Cyclocross bike, possible swap?

Mitchy

Just wondering if anyone has an old cyclocross bike they wish to sell for a pittance? Doesn't need to be fancy, just enough to get me around some of the Cross races this season. I figure if I'm watching my daughter race, why not race myself?

I have a Shorter Rochford 53cm, 10 Speed road bike with full Dura ace which I was considering selling - could swap if suitable? I'm 5'7'', the Shorter was probably a fraction big for me. I probably need a 50cm cyclocross bike??

Thought it worth a shot before I go down the gumtree/ebay route!

Cycling Weakly

If you're happy to race on an MTB (plenty of people do) my wife's Schwinn Moab is for sale cheap. She rode at least a dozen CX races on it herself. It fits her perfectly and she is the same height as you. If you fit a pair of 26 x 1.35" Schwalbe CX Pro tyres it rolls much faster than an MTB on standard fat tyres.

It has a good spec: e.g. RockShox forks, mainly Ritchey and SRAM X7/9 components. It hasn't been used at all for a couple of years but it does need a good service (e.g. new pads, cables, fresh bearings, a fork service) hence the price: £150.

Mark

wilburtrump

You're 5'7"? No way...

Mitchy

Mark,

Let me check my finances - sounds like a great offer. I'll let you know.

Will - 5'7'' of power.

Senecio [Daniel D]

Mitchy,
I'm not 5'7" either. I would caution getting a sloping top tube CX bike; you need to be able to get your shoulder through the triangle when running with the bike. For those who take one of the smaller frame sizes a sloping top tube can leave insufficient room.

You may be thinking 'I'm not that serious about Cross'. We all start that way and you are sliding into the glorious CX swamp in a typical way with the justification 'I'm only doing this because my son/daughter is racing'.

Looking forward to seeing you at the National Championships in Shrewsbury!

Stuart F

Agree with Daniel - a slippery slope indeed and not just those horrible off camber sections.

Thinking about our current situation and tracing things back I think I hold Mark and Anna responsible. But would not have it any other way - all loving CX :-)

tduckett

Ill keep an eye out for a suitable bike, theres usually a few about. I have a feeling you are going to be good at this, mind you so is Ellie!

Mitchy

Mark,

I'm going to hold fire for the moment, I'm thinking maybe I'd be frustrated riding a mountain bike and giving away a bit of ground. I'm going to see if maybe I can find a cheap cyclocross frame, and take bits off Shorter to build it up - may end up looking like a clown bike with bits falling off and wobbling around - but gotta be worth a try. Thanks loads for the offer though.

Mitch

Mitchy

If anyone spots anything suitable (by which I mean cheap!!) let me know!

Thanks

Senecio [Daniel D]

Mitchy,
When are you planning your first race?
Daniel

Mitchy

Just had a small op, should be back on bike in a few days. Maybe early November

dhadsley

Might be worth reading this article

I don't know how cheap you mean but you can get Dolan or Graham Weigh frames new for about £200 - £250

I agree with the others about it being a slippery slope. One day you're only going because the kids are, then one day you find yourself in the back of Daniel's car on the way to Ipswich with 6 bikes on the roof and no kids in sight. Just saying!

tduckett

This is a good deal. Boardman cx team. Usually £900, currently £650 and you get a further 10% by waving your BC licence. £585 for sram apex and a decent ally frame is a snip.

Ive had one of these for 3 years and it been great, coped with the 3 peaks no problem.

Boardman cx team.

Taff

Sorry to hijack this thread, but I'm also looking for a cyclocross bike and had my eye on the Boardman cx team. Is the bike suitable to racing on? Decent weight? My other option (top of my budget) is the focus mares at £1100, but the Boardman seems a brilliant price.

Senecio [Daniel D]

Not looked at that Focus offering before; looks great. I guess you have to ride it to see how it behaves to really know. It seems to have a carbon fibre frame so could be lighter than the Boardman; indeed my impression was that the Boardman ended up being quite a heavy bike overall. Disc brakes are very efficient but watch the weight, they also require maintaining and can suffer from mud and contamination. Regular cantis can be hilariously inefficient, but who wants to slow down in a race? Canyon are usually a great value for money offering. Kinesis are very popular, have a great reputation and in my experience they are excellent.

There's plenty of choice out there!

tduckett

The £1100 Mares is Ally i think, looks great though. most Aluminium cx bikes with discs come in at around 10 kilos but there is always scope to improve that later. I think the stock Boardman was nearer 10.5.

The Boardman is quite a racy frame and i raced it straight from the box, no problem (well, problems with the driver and engine only). The stock wheels are heavy though. i have then upgraded the wheels to a pair of £500 planetx carbon tubulars and converted it to single chainring which is definitely the way to go i think. All this has got the weight down to around 9kg and made a decent enough race bike and gives me spare wheels to train on and for the pits.

Just remember whether you go discs or cantis you are committed in terms of wheel upgrades and bike swapability!

wilburtrump

What was that Tim? Did you mention the T word?

JeremyP

I bought a Kinesis Pro6 (complete bike option) last year after seeking the advice of the CCA cognoscente. Really pleased with the bike and found myself upgrading the bits pretty quickly. Discs are the way to go in my view.

Go with the advice of Messrs Hadley, Doncaster, Duckett or Polak and you won't go wrong.

Senecio [Daniel D]

Not a complete bike, but a good price (54cm) LINK

dhadsley

For £1100 you probably couldn't do much better than the Planet X XLS Sram rival, full carbon frame, 11 speed, Avid BB7 disc brakes, £900 gets you the Apex build.

The Boardman is a great price though and leaves you loads of money for a wheel upgrade a la Tim.

Shelton

Worth having a look on Eastern cross FB page often bikes pop up, I have seen from time to time good 2nd hand bikes at eastern cross races from £250 upwards. I will look out for you and if I see anything suitable I will add to the thread.

Shelton

Mitchy

Cheers Shelton, appreciated. I'll look too.

Taff

Hi guys thanks for the feedback. This is the Focus Mares I'm considering.



Thought it was a decent price for a bike with Di2.

Good luck with your search Mitchy.
Sorry again to hijack your post.

Senecio [Daniel D]

I am accumulating a stash of rear derailleurs from eBay so I have a stock of parts to deal with breakages. These, and levers, seem to be the vulnerable parts on a CX bike. I suppose electric ones can be fixed as well, but I suspect the parts are not so cheaply available. Di2 doesn't seem like a 'no brainer' to me for cyclocross; especially if you are paying for it yourself. Maybe swap the groupset over with a road bike?

tduckett

Does look nice that Mares and good value too. I think ive only ever seen Di2 once at a cross race which is quite telling.

dhadsley

Mitchy,

This was for sale today at the cross race. It looks brand new, 52cm frame. I'm sure someone wouldn't mind picking it up for you at the next race in two weeks time if you're interested

Mitchy

If I can get it for £300 then I'll try and go for it - thanks for heads up. I'll message him tonight - could even get to race at Stanborough if I can get it!! Is it a FORME?

Cheer.

Mitchy

dhadsley

Yes, it's a Forme Calver CXS with Tiagra (shifters at least)

Mitchy

Bummer - he sold it today! Thanks for keeping eyes peeled though!

Cycling Weakly

Halfords has a 10%-off "Flash Sale" discount running online today for two hours between 12:00 and 2:00 p.m. So the Boardman CX Team is even more of a bargain:-

- Original price: £900
- On sale: £650
- After Flash Sale discount: £585
- After British Cycling discount: £526.50...

Mitchy

Cheers for heads up - but still probably £200 over my limted budget!! I'll keep hunting.