How many of you who cx, ride your cx bikes on ‘proper’ off road stuff, like welsh/lake district mountains, or serious trail centre stuff, not just fire roads?

Any pics would be nice. 🙂

Yes. I do, have done since the mid 90s. Apparently they’re not suitable for that kind of thing though.

I dabbled, then got a lightweight 29er MTB. CX now a winter roadie (until 3 Pk CX no doubt)

Yep,proper peak district stuff.

Every weekend.

The cx gets a lot more use than the mtb now.Considering dropping the 29er for a monstercross bike….drops,discs and 42c tyres.

I have ridden mine everywhere I have taken my MTB, some of it is a lot more sketchy though and I definately think about my lines a lot more.

Yup, use mine in Pentlands and woodsy singletrack around home. Just have to take it a bit (or a lot!) easier on the big roots and rocky bits.

Did Falla Brae at Glentress on it once as well (it was in the car anyway and it scratched an itch, so to speak). Made me appreciate just how good MTBs are. Reckon it would be a giggle on GT blue, though perhaps not the red or black…!

How about these?

pompino-icr by Jon Wyatt, on Flickr

Belmont by Jon Wyatt, on Flickr

onelad by Jon Wyatt, on Flickr

If I ride it on a mountain bike, I’ll ride it on my cross bike. I don’t even think about it now.

two lads?

I’ve done Cannock on mine…

Taken at Roaches Visitors centre..

🙂

It’s all good…

I use my CX bike in the Peak District quite regularly, in fact probably more than the MTB. It wouldn’t be my bike of choice for something like Helvellyn but round here it’ll cope with the vast majority of normal XC-style trails.

I did the trail at Penmachno last year on mine, as my mountainbike was temporarily out of action; I got round fine but it would have been far more fun on the mtb…

Have done GT red and black on mine and lots of the other stuff round there. It’s good, but pretty harsh on the rockier sections.

Cheers all,

Just looking for some inspiration, as looking at getting a cx bike again!

Saw someone coming down Jacobs Ladder in the Peak on a CX back last summer with rather large amounts of finesse as I struggled down on my skill compensator 😯

Yep that counts 🙂

Does this qualify?

I’ve ridden stuff in the lakes on my old uncle john and my current kona sutra – no real issue other than its a bit jangly

bump

Nothing to gnarl as the riding/hand position jars my right elbow on rough suff so Cannock and local bridleways fer me

cheers all, just trying to convince myself to get a cx bike, thats all !

Do it! Riden CYB and quite a lot of Dark Peak including the beast and all was fine.

Slight hijack.. can we include normal road bikes, I’ve used them on ‘proper’ off road stuff. Not managed a serious trail centre though as the alarms went offat the entrance gate when I arrived and the bike was confiscated for not being up to the job.

What an awesome lot of shameless STW willy-waving.. 😉

You don’t have to offer much of an incentive TBH.

Yes, I’ve ridden my ‘Snake down some gnar stuff (e.g. that so-called ‘Beast’ thing from Hope Cross), but I’ve found this sort of riding tends to be rather non-good for wheels. It’s also rather painful for neck vertebrae, etc., hanging on the drops, jerking away. In a fit of rocky exuberance just after I got the bike a year ago, I managed to completely trash the rear Aksium in the space of 3 weeks and had to pay out £100 for a new one. 😯

I’m a little more tempered with my ‘cross riding now, tend to use it mostly for road / long-distance cycle network rides, with bits of ‘ooooh, I wonder where that bridleway skirts off to’ randomness. This sort of riding seems to suit the bike perfectly. Perhaps I could get back into the tech stuff a bit more though, it was good fun choosing those fine desparate lines. In fact, lines that are so fine you could never find them with fat MTB tyres. But it’s a bit trying to thread a needle, while riding a horse doing show jumps. 😛

Cwmcarn was fun last week. But hands got a little bruised by the battering. Even managed to clear a few of the smaller table tops on the freeridey section at the top.

Regularly ride my cross bike on the Dalby trails, great fun and often faster than MTB on the sinewy bits. Really nice to rack up some fast miles on the fireroads, interspersed with techy bits to entertain/scare yourself.

I do find people take getting passed by a cross bike at a trail centre as some sort of personal affront though 😉

I asked pretty much the same question here.

What’s a serious trail centre?

One where you don’t laugh.

What an awesome lot of shameless STW willy-waving…

Followed by the most frenzied bit of waving so far!

I ended up getting lost and riding a bit of the Fort William DH on mine, do I win?

Usually though I’ll seek out the flat twisty bits of singletrack that would be slightly hard work on the MTB but are excellent fun on the CX, lots of hip checking trees and last minute cornering! Not so keen on the rockier stuff, sure its possible but its just not so much fun…

Followed by the most frenzied bit of waving so far!

Nope… just trying to temper my post to avoid the inevitable ‘you are just jealous’ / ‘you are a nob’ / ‘you can’t ride a bike, you tw_t’ type comments.

Mmmmm… I like that word temper. It is good.

I in the last part of my post you’ll see that I temper my comments by pointing out that a) I have found I am not man enough to physically cope with regularly riding a ‘cross bike over rocks, b) I do not have the riding skill or finesse to avoid damaging wheels while doing this, c) I much prefer riding my ‘cross bike along cinder tracks and gentle bridleways, thus confirming the OPs fears about ‘cross bikes being only really for mincing about on, while allowing others to bask in the hardcore 100% commitedness of their gnar ‘cross riding willy-wavingness. 🙂

You have to learn that people will attack from all angles in this place. 😉

I was, but it knocks the #### out of the bike. Wheels don’t like it, rims wear pdq and low spoke ones fold if a rock takes out a spoke. Also found climbing greasy slopes with cross gearing near impossible.
This year I’ll be saving it for race days, and I’m going to dress a 29er up as a cross bike sort of! i.e 42mm tyres, gears, hydros and Jones bars, if you can fit hope and gear shifters on Jones bars?

Don’t worry NED. I’m on your side, its how I feel as well after trying the hard rocky stuff on my cyclox bike.