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Ok after a fair amount of time I have come to the conclusion that I am an off road biker but definitely not a mountain biker, it took time to make the realisation but it happened!
So with that enlightenment I started looking for a bike that can take me to work and back, do the canal path plus the near woods as well as 5+ days of longer trips on the country side where road+offroad is the norm.
My main problem - exactly as when I was looking for an MTB is that I am undisputably vertically challenged - 5' 4" on a good day, 5' 3" in reality with a rather short inseam as well (just under 28.5"-29").
Looked for anything that I could find on the 50cm or less cyclocross bikes and took for a spin briefly a Genesis Croix de Fer 30. Absolutely lovely bike, I was ready to just buy it but head took over and despite the fact that the general fit was good I did not clear the stand over at all if anything I am a cm or two negative. I tried a cotic roadrat as well but SO problem was there and was not really persuaded by it and didn't find an escapade to have a go.
So back home today I have keep on looking and came across the LTD Crossrip, looks great and I am going to try and test ride the 49cm Elite one next week which seems to be 3-4cm lower than the Genesis which would let me clear it by a cm or two (LTDs are about as rare as hen's teeth but I am in no rush so if I like it and it fits I will wait to find that one).
Has anyone got any experiences with either? The main difference I noticed other than the frame material is that the Trek runs two rings on the front while the CdF had only one, would that be an issue? Although admittedly I think I would prefer the simplicity of the single ring.
Should I be looking on anything else? Any other bikes with very low stand over about that I have missed? (Norco Search seem to be like that but they are hard to find and evans only has the S3 on a 48 the S1 which is what I was going for is only available from 53cm and above and it does not look nearly as nice as the genesis or the trek in my v humble opinion)