Hi everyone, I’m new here (and to cycling) so go easy on me!

I’ve been a runner for many years but would like a bike to add some cycling to my training and to do some triathlons. obviously the best idea would be a road bike but the thin tyres and roads scare me a fair bit and so I would like something that is

1. More stable on road

And

2. Capable of being ridden through muddy woods or canal paths etc

So I’ve therefore been looking at cyclocross bikes, as from what I read these seem to fit my needs. My question however is this….. If I put slicker tyres on a cross bike to do a tri race how much slower would it be than a road bike over 25 – 50miles. I’m never going to be a fast triathlete and would be quite happy to sacrifice a few minutes of time in a race to provide me with the above 2 points – but obviously I don’t want to spend a good amount on a cross bike only to realise that its totally unusable from a tri point of view.

Any advice greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

How long is a piece of string?
How much you looking to spend?
Geometry slightly more relaxed on a cross bike and a marginal weight penalty on a like for like basis.
Doesn’t sound like you are going down the full aero route though anyway
I wouldn’t buy a cross bike because its more stable but certainly better suited to canal paths and muddy woods- you should be fine

Thanks for the reply.

I’d be looking at spending £800 or so…. I’ve been looking at the Norco ccx3 online.

So you would think that a cross bike with slicks would be sufficient……especially to a not very gifted or technical cyclist?!

I would seriously think if you really are going to use it in the woods etc. A road bike can be daunting the first time but you would quickly become accustomed to it and the handling on a good one is definitely not unstable. My experience is that once you have a road bike, you’ll enjoy it so much you will want to ride on the road more and more.
Something like a Specialized Allez Sport @ £724.99 would be a cracking first road bike, perfect for some Tri’s and give you some cash left over for some necessary kit like bottle cage, computer, repair stuff, shorts, shoes, etc.

I think you’d be ok.

A good lightweight set of racing tyres would be an advantage. You could also move some spacers from under the stem to ontop for races to get a better position.

I’m noticeably faster on my road bike but it cost three times as much and weighs about 2kg less with 23mm rather than 34mm nobbly tyres on so it is hardly fair comparisson.

Look at the gearing as CX bikes often have lower gears than a road bike (look at the size of the front chainrings).

A cross bike will allow you off road but road bikes are perfectly stable and won’t give you any problems once you are used to riding them.

forty44 – Member
Thanks for the reply.

I’d be looking at spending £800 or so…. I’ve been looking at the Norco ccx3 online.

So you would think that a cross bike with slicks would be sufficient……especially to a not very gifted or technical cyclist?!
Looks Ok. With some Schwalbe Ultremos tyres on it and a few tweaks should be fine

Get a cross bike and as you get used to it lower the stem and flip it to get it low like a road bike. That’s what i do.
Ive done circuit racing, time trials and hill climbs on mine as well as 3 peaks race, mountain bike routes and commuting.
Unless youre really good at tri its not going to make much difference and you could always put clip-on extensions on as well.
Having now got disks on my cross bike i would recommend them if you can get them within your budget. Also as mentioned above 2 sets of tires are a must though to get the best out of a crossbike.

I’ve a Giant tcx and a TCR. I do run slicks on the TCX sometimes for work, but is it waaay slower than the TCR. In my case the cross bike was expensive for the level of finishing kit, so hence heavier (particularly the wheels). The geo is alot more upright on the TCX, but could be tweaked by flipping/getting a longer stem. In a straight line/untechnical TT course, the relaxed geometry prob isn’t an issue.

I’d second Colin27 – give riding on the road a go – you’ll love it. Especially if you’re out with mates/club.

Thanks for all the replies, didn’t quite expect such a brilliant response from everyone so thankyou very much! As I said I’m a biking newbie so a lot of the talk about angles and heights etc means nothing to me but I’m trying to learn!

I definitely appreciate the need for 2 sets of tyres with a cross bike. A possible commute to work is over fields and woods so it would get some off-road use there for sure! I like the idea of the more relaxed geometry and would go.for disc brakes over cantis.

A hypothetical question then (and maybe an impossible one) but if you had identical riders, one on a road bike and one on a cross bike set up for road use (bikes are as similar spec as possible) racing against each other, how faster would the road bike be (i realise this is very approximate so I’m not looking for an answer to the nearest second – just trying to guage how much extra effort would be required on a cross bike over a road bike). I guess if the answer is negligable then a cross bike it is for me, but if a road bike is going to be an hour faster then it gives me a dilemma!

My pb for the commute home on a Scott cr1 [carbon roadbike, with race wheels and 23mm tyres ] 39 minutes.
Fastest on the cross bike [with 28 mm road tyres] around 42minutes.
Distance is 13 miles, fastest had a tailwind and its undulating route.
Yes, a road bike is a bit faster.

I’d say negligible, but the wider gearing on a cx bike would become less than ideal once you get into it.

With tri bars it’d be faster than a road bike that didn’t have them.

Thanks again….. very interesting point about the tri bars! What does wider gearing mean?! (sorry!) If there is a good website that anyone can recommend to help me understand things a bit better I will quite happily spend a few hours studying!!

Good point re the gears but ive never really felt under geared on a 48 or currently 46 outer ring. Granted i dont do many big decents or any chaingang style stuff.
For generall riding on your own and the odd triathlon event i dont see it being an issue. With 46-12 and 90rpm you will doing just under 28mph [ i looked that up :-)] That’s a pretty quick pace. interestingly a standard 53-12 at 90rpm is only 3mph quicker, I would have though it would be higher than that!
Thats my most scientific post 😳 😀

For me, I bought a CX bike on accident really as a cheap commuter (£275 Tricross single in the sales). Really wasn’t expecting very much at all.

Oh how wrong I was – I love cx – upgraded to a Major Jake – then to a single speed again (just my preference) – they really are do everything bikes. On the Major Jake – I road on the road London to Bournemouth on a Friday (120 miles) and then on Sunday did a 30 mile mild offroad through the Purbeck with my MTB friends. Except on rocky downhills I was faster. I also did a 3 days London to Paris on the Major on slicks pack riding with roadies, no worries.

The Major died in an accident with a car (I broke my leg) and I replaced with a custom Burls singlespeed as my daily rider/hack and bought a Allez on ctw. The only reason is I wanted singlespeed for commuting – I’d be happy continuing with a CX as a road bike and as I mentioned they are great off too.

I use Sammy Slicks or Marathon’s – neither an overly aggressive CX tyre and decent on the road.

Thanks, that’s impressive info, so if my maths is correct that’s a difference of 10mins over 50miles or 5 mins over 25miles. But then I guess that’s gears alone and you have to consider the weight and tyres etc.

I dont follow you fella 😳 I believe what cynic-al was suggesting is that top gear on a road bike is higher than a cyclocross bike. Ie, for the same rpm the road bike is going faster regardless of tyres or weight.
I was trying to show that a lower geared cross bike is still only a few mph slower at a given rpm.
It still is down to the rider and i find that 46-12 on my bike is pretty ample for most road situations and so my top speed is still limited to my fitness, not because i run out of gears.
Does that make sense?

Yes I get it, sorry! I did a sum to work out how much faster you would cover 50 miles if you travelled at 31mph Vs 28mph – the difference would be 10 mins which to me is negligible and therefore leads me to think that a cross bike with 2 sets of tyres may be better suited to my needs

I’m picking up a Boardman cx from Halfords on payday, a smidge over £820 (£899 – 10% voucher from british cycling, cost £12 to join for the year with a TfL discount code), 50/39 chainset so other than a small weight penalty I’m hoping it shouldn’t be that different to a road bike if I change the tyres for 25 or 28c