[Closed] genesis croix de fer bikes,how good are they on/offroad?

I use mine for commuting and the odd bridleway and I love it. Not had a proper chance to take it off road yet but I've heard good things!

My 14 one saw some proper wild west of Scotland natural stuff. Great on the ups, bit harsh on the downs.

Currently have a new cdf30 which I think will be better in most ways, but so far just 1k of back roads..and on road its great fun and not much slower than a 'road bike' 😀

I had last years Cdf so basically cheaper steel and a cheaper drivetrain . It was good offroad but pretty heavy and the ride downhill on anything rougher than a land rover track wasn't really that much fun.

Great bikes though and If I was planning on a tourer I wouldn't hesitate in buying another one.

I picked one up in the bike shop the other day. They weigh a bloody ton!!!

It is the retail bikes that weigh a ton - ffs.

I had a 2012 54cm frameset built with 105 drivetrain, Avid BB7s and Stans Iron Cross/Hope Pro 2 evo wheels (1610g), salsa stem and cowbell bars, flite gel flow saddle, ti seatpost and fairly light pedals. Came out to 22.5lbs, which is only 2lbs more than my genesis equilibrium with similar standard kit.

Changed the frameset to a tripster and it was 2lbs lighter.

Retail builds are up near 25 or 26 lbs, which is a bit heavy.

It was a fun bike with a springy frame (the ti post and saddle added to its comfort). Offroad it was fun for bridleway and path type riding, with 33c Maxis Raze tyres on mine.

The newer ones are a bit slacker, so they may ride differently. I didn't like my tripster so much when I first got it as it was slacker and slower steering, but with 40c tyres it is excellent.

Essentially what TurnerGuy said.

They're built like brick poo-houses to pass the offroad CEN tests and the kit that comes on the completes is generally designed to be cheap enough to hit a price point whilst strong enough to whallop pot-holes all day long.

Whilst this tends to result in a hefty all in weight for the completes you can easily build a far lighter one yourself if you have the bits.

My 60CM 931 with 105, the old steel forks and a willfully tough spec, mudguards etc comes in at 23lbs, could easily get it under 20 if I tried but I like it's current incarnation's 'trusty shirehorse' character.

My 54cm is around 22.5lb with pedals, too. Light enough for me. It's fun offroad, you just have to adjust your speed and lines to take account of the lack of suspension and fat tyres. If a section looks too tricky, just get off and walk!
On road, with skinny tyres, it's really comfy. I like it a lot.

Not ridden a Cdf, I have a charge filter which is a similar style bike and can be found/ built up with eBay bits pretty cheap (mine was under £450)

My 2ps worth for this style of bike is.

Tyre choice, volume and pressure make a big difference to off road performance.

On the road they aren't going to set strava alight but they are comfy to ride for a decent distance. I've done 60 plus miles around exmoor on dodgy lanes in comfort.

Off road they are by turns, blindingly fast, Hilarious fun and down right scary. Anything fire road or dirt single track they fly along. Anything too rocky or rooty they will cope with picking your way down but it's not as easy or comfortable as a hardtail with big tyres would be (or a Rigid 29er I would guess)

It's prob my most ridden and versatile bike

thanks for all the replies.

tbh am not too fussed about the weight (just as long as it's lighter than my duster).

i like the idea of a bike that can do a bit of everything. i am pretty sure it will be faster on road than my duster (one of the reasons i am thinking of this bike),but can handle some offroad also. and if i ever had the money,i could tour on it too (racks/panniers).

i think i have decided on saving up for it now (hopefully will have the money by october,so something to aim/look forward to 😀

am looking forward to riding it on the ridgeway,i reckon the bike will be good at it (maybe not me to begin with though 😉

Great off road / on road really is a do it all bike. Despite having a bouncer and a rigid xc bike, i find myself always reaching for the croix.

Favorite ride takes me through Swinley blue trail, over the mod ranges, down the maultway (road), pick up Basingstoke canal path, and ride and ride and ride....pretty much all terrain types covered. On the road it's easy to average 19/20 mph even with 40mm marathon supremes on.

Often take the croix for full blue / partial red loops of Swinley.

May aswell put a pic up 🙂

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