I’ve recently moved to Crawley in West Sussex and hear that the local riding spot (Tilgate Forest) isn’t worth riding in the winter! As I don’t want to spend time getting to and from my riding then the only thing i can think of is getting out on the tarmac. As a result I’m considering buying a cheapish road bike. The issue i have is that i already have a Genisis Vapour CX bike.

The question is will I really notice the difference by having a proper road bike when I could just chuck some slicks and guards on the the CX and use that on the black stuff?

Is this just a case of me looking for an excuse to buy yet another bike?

Fire away 🙂

Buy some faster wheels and skinny tyres ,sorted 🙂

As its for use in winter i’d just use your CX bike with mudguards,
and get a road bike for dry days and summer use 😀

Just stick some Conti 4-Season tyres on it.

You’re only 10 miles ish from the Surrey Hills though.

the Genesis is quite racy and light I think ? some 23/25c tyres and it will be good for roads and unlikely to be noticeably slower than a full on road bike

Depends on whether you’re planning on riding with proper fast roadies in a group. If yes then gt a proper road bike, if you’re going to be out on your own then stick with the CX bike.

Stick with the CX bike and explore local bridleways/fire roads that aren’t too badly hit by weather – as above you’re only 40 minutes riding from the NorthDowns and there’s loads of bridleways (and footpaths) around there that are all year round rideable.

Tbh, if it’s dry/frozen you could probably ride most of the stuff at Tilgate on a cx bike anyway 😉

On the other hand, if we consider Rule #12, the correct number of bikes is n+1 (where n is the number of bikes currently owned), so yes you should get one.

(Unless s-1 applies.)

Given that the correct number of bikes to own is n+1, or s-1 as per above, if you are in the happy situation of having a wife that is also a cyclist, you can express the equation as follows:

n + 1 = s – 1

which you can solve for s, as you know n. Anyway, I digress.

I think a road bike would definitely worth it, I love mine, having bought it to get faster on my MTB (which it has succeeded in doing). Or, as discussed above, I think you’d be fine on the CX with slicks.

But then you wouldn’t have another bike…..

From what I’ve seen of Tilgate (admittedly not much) you could well be right Luke.

CX loop looks promissing from a quick scan of an O/S map 😀

ah, it’s you!

Glad you’re riding again 🙂

The question is will I really notice the difference by having a proper road bike when I could just chuck some slicks and guards on the the CX and use that on the black stuff?

Not really IMO. What’s been suggested about sounds good though – CX bikes are great for exporing and linking trails together with road.

But you do need another bike, regardless 😉

Skinny tyres on the CX and you wont notice much difference.

And a rigid SS for winter MTB.

Yeah just starting to get out a bit and am getting my head around regular riding again, just in time for winter! Will be back down Stanmer for a Thursday night ride when the weather gets really bad. Just to remind me what I’m missing!

@Clubber. You are of course right but I already have my eye on a new mtb build which will take place over the winter so all good on the new bike front 😉

Go on get a new bike you deserve it 😉

I got fed up of keep swapping tyres, and my cross bike really needed the stem flipping to work properly on the road. It meant I’d end up compromising it for one or the other thing. Much happier now with one of each, both set up for what each is designed to do.

loads of bridleways round Dorking that are rideable in winter, plenty of places to drink tea and eat cake to warm up. If you can see a lot of chalk showing in the wet it’s probably safer to get off and walk…

I have a Vapour too and you would notice the difference going to a proper road bike but not enough (IMO) to bother with if you don’t already have one or intend to do a lot more road. I have kept up with the local road club runs on mine with knobbly CX tyres on but it’s not a lot of fun but get some slicks and you’ll be reet.

I ride a CX with semi slicks on the road. Not as fast as my road bike but there’s not much in it. As above put some slicks on and ride it. I find road riding in winter grim so you may relish the opportunity to mix it up with some bridleways.

OP – I’d get out there and make your own mind up about the local trails before buying a new bike. We all have our winter and summer routes and a set of mud tyres is a simple upgrade.

I ride the wyre forest all year round and anyone who rides it knows how bad it gets in the really wet season so i vote for MTFU!

I ride the Wyre Forest from about April till about now… 8)

get yourself a retro steel roadie off ebay, admiring glances, and will get you fitter, although you stand a fair chance of getting knocked off..

but i love it…best £225 i ever spent