What Cross bike to buy??

Martinh

Hi

I am thinking of a cross bike for some offroad action and would appreciate any recommendations on bikes. I assume discs, but single or double chainset?

Are planetX or Ribble any good?

thanks

Martin

Senecio [Daniel D]

The question of which cyclocross bike to buy depends on what you want to use it for. For racing I would recommend a single chainring as it is both easier to clean and the absence of a derailleur makes the build up of mud and detritus less likely.

Don’t bother with a chain catcher which goes over the top of the chain as this catches mud and the chain will probably jam in it anyway. Instead invest in a hanger alignment tool and make sure your rear derailleur is well aligned.

Good cantilever brakes can work perfectly well and tend to be lighter than discs. Disc brakes aren’t necessarily trouble free and can squeal and honk. However the trend is definitely to have a disc of steel near the hub. Rim wear is eliminated with disc brakes and wet weather braking is a bit more predictable.

The risk with PlanetX, Ribble et al is that you don’t really know what you are buying; the deal always looks great but will you be able to gets frame parts in 3 years? Really annoying to have a bust hanger and not be able to replace it. I would, personally, stick with big brands. Naturally I have a certain bias but the Trek Crockett and Boone are excellent machines. Kinesis consistently make good CX bikes.

The main thing is to have fun!

skelders

Hi Martin, I have one for sale :-)

A Trek

Give a call - 07976 628299

Dan Hall

Hi Martin, I've only been riding a season and there are far more experienced guys out there but for what its worth my view is that discs are a massive advantage when racing, I've outbreaked guy's on canti's in wet races. I have a single chainset and I love it, keeps it nice and simple and gives me less to think about in a race. I'm riding the Boardman from Halfords, occasionally in the sale and you get an extra 10% off with BC.

JeremyP

Definately discs - think of the diffrence between cantis and discs on MTBs. I have a compact 50/34 as the bike has doubled as a commuter/winter machine. Mudguard mounts useful if you intend to use as an all rounder. These bikes get thrashed in CX races so dont spend too much.

I raised the same question 3years ago and ended up buying a Kinesis Pro6 CX disc which you buy as a frameset. Kinesis offer a build kit which includes some excellent quality Kinesis wheels that weigh under 1600g.