[Closed] realistically,how much off roading can you do on a cyclo cross bike?

Lots.

It does require a different mindset to MTBing.

MTBing has a "must never put a foot down" approach, whereas with a cross bike you sometimes need to accept that you might have to throw it over your shoulder and walk/run that bit.

Last off road ride I did was on my crosser. It's not MTB gnarly, but it is a well known cheeky MTBing route. Crosser was fine over all of it.

I find mine OK for a quick blast but much prefer being on an MTB if spending more than an hour off-road. What starts as fun having to be super-focused (kinda like night-riding, you think you're going much faster than you are) gets tedious once you've been jarred to bits and your hands are aching from being on the hoods all the time. If I were you I'd just get a road bike and just use the Duster off-road, cross bikes aren't much fun on-road either.

I found a good compromise on fast flattish singletrack sections, I enjoyed the flat out spinning aspect and couldn't really be bothered breaking it up with unrideable bits or big climbs*.

Also avoided any lengthy steep or rough descents as they just weren't very enjoyable!

*I was running my CX singlespeed though.

I rode the ClimachX MTB route in Macynlleth on my Cannondale CaadX. Coped with most of it apart from the rocky section near the bottom. Went over the bars a couple of times but was brilliant fun, got a few funny looks from the body armoured riders about to start the ride down. You'll be amazed what you can ride, might be due to a complete lack of braking capability.

Last summer going up a big climb. Came across 3 cxers carrying their bikes up. Still have no idea why.

I ran my Pompino with CX tyres, not sure if that counts. It was fine for everything but drops really. I'd say they're more suited to 90% of UK riding than a mountainbike really. Not sure why more people aren't using them TBH.

I ran my Pompino with CX tyres, not sure if that counts. It was fine for everything but drops really. I'd say they're more suited to 90% of UK riding than a mountainbike really. Not sure why more people aren't using them TBH.

Like motorbikes, you buy it for the 10% not the 90%. e.g. 150mm bikes, mostly utterly utterly useless for the first hour of the ride going uphill and allong compared to an XC bike, but utterly utterly brilliant for the 5 minutes ride down the other side.

I've got a SS rigid 29er, it's fun, and rides 95% of the trails arround here, but I'd have to be kidding myself to say the Pitch wasn't my prefered bike once the mud dries out. CX bike might struggle though, too many rocks and too many steep bits, but probably fine if you live down south away from that kind of riding.

i've ridden round the Plain on a CX bike and ride a lot round the South Downs on one which is a similar topography and would say that a CX bike is the perfect bike for the terrain, the off-road isn't that tricky and you can crack along any boring connecting bits of tarmac and easy bridleway a lot quicker than you can on an MTB

you do have to think differently to riding an MTB, you can't just blast through stuff and have to use more finesse, which makes ordinarily easy trails a little bit more involving, and those handling skills can be transferred back to the MTB which feels like a sofa in comparison

I'd say they're more suited to 90% of UK riding than a mountainbike really. Not sure why more people aren't using them TBH.

Really!? On what grounds?

I used to ride mine around Ashton Court when I lived in Bristol. Was good, but a mountain bike is a lot faster, and IMO more fun, and those are the 2 criteria I'd use to judge!

On anything more than a smoothish bridleway they'll be less comfortable and slower than an MTB, unless 90% of your riding fits that brief I'd disagree with the above!

If you're the sort of person who likes to do a road ride and perhaps see what a certain bridleway looks like I don't think 'cross bikes really work. I wasn't like that - I'd either go for a road ride, or I'd go for an off-road ride, never really mixed them up, so found a cross bike pretty miserable most of the time!

"cross bikes aren't much fun on-road either."

Really? I was thinking of getting a cross bike, more because I thought it would make a good commuter, and nice road bike and give me the opportunity to do a few off road rides that require more on road than I would like.

I didnt think the geometry and feel of a crosser was that far from a road bike. (Ive only ridden one round the block though)

All of my off-roading could (probably quite simply) be done on a cx bike. But not by me.

I've ridden the likes of The Beast of the Beacons 100k on CX.

"cross bikes aren't much fun on-road either."

I rode mine London-Brighton, Oxford-Cambridge, around Normandy, Over The Black Mountains, in the Abergavenny Sportive etc.

seems OK with some 25 slicks on it.

Really? I was thinking of getting a cross bike, more because I thought it would make a good commuter, and nice road bike and give me the opportunity to do a few off road rides that require more on road than I would like.

As I said, I think it depends on your mindset. I didn't really do the crossover thing. I'd go for a road ride, and end up thinking 'bugger, my road bike is nicer for this', or do an MTB ride (on my normal trails) and think 'bugger, my MTB is nicer for this'.

Sometimes on really crap roads the cross bike was nice, and I think they really come into their own if you are the sort of person to go for a bimble and think 'oo, I wonder where that bridleway goes', but I'm not, so a cross bike was just a jack of all trades master of none for me.

On road with a swap of tyres you would be mighty fussy to find a CX bike unpleasant. Off road, it depends on where you ride.
Here in the FoD there is very little that a CX bike can't do including the "downhills". I am not so sure that a stoney descent at Afan would be so much fun.
Much better than a MTb for roughstuff riding ie exploring and doing the miles.

Just like you wouldn't take a FS for a road ride, or a roadbike down a DH track, you need to choose rides that bring out the best in your bike. CX bikes are good for road sections and bridleways and joining up stuff and canal paths and climbs and bits of trail.

i do road rides on my road bike, mountainbike rides on my MTB and cyclo-cross rides on my CX

🙂

Its true they might not be good on a rocky descent.
But for everything else i think theyre grand!
Round here mines ideal for Epping Forest - making bridleways fun and foot deep filth passable. A change of tyres and it did the Dunwich Dynamo a couple of weeks back. Excellent towpath commuter. Racked up and its a light tourer. Would recommend discs over canti's though....
If i had to have just one bike, the cx would be it. So there!

As above, they are good on most non rocky trails. Bit uncomfortable over long rooty sections too.

Find mine ok on the road for club runs and ride it as a winter bike because it takes full guards. Mine's a bit heavy compared to my road bike but I imagine a higher spec one to make a reasonable road bike.

Best thing about them is that you can race cx. Next is that you can mix up rides. Really depends on where you are and the roads and trails. But I can now happily switch between easy off road and road on the same bike in one ride opening up more off road trails and short cuts to get places. Rode to Kielder recently from Newcastle. I've done it on a road bike but a cx let me ride the lakeside path, singletrack and also some bridleway/fields on the way.

@the OP
It is very much a horses for courses kinda thing (with a mix of skills thrown in).
I commute my CX on a mix of B roads and single track (flatish forest trails).
I could not do it all on my road bike,and I can't be RsD swapping tyres on my mtb to get the best out of it,plus at 40miles round trip I like the big wheel option.Oh,and a set of Midge bars has made it even more fun

I am considering building a monster cross, for off road touring .

I bought my Orbea CX bike though Cyclescheme 3 years ago and I've used it to commute across the Quantocks, both on and off road. Once you build up confidence it's amazing how quick you can go and how much of a hammering it'll take. Make sure you go for disc brakes though Canti's are crap no matter what anyone else tells you.

get one with disks and chicken levers and you will be fine, love my cx and do a lot more miles since i got it.
i run 35ish tyres on mine for most things and is fine, a quick change to 28 slicks and its great for a road only blast.

I thought i'd love my cx bike, i'm a keen roadie who enjoys a regular blast out on the mtb. But i found it a drag on the roads with cx tyres and i was too upright compared to my road bikes, and less fun off road than my soul. So in short rather than it combining 2 things i love into something awesome, it combined them into something not quite as good as either for me. I think cx bikes are very capable bikes, and i'm sure they are spot on for some riders, just not me.

I also find the CX is great for milage. Road riding is best with mates or sunny days, not wet evenings yet the MTb doesn't lend itself to big milage when your mates all go for the whoop de whoops. The gravel tracks in the Forest mean that I do a 22 mile circuit 5 or 6 times a week on the CX . Gentle pootle or flat out blast, add some single track or mud as the whim takes you. Add guards for a winter back roads bike with 38mm tyres and take it touring if possible.
Crap brakes though compared with hydro diasc or road DP's

Crap brakes though compared with hydro diasc or road DP's

I've heard this before. Why is a cx bike with disc brakes less effective than an mtb with the same? Will a cx bike's brakes be a liability on the road or will it it be good enough for strong braking if needed?
Like others in this thread I've considered a cx bike as a road bike and commuter. I'm not so concerned if their not as quick, I'd rather the security offerred by a slightly fatter tyre and a sturdier built steel bike compared to a performance focused carbon road bike.

The cable discs on my CX are a lot more powerful braking from the hoods than the rim brakes on my roadie. But the hydraulic discs on my hardtail are even better, which is why I'm waiting for the first hydraulic road discs to hit the market.

The CX is much faster on the flat and up climbs than any mountain bike, the efficiency and light weight makes getting out of the saddle worthwhile and you climb very fast. The long chassis, stiff triangle and stable handling make the CX excellent at mud-plugging and squeezing along very narrow singletrack.

However on rocky downhills the CX is carp, maybe it was in my head but I took it out with the mountain bike club and ended up walking down the rocky stuff and spraining an ankle in the process.

I'm a road biker and mtber, got a cx bike and love it. Got a mountain 7 miles away that's a bit far to get to, ride round, and get home on the mtb, but with the cx machine I pedal on the roads(/up the ditches, deadly fun) and then ride round the mountain for a while and then spin home. Super job.
Incredibly sketchy doing any sort of descending on big gradients, especially if it gets rocky, everything flat and small gradient is fab though. Can ride through mad puddles and mucky stuff that the mtb would just slide ontop of, the 28c tyres cut through it. Lots of adrenaline due to useless brakes and no suspension.

ive recently got my first cx bike, charge filter.
its got disc brakes, tektro lyra ones, they work ok, about as good as road dual pivot ones, but they keep working in the wet/filth.
its not as light/fast as a proper road bike, but its in a different league compared to an mtb, my m8 on his slicked up gt mtb (he is almost exactly as quick as me, everywhere) had to draft me to keep up on a flat cycle track, and i was genuinely only cruising.
obviously, they're not as capable as an mtb on really rough stuff so previous comments re: jack of all trades are true, but thats not actually a bad thing really.
my brakes may not actually be bedded in yet tho.

thanks for the replies.definitely food for thought 🙂

fourbanger - Member

I'd say they're more suited to 90% of UK riding than a mountainbike really.

That's going to depend on your riding but it's definately not the case for me. In fact a lot of the time it's not even as good at climbing as my xc bike- lacking the low gearing and the traction.

(the only time it's better is the time I care least about- the boring, straightforward climbing, and the road bits. Fair enough, I spend a fair amount of time doing that but even if it made up 50% of my ride time it makes up 0% of the ride time that counts.)

It's the ill-suitedness that makes it fun to try, though- much like a rigid mtb, except even worse. And it's fantastic at canal paths.

MTBing has a "must never put a foot down" approach

What a load of balls

It's not a lakes ride unless you carry.

Borrowdale bash has been done on a CX bike (properly) not syaing it's suitable just that it's been done.

Most of the riding in the UK (not london or far south) is more suited to a mountain bike.

i do road rides on my road bike, mountainbike rides on my MTB and cyclo-cross rides on my CX

2/10.
Not really controversial enough, are you a bit under the weather?

This

As I said, I think it depends on your mindset. I didn't really do the crossover thing. I'd go for a road ride, and end up thinking 'bugger, my road bike is nicer for this', or do an MTB ride (on my normal trails) and think 'bugger, my MTB is nicer for this'.

Sometimes on really crap roads the cross bike was nice, and I think they really come into their own if you are the sort of person to go for a bimble and think 'oo, I wonder where that bridleway goes', but I'm not, so a cross bike was just a jack of all trades master of none for me.

I thought i'd love my cx bike, i'm a keen roadie who enjoys a regular blast out on the mtb. But i found it a drag on the roads with cx tyres and i was too upright compared to my road bikes, and less fun off road than my soul. So in short rather than it combining 2 things i love into something awesome, it combined them into something not quite as good as either for me. I think cx bikes are very capable bikes, and i'm sure they are spot on for some riders, just not me.

My cx bike with 33mm tires weighs 17.2lbs so it's light enough, its great for doing 60 mile rides out from home to the Surrey Hills doing all the usual stuff on Leith, Pitch and Winterfold then riding home using Stane Street. I'm sick of driving places - I like cycling - so I get to do more of the things that I like doing rather than the things that I don't like.
Oh, and I've toured in the Alps on it, been to a training camp in Spain, ridden loads of cx races and the 3 Peaks a few times. It's a really versatile bike.

Like other have said, you can ride more on a CX bike than you would think. Fire roads and mud are easy and the only time it gets trickier is steep drops and more technical descents. The poor brakes and fact you're way over the front with drop bars makes it interesting at times. You adjust your mindset but it's definitely less rideable in those situations than an Mtb.

Edit: but it's fab fun and I recommend it to the house !

As the OP is used to an mtb and not a proper road bike, I would say that IME the transition to an cx bike will be very pleasant as long as you get fitted/sized correctly. The last bit is [b]extremely[/b] important as I spent the best part of 2 years finding a bike that didn't kill my back or wrists within a few miles.

It will feel very quick off road, especially as you have to be that bit more careful rather than just ploughing through stuff and with a tyre swap is more than good enough on the tarmac for mere mortals who don't have a roadie background.

My take on it.

In the UK, most of us (citation required!) are blessed with lots of offroad around us - bridleways, BOATS, RUPPS, etc - but a lot of it isn't really challenging enough to be fun on an mtb. On a CX bike however, it's that much more challenging that it's fun to ride (though we do actually ride some rocky/steep stuff that before I had a CX bike I'd never have thought you could do on a CX). Add to that the ability to cover linking road sections at a reasonable speed (IME only 1-2mph slower than a road bike) rather than feeling like you're riding through treacle on an mtb and CX bikes allow you to put together some brilliant rides.

Now, I'd never choose to take a CX bike to 'proper' mtbing trails whether that be trail centres or natural, more technical trails as I think the lack of flow on a CX bike in those situations is frustrating (many people seem to feel otherwise though) but for me, having a CX bike massively opens out the options of riding locally to me and thinking back, some of the rides I've enjoyed most have been on my CX.

[img] [/img]Not Here

Hey raceface - get yourself a cx bike and come and do the next SPAM event. 100Km around the Plain; we're billing this a CX /MTB ride - 30th September. [url= http://www.spamblast.co.uk/ ]SPAM BLAST[/url] Web site needs completing, but most details are there

[img] [/img]

Most stuff's good on a cx bike.

Great for those 'bit of everything rides';

you know what,i think i will save up for a cx bike (after reading your comments).i am not a fit/quick rider,but the idea of having a bike that i can ride on the road (it will be faster than my duster 🙂 but to also have the option of going off road with it too.the main reason i am thinking about though is during the winter months.i can use it on the road,and not have to worry about it like a nice road bike.also not have to spend hours cleaning it like my mtb (if you have ever ridden any of the off road routes in wiltshire.they can get very cloggy/chalk,clay terrain),a cx bike would be ideal for me (and it would get me fitter also/as long as i rode it 😉

p.s am not going to be getting anything expensive,but will try and get one with discs if poss.but as i say it will be a while off yet.

this topic got me thinking today so went for a spin to see how realistic that clip above is
it really is correct u can do 90% of riding on one riden like a big bmx straight from the door i rode bristols cobled streets where a skinny road bike would suffer hit the pump track and after about 5 laps i could quite eisely manual a set of small doubles and clear a table
then headed up to ashton court and did a full lap of the bikefest course oviosley taking chicken run on the larger drops but quarry was great fun untill some baby deers ran out infront of me.
on the way home it really had me thinking it was one of the best things i have bought from the bike trade.
i think ul have fun and not be disapointed.

😆

Have you ever ridden a BMX?

you can jump pump track tables or manual rollers on one of these too.. [img] [/img]
I'd honestly struggle to find a bike you couldn't

but if you're happy riding round drops that's cool!

dont no if u no a/c corse but the ones im refering to are on the old beggerbush section towards the cafe gap,theones on red run and quarry wernt a problem just feels very far forwerd even on the hoods for a drop of that size,after a few runs i think would be doable.

I love my cross bike. It's great when the weather is a bit crappy and I don't want to ride my posh road bike, plus I can pop into the trails over the N Downs if I feel like it. Great for exploring for the next time I ride my MTB over there. Always makes me giggle riding it down BKB - drops on the drops! I had one a few years ago but that had canti brakes which really limited it off road - my new Vaya with discs is a lot better as it actually stops which is nice.

GB

Really!? On what grounds?

I used to ride mine around Ashton Court when I lived in Bristol. Was good, but a mountain bike is a lot faster, and IMO more fun, and those are the 2 criteria I'd use to judge!

On anything more than a smoothish bridleway they'll be less comfortable and slower than an MTB, unless 90% of your riding fits that brief I'd disagree with the above!

If you're the sort of person who likes to do a road ride and perhaps see what a certain bridleway looks like I don't think 'cross bikes really work. I wasn't like that - I'd either go for a road ride, or I'd go for an off-road ride, never really mixed them up, so found a cross bike pretty miserable most of the time!

Granted I live in the middle of Salisbury Plain, so anything I do on my mountainbike round here I can do on my CX bike, but I stand by that comment. Out of interest, what MTB do you ride as Ashton Court isn't exactly a gnar fest.

Shit loads... I gold medal'd at Bristol bike fest on a single speed surly cross check.

If I only had one bike it would be a crosser.

Out of interest, what MTB do you ride as Ashton Court isn't exactly a gnar fest.

Couldn't agree more, but I still reckon it's faster on an MTB, which is my point. It would have been an Epic when I was there.

but if you're happy riding round drops that's cool!

Friend of mine used to ride some pretty decent drops (5ft+) on a cross bike, plenty of MTBers would avoid smaller - I don't include you in that don't worry 🙄

Awesome clip wwaswas

[i]I still reckon it's faster on an MTB, which is my point[/i]

sometimes it's funner on a cross bike, though.

it's wet, muddy, cold and miserable today. aka_gilo and I went out on our cross bikes and had a brilliant ride. I don't think we'd have enjoyed it anywhere near as much on mtbs.

[img] ?nocache=6742[/img]

If you think that mountain biking is just about going down hill as fast as you can and jumping off things, you'll hate it.

As clubber says above, atrocious conditions today, would have been miserable doing an MTB ride or a road ride, but on the cx bikes it was brilliant, loved every minute of it.

And that sums up cx bikes for me really.

aka_gilo loving it earlier today 🙂
[img] ?nocache=7010[/img]

Impressed you have a fast enough shutter speed on your phone to catch me as I sped past..... 😀

I used to have a 1996 fully rigid Orange P7. It was long and low as was the XC fashion in those days. I didn't have a car so I'd ride 15 miles out, link up some valley mountain trails and then ride up to 20 miles back. I don't think I'd fancy that on my 5 due to the upright geometry.

A cross bike would be great for that. I'd seriously consider breaking the P7 out for similar if I still had it 🙁

Pretty much anything that the average MTBer would call "trail riding" you can do on a CX. Some of it faster, some of it slower.

Where CX is at a major disadvantage is rocky descents, otherwise they're pretty capable - there have been pics posted on STW in the past of riders going down steps and getting air out of bombholes on CX bikes.

I ride in the Peak District quite regularly on mine, was out today on it on the Peaks Pootle and the only times it was ever a handful was on the Pindale and Edale Cross descents.

[b]atrocious conditions today, would have been miserable doing an MTB ride or a road ride, but on the cx bikes it was brilliant[/b][img] ?nocache=7010[/img]
br />
tripoding your way down easy descents? that does indeed sound Brilliant!! 8)

Pretty much anything that the average MTBer would call "trail riding" you can do on a CX. Some of it faster, some of it slower.

there have been pics posted on STW in the past of riders going down steps and getting air out of bombholes on CX bikes.

If you think that mountain biking is just about going down hill as fast as you can and jumping off things, you'll hate it.

takes all sorts, eh?

@crazy-legs after riding the Pootle with you yesterday I am in awe of what you managed to do on your CX bike. You are a leg-end in this house chap. 😀

I am sure that riders ability and fitness helps and you are built like a racing whippet so that has to help.

Didn't notice you struggling that much on Pindale & Edale Cross, then again I was too busy bouncing from rock to rock! 😯

GW, your awesumzness knows no bounds as you've told us many times 😉

as was said earlier

druidh - Member
If you think that mountain biking is just about going down hill as fast as you can and jumping off things, you'll hate it.

You're quite right though, it is a doddle of a descent on an mtb which is why I never ride it on one. Riding a CX bike it's really tricky and I've yet to do it without a dab. As I said earlier, having a CX bikes opens out the routes available locally that I enjoy riding.

it doesn't open up the routes/terrain available tho does it?
it quite clearly turns anything vaguely technical into a spazzy tripod or walk so in actual fact riding CX will cause you to stop looking for or ignore many more challenging sections.
CX bikes may well allow you to cover more miles and cover ground faster on the dull pedalling sections of your ride but for actually riding stuff they are nowhere near as versatile as a decent mtb.

All depends where you live obviously. IME, most areas, there's more stuff that will become worth riding on a CX bike than stuff you can't ride on one.

And FWIW, not all riders tripod down everything on a cross bike (sorry gilo) 😉

No.

All depends where you [s]live[/s][b] look[/b] (clearly not so obviously)