Hello,

It’s nearing the time of year (ish) where the workplace cycle to work scheme opens up, and I’d quite like to use it as an opportunity to get a cross bike, as I’ve had a hankering for one for a while, for leisurely riding, commuting and some of the shorter local rides around my house. What’s more, my LBS has just got a lovely looking range of Genesis cross bikes in…

My commute is pretty hilly, and I have been doing it on a hardtail, with a few bits of cheeky trails thrown in, so would a cyclocross bike be suitable for this, and more relaxed road riding? Is there a big difference between canti and disc brakes? As I’ve only have ridden a MTB, I’m not too sure about going back to canti brakes.

Thanks for your help!

Cheers

Toby

Any bike put to multi use will always be a compromise.

If you choose a cyclocross bike for commuting primarily on the road it’s probably best to choose one with mudguard fixings and maybe rack fixings. For road rides you’ll probably want to size it similar to a road bike and cantis will be fine.
However, if you want to use it as an offroad machine you may want to size down to get the best out of it and disc brakes would be more efficient.
They can be great fun though and make a better road and track commuter than an mtb IMO 8)