Hey guys… Calling on your CX knowledge/experience.

I am in the market for a CX/gravel steed. I never use my full sus, already own another MTB and a mate is trying to get me to start CX racing this year. So the full sus is going to make way for a new bike.

Requirements:
1x group.
Hydraulic discs.
Budget max £1800.
Its going to be a keeper so must be ‘right’.

After weeks of watching the forums and Ebay, nothing much comes up in a small or x small so I think I’m going to have to buy new. I’m 5ft,5inch.

Shortlist:
On One Bish Bash Bosh – Bargain.
On One Pickenflik – Bargain for titanium but even the small (52) is too big.
Planet X XLS – Bargain but external routes and colours put me off.
Cube Cross Race SLT – Force 1 and looks very sorted.
Canyon Inflite AL SLX 8 – Nice but the cable routing and colours, matte paint dont do it for me.
Rose Team DX 4400 1×11 – A bit over budget and IMHO the finish looks cheap.
Giant TCX SLR 1 – Does not offer anything over the above.

Or a build if I can find a frame cheap enough:
Kinesis Tripster ATR – This would be my ideal choice but dont know much about CX parts, and would cost a fair bit more I imagine.
Kinesis Pro6 – Could be a good option but again I dont have any CX build experience.

Your thoughts or experiences on the above choices and any alternatives will be much appreciated!!

I have a Rose DX Cross Pro and it has been excellent, would buy again. They have the most configuration options and have the nicest wheels with their bikes for the price.

I got alu frame, carbon fork and seatpost, DT Swiss R23 wheels and Ultegra hydraulics for £1400, though that was a couple of years back.

The Team one is a lighter frame by a couple of hundred grams and might be up and down flexier at the back. But the graphics are a bit marmite. Mine is just matt black with a bit of sparkle through it?

Anyway, it’s light, rides nicely and never annoys me

I have a Kinesis Crosslight 5Tdisc and it’s pretty great in my opinion. Unless they’ve altered things it’s got the wrong build for you though being 5800 105 with non series 36/46 crank and SpyreC cable discs. That said, the brakes are great. I’ve got no regrets about buying it.

If they’d dropped the price before I bought mine I’d probably have gone for the 1x hydraulic BishBashBosh though.

Do pay close attention to sizing especially if you plan to actually race it though. I’m 178 and bought a 54 Crosslight after trying one in a shop. My last bike was bigger and I never quite got on with it once off-road and position was always slightly wrong. Generally, if you know what size road bike you need then CX is a size down… obviously a rule of thumb and not right for everyone!

Any of these from Vitus do?

review here

Admittedly sizing stock seems to be a bit an issue but you could email?

For my money I’d probably get the cheapest one and spend any spare on a nice light wheelset with something like wtb koms and a 10-42 cassette for general hacking about (pretty sure that mech will take it).

That way you’d get have second set of wheels to leave road/race/commute tyres on with the 11-36 cassette and a riding around the countryside wheelset with the wider cassette. Should come in under budget depending on the hubs you pick!

Arkose X 2017?

I’ve got a Plant X XLS CX1 the Force groupset is awesome.
It’s proper race-ready bike with tubs and carbon wheels.
If you’re serious about racing then it’s the way to go.

Excellent advice as always on here..
Yeah the Rose although on paper looks great but its a touch over budget and for some reason it just does not float my boat.

Yes sizing is an issue as I’m short, been riding MTB for years on no bigger than 16″ frames so any CX or road bike feels massive in comparison when I try them so they must be the smallest size they do..

Ive have a Kinesis MTB frame (XC Pro 2) and love it, but trying to find a 1x Pro 6 setup 2nd hand proving impossible, building from new would take me over budget easily unless I wait month and months to watch for parts.
In fact, trying to find any of my choices 2nd hand is pretty impossible it would seem.

I had spotted the Vitus but no 50cm at either CRC or Wiggle. And what does it offer over the Bish Bash Bosh in Rival form.?

One thing I do not like about the XLS is the external gear routing. But is such a good price and always gets good feedback. How ‘racey’ is its geo.???. This bike will also be used for pootling around with family and some long 2x a year 100mile + road rides.

I think this is might come down to the age old decision. Cheap carbon or expensive Alu.
The On One BBB Force is the same price as the Cube Force for example.

I have heard good and equally bad things about the On One after sales service which worries me somewhat.

+1 for Crosslight 5Tdisc – 1X11 Sram, Spyre cable discs, Hope Pro4 hubs and Mavic MTB rims
All sorted and built up by local shop that is owned by a CX racer – well under your budget there, could have bought a spare set of wheels as well for that money…

Force hydros are night and day better when compared with Spyres on my Tripster.
Plus – the time you save messing with cables you can spend helping out with marshalling and other club activities!

It’s seriously worth keeping in mind that the Spyre’s behave more like hydraulic than cable in that both sides move so the whole adjusting thing becomes less of an issue. I will say I don’t like the standard TRP rotors (they make a flapping sound under heavy breaking that isn’t confidence inspiring), but adding a pair of RT66’s or centrelock equivalent is an easy fix for that. Compared to my old >X< (With CX70 crank and 5700) it’s like trying to compare a proper sports car to a family saloon.

It would be tight, but you should be able to squeeze a full cx1 build with a 5t disc frame and v3 wheelset on that budget although you wouldn’t have cash for carbon bars and post. 2×11 5800 and spyres would save you around £500 though…

Interesting about the Spyres.
Pro6 frame (love the blue colour) and their own build kit (Rival 1x with Spyres) come in at just under 1700..

I had spotted the Vitus but no 50cm at either CRC or Wiggle. And what does it offer over the Bish Bash Bosh in Rival form.?

Depends I suppose- if you want the carbon vitus not masses and it’s a matter of choice. I’d probably take the vitus on the wheels, but I still think the aluminium frame and some upgrades will get you a better setup.

I have just noticed something that would put me off the vitus though- appears to be 35c tyres only. Don’t know how much that bothers you, for probably 95% of what I use my pro6 for 33s or so are fine but if I replaced it I would like the option for 40s.

Arkose X 2017?

Love my 1x Arkose. OP could buy two for the budget!

I’d seriously recommend getting full hydros. I had hy:rds on the crosser for a long time (now on commuter) and have ridden spyres, and they were both a fair way ahead of any other cable discs I’d ridden but the rs685s I have now are on a different level.

It’s also an expensive change to make at a later date.

Cotic Escapade? I know the standard builds aren’t 1x but I’m fairly sure that Cy would accommodate you.

Cotic Escapade

Love my roadrat and the escapade is a looker but maybe not so suited for racing duties? I suppose it depends on how much racing may be a part of this plan! I’d also be slightly concerned about the solid mech hanger for cross racing- mech/hanger destruction is not uncommon and I wrote off an old steel frame because the hanger took the dropout with it when it went (and the wheel half dropped out).

The Cotic is an excellent shout. But maybe a little too out there for me.
Hangar is an issue, and no doubt I would be using the weight as an excuse when I have a slow day. 😀

As for tyre sizes for racing, 32 is fine. The UCI limit is 35. In the UK mud clag is a massive issue especially if you are racing with 1 bike and no pit crew! So I’d go for something that has large clearance. In this respect a rigid 29er is pretty good shout, though they can clag up to.
If this is your first stab at racing I’d just use whatever you have, a 29er hardtail on rigid forks is OK ; you just cannot shoulder them at all and carrying them over hurdles is awkward as the frame triangle is very sloping.

I cant get my On One Scandal 16″ on my shoulder easily at all. If its got a bottle on it its even worse. Add the fact its got external cable routes under the top tube, OUCH!
So I really need to consider a CX for this winter.
Also, all my mates have CX bikes now so I’m no longer in the groovy gang.. Haha. 😳

Any thoughts on this:
Cross Race?

hah I started on a On-One Scandal in Pink! Great bikes 🙂
I started in summer cross, then both wheels jammed up solid come the winter mud. Even a stick could not remove the clag.

+1 on the Cotic Escapade.

If it’s half as good as my Roadrat you’ll love it.
With regards to the Hanger issue, are breakaway rear mech bolts still around?

You’d probably pick up a nice second hand tripster for your budget. Post on the Tripster thread what size you are after.. Something might turn up.
Personally wouldn’t touch an on one / planet x.. But each to their own.

I’ve just bought (and modified the spec of) a GT Grade X. Comes with Rival 1x with hydro brakes at a great price. Evans seem to still have small sizes in stock too…

Tweaks:
– Clement LAS 700×33 tyres
– Shimano 105 chainset with Superstar Raptor 42t NW ring
– Ultegra BB
– Rival mech swapped out for long cage version
– Rear hub swapped out for a Novatec D712 (now a ~1700g wheelset)
– Ti / Carbon rear QR skewer
– Cassette swapped to 11-40t Sunrace
– Flyxii carbon seatpost
– Charge knife Ti railed saddle
– KORE XCD 100mm stem
– Boardman MTB-Pro SPD pedals

Weighs in at 19.5lb

The looks are growing on me!

As for tyre sizes for racing, 32 is fine. The UCI limit is 35.

33mm is the limit for serious racing.

I see GT are still persisting with the triple triangle design.
I had noticed the Grade X, and it is a possible contender.

I am leaning towards the:

BBB Force (or Rival if I fancy something cheaper)
Cube Cross Race SLT
2nd hand Pro6
2nd hand Tripster V2

I am realising that high on my priority features list is internal cables.

Are you doing fun races or serious ones? Will have they certain restrictions on the bike?

I was under the impression that a good (and legal) CX bike is quite different from a gravel bike (guards and rack mount, clearance, geometry etc)

I have a Tripster the titanium one. I am usually 54 but a 52 on the tripster.

Now I love my Tripster I really do. But I it’s not a CX race bike, it’s a do it all bike and great when loaded up for touring. CX courses are really really twisty. A common scenario is twisting up and down a large bank in a convoluted zig-zag way to make the most of the space the race organiser has to play with. Then when you think it’s tight, here will be a hurdle! The Tripster is waaaay too long a wheel base and too relaxed a head angle for that : you’d wash out.
The Tripster is an all day bike. My CX1 is a bike for a 2hr blast, like a road race bike. If you really want to race, get a race or ‘real’ CX bike, not a touring or ‘gravel’ bike.

Good points EasyRider and fully understandable.
I will be doing fun races, not competitive at all, BenP1.

So gravel bike geo will not be too much of a disadvantage for me (and to be real honest I will probably only attend 3-4 races this season max)
Yes I might be taking an awkward wider line on the 4 races but to have a Tripster/BBB for the rest of the year would be beneficial for the comfort factor.

Raleigh RX team? Via Halfords with BC discount? Or felt f4x can be had if one shops about.

medlow : yeah I understand! The tripster is a great bike, it’d be OK to race on too as it’s light, to it’s credit the tyre clearance is massive, you’d pick up places on some races due to that alone hahah. And you can take them MTB trails with some 37c’s.
Also : Tubs are great to race on, but a pain for general riding. But Spryes are not that great even with non-compressing cable outers etc, then again they are cheap and good enough, also very easy to fix if your’e out in middle of nowhere with a broken part. Also a whole season of winter CX is a very serious undertaking, 4 races is enough for many.

one of these please

good ol’ Charlie

I’ve got a Bish Bash Bosh and I love it! Couldn’t find anything else that came close to the spec for the price, and it’s surprisingly good off road – barely used my MTB since I got it, and am getting top tens and KOMs all over the place (because we all know that’s what really matters 😀 ). Depending on what you’re using it for you might want to get a smaller chainring – comes with a 42t, but I find 40 is about right for me, might even consider 38 if I was doing CX races, but that’s easy enough to change.

I have Spyres on my road bike and they work really well, but Force hydros (and the hood shape) are definitely better. Full length mudguards are a revelation too!

On-One CS isn’t the best, but I find you tend to get a better response if you phone rather than email.

Dingleberry… Whats the weight like.?
I notice on their website the weights do not seem to add up. The Pickenflick with the same group and wheels but on a heavier frame comes in lighter overall which is confusing somewhat.

You’d be fine racing cross on a Tripster.. It’s way more about fitness and riding on your limit than the bike. There’s not many bikes you can stick 40c tyres on for offroad and cx.. and then the following day some 25c slicks as a comfortable and fairly capable road bike. I’m in the position of only being able to afford and house 2 bikes.. A 150mm FS for proper MTB, trail centre’s etc and a Tripster for everything else. I do lust after a top end road bike but I can’t afford one.. and also doubt it would be that much faster than my tripster.

Why limit yourself to 1x, there are some great bikes out there with Shimano hydro 2x that would be daft to rule out.

I’d have Cannondale and Focus on my list also.

Dragon. Good point well presented.

Since changing to 1x on both my MTB’s over the recent years, I love it and dont see I will ever go back (unless I move house to the mountains)
Cleaner, simpler, lighter and improved aesthetics in my opinion.

Indeed, there are many 2x bikes out there that could be converted but the process would be a new (broader range) cassette, rear mech (clutch type), chainring alignment faff, an unused shifter and possibly a marked frame from the front mech clamp.

So I plan to go 1x from the start to safe the bother.

I have a Bish Bash Bosh too. Love it, and love the bright orange colour.
Customer service from PX was actually really good for me – I wanted to swap the step after I received it and they did it no problem.

As far as CX racing is concerned you don’t need a broad range cassette or a clutch mech, and the frame will probably have a front mech braze-on mount anyway. The only money I spent converting my SuperX to 1x was 20 quid for a SS narrow/wide ring. Raced 2 winter seasons, a summer series (dry hard fast and bumpy) and on bridleways for fun and never come close to dropping chain with a non-clutch Rival rear mech.

Not trolling the love-in but I wouldn’t touch a Tripster, 2 year warranty on a 1500 quid frame is proper LOL and guess what they’re starting to break (and appear to have beefed up the offending area on the new version).

What did you do with the front shifter on the SuperX Crashtestmonky? Did it flap about any once you removed the cable?
No I guess not needing a broad range cassette for racing but everyday commuting and cross country I might need.

Cough?? – Unashamed Linky 🙂