Hi all, new to posting, although I have been reading the forum for years! Just bought a Focus Mares white 2010 frame second hand,mainly for towpath and woods riding,although could be tempted to have a try at the northern league come winter 🙂
After any advice on wheels, groupset,bars, brakes, tyres. Not looking to spend a fortune, and would happily source second hand. I have Shimano 105 wheels on my road bike, what are todays equivalent(rs20?). May put these on the cx and buy nicer ones for the road.
I thankyou…

After any advice on wheels, groupset,bars, brakes, tyres.

Wheels; either go standard solid and repairable, Open Pros on whatever hubs, or go a bit flasher and get something with jazzier rims, think it depends how hard you will be on your kit.

Groupset is probably determined by price, there is a new 10 speed Tiagra group due out anytime soon, but I’d go with 105 10 speed if I could, just cos I like the lever shape. Think carefully about the gearing; 46/36 chainrings are great for cross racing, but you will struggle a wee bit if you ride any kind of mountain-bike-lite terrain, unless you go to 28 or 30 as your biggest rear sprocket. I’ve gone for a 34 inner ring, and will be getting a Tiagra 10 speed cassette with a 30 sprocket when they hit the shops, but I’m using my crosser as a quicker fragiler mtb.

Bars are personal preference, I’ve got FSA compacts on my roadie, and so I’ve got the same on the cx.

Brakes…. Bit of a personal thing too, I prefer the Avid shorty 6 brakes because they don’t stick out too far at the back and dig into my heels and calves. Seem to work very well for me… It seems to be the fashion to use the little in-line levers too, but I’m not that keen on them.

Tyres; take your pick, bigger seems to be more sensible, Racing Ralph and Rocket Ron is doing me fine.

I would say my build is similar to what you’ve quoted. I use Ultegra 6800 for shifting duties as I got the shifters and mech at a price I couldn’t turn down and Sram Rival for everything else, including ‘cross chainset.

Brakes, I went for TRP Euro-X on a friend’s recommendation and they’ve been great, a lot less shit than I was expecting, but still shit really.

Wheels are RS30, can be picked up pretty cheap. Not light by any means, but absolutely bombproof and the hubs are still running smooth after a few thousand miles.

Mid-range Truvativ finishing kit finishes it off. One thing I did do was fit a 46cm bar as I found it gave better control off-road than the 44cm I used on my road bike.

Thanks for the advice. Think I’ll buy some nicer wheels for my roadbike and chuck the 105’s onto the CX. Not sure on chainset yet, currently run 53×39 and 25×12 on my roadbike which just gets me up and over all the hills up here!

Just trying to source second hand parts of Ebay to build. Can I mix components, for example: Sram Rival 46/38 chainset, Shimano Ultegra cassette(12/27) and front mech, Shimano 105 shifters and rear mech.
Would it all work?

Can I mix components, for example: Sram Rival 46/38 chainset, Shimano Ultegra cassette(12/27) and front mech, Shimano 105 shifters and rear mech.

that’ll all work fine together 🙂

I recently brought a set of2011 Mavic Aksium wheels from On One for £140 posted which ain’t bad

Thanks for the help, if I have success on Ebay, should have most stuff to get building. Never done a build, so should be interesting!
Last question, What bottom bracket for Sram Rival chainset, does it need to be Sram?

I’ve managed to source a Sram Rival chainset and Sram Rival rear mech from Ebay for £28.
Just need BB, any suggestions, not crap and not crazy expensive! Trying to find Sram Rival shifters, how much on Ebay, 2nd hand last night went for £95 quid! Anyone selling some?
Then, chain, cables and front mech, I can build. I’ll drop a photo on for comments soon as.

You’ll be lucky to find Rival shifters below that – I have some and compared them to some shimano 105’s I bought at the same time. I personally think the Rivals are much nicer.
For bottom bracket you’ll need a GXP one

Not being sarcastic but you can use what ever you want in the sense that you” see top ten finishers on 8 speed Sora equiped Kinsesis’s and tail enders on pro class bling and no one at a cross race will move one single hair of their eyebrow.

And unless youre racing with two bikes, cack covered Tiagra is no worse than cack covered Dura Ace – probably better 😐

And depending on how serious you are, you’ll get away with a 50/34 for now and change to 46/36 later.
One bit of kit that makes a huge difference to me is bars, wide and shallow for control and haulage’ability.

105 Groupsets are cheap on Merlin. As are Tiagra.