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As the title says really, pure road or CX bike as my n+1.
I love riding my mountain bikes (got an XC whippet and a bouncer) and I'm riding more than I ever have done before but dare I say it I quite fancy a change once or twice a week, especially with the longer summer evenings.
Decision is between a cross bike and road bike. I could get a second hand Trek Boone Disc for £1000 which is within my budget and I have dabbled in CX races before and enjoyed them. Question is if I fancied giving a crit race a go or even joining the local chaingang will riding a CX bike hold me back (I would get a spare wheel set and run road tyres) Same question applies to riding a sportive or something like the Fred Whitton. Doubt I would get as nicer specced road bike for my budget (max is £1200).
Thoughts please 😀
Cross.
At the risk of sounding all on trend what about splitting the difference and getting a "gravel" bike.
Might want to consider gearing also, not sure I'd race on a 46t chainring. Crits will probably end up as a small part of the equation so maybe not an issue.
Maybe a 50t for best of both with a tighter cassette on the road wheels?
I've not ridden cross but really fancy one, just too many things I 'need' before that.
The right cross bike should do it all fine, with the greatest difference in speed being the rider on it, tyres and how aero you are. My road bike is quicker, but riding the same route with same tyres on road or CX bike there was more difference between me on a good or bad day (or time of year fitness wise).
Have a look at road and CX geometry, some of the CX bikes are closer to sportive bike geometry. Angles are slacker and wheelbase longer, which can be nice on rough roads.
With regards to gearing for Crits, if you run Shimano 11speed the BCD is the same across cranks, so you can stick a 52T outer on your 46\36T cross chainset. 52\36 for summer/racing, 36\46 for cross/steady winter road rides.
Cross bikes make dull tracks and trails a lot more fun, fast enough on the road and most current (non race) cross bikes take mudguards and rack if needed.
You'll need to make sure it uses rim brakes if you want to enter crits, otherwise a cross bike won't hold you back at all. It's all about racecraft and fitness.
I went for 'cross' a couple of years ago with a steel >X< which I still love and ride most days. However I found myself between sizes and went for the larger option for perceived Road advantage. I wish I'd gone for the smaller one and lived with the foolish seat post height for commute and road as it's a tad large for committed use offroad.
Fast forward a couple of years and theres a PX pro carbon slowly taking shape...
I'd say consider which role is most important to you and buy the bike that meets that need best. A halfway house just gets increasingly annoying.
I recently went through a similar dilemma. For me I can have 1 bike at the moment and I've been considering a gravel type bike for over a year now but have tried a road bike and keeping a mtb. The thing I found with a road bike was I love it but I'd always see something and think i want to go down that bridleway there but couldn't on the road bike and where I live the mtb was just too much for what I needed.
I think money permitting my ideal bike would be a tripster but I've just gone for a Pinnacle Arkose frame and buidling it up with Ultegra and Hope Wheelset. It looks lovely but haven't ridden it yet so can't comment if it's any good. I don't plan on racing it, just riding everywhere on it.
Pretty sure you can't use discs yet in BC crit races.
I'd still go for the cross bike. Since getting one I use it on the roads loads. Did a 140 mile road ride on it complete with mud tyres at 60psi and it was great, the cushoning was lovely. Off road it's a blast.
If I could only have one bike, a cross would win.
I would say a get a cx bike but consider the weight/build of it if it has to cover all bases. I have a steel genisis CDF which is great for commuting and winter road riding but so much slower than my road bike, knowing the difference I'm not sure I'd be happy with the cdf as my only bike and certainly wouldn't keep up with my group ride on it.
If had to go to one bike perhaps a caadx with 2 sets of wheels.
Reading the thread title I was expecting to say CX bike, but if you were hoping to race on it i would get a proper road bike. Your MTB will do everything a CX bike would do,
Coming from the road side of things I would say cross, had one about eight months now gets way more use than my road bike and is good enough to be fine on the road. I bought a fairly cheap norco but quit fancy some carbon now
A mate is down to one bike, a cross bike for off road and a second pair of wheels with slicks for on road. A local LBS that focuses more on the customised end of the market says they are seeing a lot more of this as well.
It's wrong, obviously, but doable.
I have a BMC Granfondo road bike - fantastic long / rough road bike. It's the most stable bike I have, I love riding it (and I've done a few races on it). I did see that they have brought a CX / gravel road version and my wallet pocket got all itchy. I've got a CX bike though...
How about this then?
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I think you need to decide how important racing, be that cross or crits, is to you. If you ignore the racing side, a cross bike with spare wheels would be a very easy choice to make, no problems there at all. But the racing clouds the issues as you won't be able to race crits on a disc braked cross bike and you won't race cross on a crit bike.
If it helps, I can and do ride my road bike off road from time to time and quite enjoy it. I wouldn't race cross on it but I have raced on the road on the same bike, albeit with different tyres,
Road for me. Had several cross bikes, but didn't really 'get it'. I either go for a road ride, and found myself thinking 'I wish i was on my road bike', or off road and found myself thinking 'I wish I was on my MTB'.
I dont race (agree with lunge you need to decide how important this is), but my cross bike wins for me everytime. Road bike hardly gets a look in since I bought my cx (so much so, the husband has stollen my road seat post and I am not bothered!). I have a Rose Pro DX, you could get something far 'racer'.
Went on a brilliant cross ride last night - currently running some fast semi-slicks and got top 2 on some local road climbs (I am a women, it is easier!) and some top 5's on some local off road descents. That ability to 'go-anywhere' totally wins, and in the winter I will ride my cross, my road bike however goes even further back in the garage.
Thanks for the replies so far guys, very helpful. Re-reading my post from late last night it does sound like I want a moon on a stick or the best of both worlds wanting to potentially race a crit or CX race. I didn't know about the BC rule on Crit races so that's certainly something for me to consider.
Ahsat that's fab about the women's ride (I'm a women too!) Part of my thinking/hope was if I got a road/CX bike I could ride join in with the local women's rides (there are no other female mountain bikers around here) I know some of the ladies are pretty fast which was my question about whether a CX bike would hold me back on a chaingang. Although like people have said it will be mainly down to fitness.
I'll go away and have a look at the geometry of the Boone and hopefully get another test ride on it before I decide. I think I'm leaning towards the crosser...
I think fitness will come down to it, though I know that on pure road sections my road bike is always quicker as it is a bit lighter and lower rolling resistance. However I prefer the flexibility of the cross and the lower gearing (I am a bit rubbish at hills!). I only have a couple of girlfriends with pure road bikes, so the cross actually works out well there too. I havent ever done any road club run so afraid I cant comment there.
A mate (bloke) though did buy a cross hoping he could use it for both and is now buying a road bike for his up coming Alps tour as he was struggling to keep up (he is 61 though so cutting him some slack!).
Road for me. Had several cross bikes, but didn't really 'get it'. I either go for a road ride, and found myself thinking 'I wish i was on my road bike', or off road and found myself thinking 'I wish I was on my MTB'.
I look at it from the other side of the glass and think that a cross bike's infinitely better off road than a road bike and somewhat better on tarmac than an mtb. What I really love about it, round here at least, is that you can mix up back lanes with bridleways, tracks, easy trails that cut out really unpleasant road sections and just ride.
I have a road bike as well, but over winter I run a spare set of wheels for the cross bike with 28mm road tyres and take advantage of it having disc brakes if I'm riding a pure road route. Works fine and if you're prepared to run a large-ish cassette, you can climb pretty much anything on or off road with a standard compact up front.
In your position I think I'd go the cross bike route, try a few road races on it - it certainly won't be any sort of issue for sportives, don't know about proper racing - and if you find it somehow holds you back in events, maybe look at a road bike then?
If you've not ridden a road bike much then you might as well get the CX bike. You won't know or be bothered by how much of a compromise it is compared to a decent road race bike. You can also have a bit of CX fun on it too.
If you are serious about road riding though and doing some racing, then, unsurprisingly, road bike all the way.