'll want to be able to do long intervals, not have forced rest periods because you've run out of gears.
Geometry geeks website is very good for comparing bikes.
Did you get one?
I see a few have gone through the wiggle ebay outlet.
I bought the top-of-the-range one last year and it's ace!
I wanted something agile, light and fast rather than a slow and steady bike packing mule. I did swap the front chainset as I wanted some lower ratios but was keen to retain the small jumps between gear changes and bigger gears. I've used it for road rides and plenty of off-road stuff too.
Really happy with it.
I've got one that is purely used as a CX race bike and it's bloody good at that, I don't recall riding it in anything other than a race, but I've no doubt it'd be fine as a gravelista as you can get 43x700c tyres on it easily.
It does size up big as said above, so unless you're mega confident in sizing, try one.
Wouldn't want to be doing a TT on it as I don't think you'd get a big enough front ring on it
I just picked up a frame from the wiggle outlet - the black and purple one, should arrive today.
Planning to swap the kit over from my Giant TCX for a new CX race bike.
I would have got the new etap one if I could do the cycle to work scheme through Wiggle, that would have been a lot of bike for not much money!!
I just picked up a frame from the wiggle outlet – the black and purple one, should arrive today.
I nearly bought that one to build as a 2nd CX bike for tha racing, enjoy.
I've got the rival one. I have the previous no Evo model but bought this one for the larger tyre clearance. Currently running some 45s for gravel duties. It's great. Nice and light feels solid on gravel, mud and light MTB duties. Not yet run it in CX mode but will be racing on it.
Never had a gravel bike, always done everything on a CX. Tyres over 35mm is a novelty. Done a 180km on this one and a fair few shorter rides now. Works for me but I did the dirty Reiver on a CX bike with 35mm tyres and have done 250km rides on that setup. Probably not ideal if you are looking for the rigid MTB end of gravel but fine otherwise. That said look at the WC CX races and it's not the bike that hold you back on technical stuff.
Just building my frame up, can someone confirm that it should have a full length outer gear cable, from mech to shifter, please?