Bought my first ever road bike a year or so ago, a Specialized Secteur. I get on with it fine, and have done a couple of all day rides with no problem. The thing is, I have a hankering for a cross bike and if I were to get one the Secteur would have to go.

So, I’m wondering how I’d fare using a cross bike for long road rides? I’m not too bothered about marginal speed differences, more comfort really.

Whaddya reckon?

Works fine, I use my CX as a winter road bike. Definitely slower (by about 10 mins over 25 miles) but that’s mostly down to the tyres. Best thing is being able to link trails with longer road sections which would be very boring if done on a mountain bike.

My tourer is also my CX and commuter. I managed 1,000 miles of LeJog on it over 10 days, so you should be fine 🙂

got a pompino (so perhaps not a typical cross bike?) done plenty of 100 km rides on it & i’d be happy to do a 100 miles. i’m almost sure i must have done something more than 100km on it…

Sounds fine then. Next question then is can I get a reasonable bike for around £500? Better to go used I suspect, then maybe find something for even less. Would ideally swap the Secteur. Any suggestions for a semi-decent cx bike, (no intention of racing it)?

Edit: this looks good to me

Tricross aren’t light and go for compact double if you can.
Depending on size, there are always good cx bikes for sale on here.
You could buy a frame and switch stuff across? You’d need brakes and possibly new wheels. An mtb rear mech allows a bigger gear spread on the rear.

bike coop revolution cross sport is worth a look for that sort of money

Is cx bike sizing the same as a road bike? So a 58cm Tricross would be roughly the same fit as a 58cm Secteur?

Fine. I’ve done sportives on mine with road tyres and though my road bike feels much racier I don’t really think there’s more than 1 mph in it.

cx bikes will usually be shorter for the same size. I ride road and cx bikes that are the same stated size but quite different tt and stem lengths.

Thanks chaps 🙂 Will have a proper look at what they have next time I’m down the bike shop

I did a 108 mile ride at the weekend on my Tricross and it was very comfy.

I have a focus mares which I use as a winter road bike. It’s fine. Did 75 miles on Sunday. Was not much slower than the road bike 5-10 minutes at most over 4 hours.

Watch the chainring sizes to as cross ones might be too small for fast road riding. Make sure it has two bottle cage mounts. You might want a new stem to get a more roadie position.

Did 104 miles on my Tricross, extremely comfortable.

Yes it’s heavier than my road racing bike, but it’s far more comfortable for longer rides and having a triple makes steep climbs an easy spin.

Pompino. Fixed. One day. 50% offroad. HTH.

miles by Jon Wyatt, on Flickr

That’s miles by the way.

Set it up right and you will be fine .
I do loads of big miles days on mine ,without a second thought.
Just put a new set of bars on ,and it feels so good that the summer bike might stay in the attic a bit longer this year 🙂

Samuri, that was one long day. My longest is 147, all on road, 100 off road with gears. You must have knees of steel!

It was a bit flat, to be fair.

Comfort = bike fit over type of bike.

I’ve done 100 miles on my JtS and had no issues apart from my legs.

Ive done c2c on my cross bike (trek x01) fine as well as a couple of sportives

Uhuh. I did 104 miles on my Cannondale cross (geared) bike on Monday. Felt great when I got home, cycled the 15 miles each way into work the next day with no issues.

I think my cross bike is going to be mostly a road bike… Takes 5 minutes to swap the tyres after all. (it still rides pretty dang fast on the knobblies but I don’t want to waste them on tarmac, and the grip’s a little iffy too)

that said I’ve never had a proper road bike so maybe I’m missing out there and I just don’t know it.