I have a road and winter bike, but looking for a cross bike that I can have some fun with and maybe even race. After much searching I’ve narrowed it down to 4 and I’m now struggling to pick. Would appreciate some input.

Canyon Inflite Al – £1,449 – Ultegra, Hydros (seems the best spec with the lightest wheels, but also the most expensive)

Rose PRO DX CROSS-3000 – £1,370 – Ultegra, Hydros (great spec, light, but the wheels are the cheaper/heavier versions of the ones on the Canyon)

Pinnacle Arkose Three – £850 – 105 mix, BB7 mechanical discs, external cabling (will be the heaviest, but is also the cheapest. Gets a great write-up and I know a few on here have it.)

Dolan CDX – £1,200 – carbon frame, 105, BB7 mechanical discs (looks great vfm, but can’t find anything written about them online)

I appreciate there’s a fair difference in prince between the Canyon and Pinnacle.

IMO the Pinnacle Arkose is the prettiest!

Why do you have the arkose three on your list but not the four or five which are both within your price range. The arkose 4 has shimano hydraulic discs, the five has sram, £1250 and £1230 respectively – I’m pretty sure that’ll be my next commuter. The 5 has should be £1450 but has 15% off at the moment.

I have a Dolan Prefissio as a summer commuter and its a great bike so I’m sure the one above will be great too.

I’d go for the Arkose with some Kinesis wheels.

Ah, confusing. not a 4 cross bike but 4 different (cyclo-)cross bikes.

It maybe the picture but the chainrings on that Pinnacle look huge. I imagine you are after a more proper cross bike since you already have a winter bike?
Something with good mud clearance, light and lower gearing than a road bike.

I’m pretty sure the pinnacle is aimed more at the commuter than a cx racer, think it has a compact chainset.

I’d also check on availability. I ordered one of those Canyons but it was constantly deferred for delivery ….

Canyon looks great but availability seems poor. For that money I’d probably go for the Rose. Or maybe a Kinesis Crosslight…

… or maybe Chinese carbon.

I looked at the various options recently and nearly went for the Arkose 3 but ended up with a Giant TCX SLR 2. I’m a short $rse at 5’5″ and the geometry and standover of the XS Giant were a better fit than the Pinnacle.

Not raced it, but been on and off road and use it as my daily commuter as well. Love it.

Giant TCX SLR1 or 2 is hard to beat for VFM. Backup from a local bikeshop, a great spec and lifetime warranty

Focus mares 2 disc, 11speed 105, TRP Hydros £1200

I have a TCX SLR 2 – cost me a little over £1000 and I’m made up with it.

If you have any worries about backup – Rose’s warranty is fantastic. The longest part of the process was waiting for parcelforce to deliver on its “24hr” delivery.

I looked into this a lot before deciding this year would be a winter roadie and next the CX. I was going to get the canyon mostly because of the comfy seatpost, though I think all of the choices are good. Raleigh do a nice CX too, though a little overpriced compared to the competition.

I only had a brief pedal about on the Arkose, but it was enough for me to think that it was more of a tourer/commuter/do-it-all bike than I was after. Not quite as much as the Croix de Fer, but not racy enough for me.

ymmv, especially if you’ve got a road bike.

pbooker1995 – Member
Giant TCX SLR1 or 2 is hard to beat for VFM. Backup from a local bikeshop, a great spec and lifetime warranty

I really like the look of the Giant frames, but even the carbon version at £1800 doesn’t come with hydros. Didn’t think the kit was that great for the prices.

Also read the alu version are quite weighty.

Crux E5 Sport if you want something racey?

Tasha has last years cable disc Rose, she’s been very happy with it. She liked being able to spec the bar size, saddle and cassette size. I’ve got the Giant TCX. I’d recommend it, I’d buy another if it got nicked/died.

Koala Test by ritcheyp20, on Flickr

Speshpaul – Member
Focus mares 2 disc, 11speed 105, TRP Hydros £1200

Looked at the focus as well. It does seems like a proper race-type bike. Heard people having problems with the amount of lever pull on those calipers though.

DT78 – Member
If you have any worries about backup – Rose’s warranty is fantastic. The longest part of the process was waiting for parcelforce to deliver on its “24hr” delivery.

Good to hear on the warranty. Have read good things about Rose.

AlexSimon – Member
I only had a brief pedal about on the Arkose, but it was enough for me to think that it was more of a tourer/commuter/do-it-all bike than I was after. Not quite as much as the Croix de Fer, but not racy enough for me.

I did get the impression that it was less suited to proper cross racing. That said, I’m not after an out and out cross racer – if I was, I’d buy a Ridley.

I have the Rose Pro DX Cross 4400 (bought Feb 2013). It’s very nice.

Not sure that helps you any, but I’m happy to answer any questions.

Rose service was good (be sure to join the VIP Club before buying a bike for mucho reward points!)

FWIW I ended up going the hydro Ultegra and chinese carbon route with a side order of hope/stans wheelset and random finishing kit. 11spd Ultegra. All up it came to bang on 1500 quid which i think with those wheels is good value, you could get it down another hundy or so. The chinese frame is pretty good really for the money. It took from ordering to build about 3 weeks total.

mrblobby – Member
Crux E5 Sport if you want something racey?

Nice bike, but looks a bit pricey for the spec.

GrahamS – Member
I have the Rose Pro DX Cross 4400 (bought Feb 2013). It’s very nice.

Not sure that helps you any, but I’m happy to answer any questions.

Rose service was good (be sure to join the VIP Club before buying a bike for mucho reward points!)

Thanks Graham. And good tip on the VIP club! 😉

1) Is it true that it’s a pretty light bike at this price point? Most of the others are over 10kg where as the rose is ‘apparently’ sub-9kg.

2) How did you find mud clearance and cable routing?

3) Thoughts on the wheels? Again they seem about 3-400grams less that others around this price.

4) What are the welds and paintwork like?

5) Lastly, in your opinion, is it more of a tourer/do-it-all bike, or does it lean more to a proper race bike geometry?

Thanks in advance!

NZCol – Member
FWIW I ended up going the hydro Ultegra and chinese carbon route with a side order of hope/stans wheelset and random finishing kit. 11spd Ultegra. All up it came to bang on 1500 quid which i think with those wheels is good value, you could get it down another hundy or so. The chinese frame is pretty good really for the money. It took from ordering to build about 3 weeks total.

Any chance of a linky to the frame you went with?

P20 – Member
Tasha has last years cable disc Rose, she’s been very happy with it. She liked being able to spec the bar size, saddle and cassette size. I’ve got the Giant TCX. I’d recommend it, I’d buy another if it got nicked/died.

Both nice looking bikes?

I take it the TCX comes with the TRP Spyre mechanical discs? How do you find them?

Also, thoughts on the wheels and the overall weight?

Thanks

Out of those 4 ? Dolan cos he’s a decent bloke who supports UK riders (has done sponsorship and deals for lots of aspiring racers over the years) and is an independent who pays UK tax. Not connected in any way just a happy customer

Its typical that I like the one with zero info on the net.

Lovely looking thing is that Dolan

I got mine during the recall on the TRPs so the shop did me a favour and fitted shimano instead. It meant we only have to order one type of brake pad for both bikes. They’ve been good brakes.
The Giant could be lighter and suspect a lot is in the wheels. Both bikes have been given a reasonable amount of stick offroad and the wheels have been untouched. Kinesis or ebay carbons when my wheels die I think

1) Is it true that it’s a pretty light bike at this price point? Most of the others are over 10kg where as the rose is ‘apparently’ sub-9kg.

Yes. Mine was quoted as 8.75kg (without pedals). I excitedly weighed it with some luggage scales when it arrived and that was accurate.

2) How did you find mud clearance and cable routing?

Loads of clearance. I run it with 28mm Conti 4 Seasons and full SKS Chromo guards. Plenty to spare!

Cable routing is internal. Was a little rattly at first but soon sorted by tensioning. It is exposed under the BB shell which seems an odd choice but I’ve not had any problems with it.

3) Thoughts on the wheels? Again they seem about 3-400grams less that others around this price.

Looks like a different spec from mine (which had Mavic CrossRides) so can’t help there.

4) What are the welds and paintwork like?

Mine is matt black and the paintwork is perfect. Welds look neat enough to me but I’m no fetishist. I can take some saucy close ups if that’s your thing?

5) Lastly, in your opinion, is it more of a tourer/do-it-all bike, or does it lean more to a proper race bike geometry?

I’d have to confess that this was my first road-oriented bike in a couple of decades so I don’t have anything to compare it with but it is definitely more relaxed than my mates’ full-on road bikes. So at a push I’d say it is a little more towards a tourer but it doesn’t feel compromised to me (as someone with limited experience and no interest in racing).
You might want to compare the geometry the the Rose Xeon which is more racy.

Hope that helps.

In terms of clearance, the Rose has miles more than the Giant. Mine ground to a halt in Yorkshire clag, where as the Rose kept going.

Rose or Canyon.

Hydro discs on a cross bike are a total game changer.

GB

Would recommend looking past the spec sheet and taking a spin on a Crux, is a lovely bike to ride. Marketing blurb says it’s a Tarmac for the dirt and I reckon that’s about right. Not a fan of the brand but I’d still get a Crux. Is a bit of a shame they’ve not gone for Shimano hydros though.

By the way, Rose build the bikes to order. They have a “Configurator” for specifying parts and sizes, but you can also specify different components at cost (I put on a WiFli deral and wider cassette to make it more useful in the hills).

Don’t be afraid to call them to discuss. Their English is perfect.

I just got myself a Dolan CDX. Built it up with 11spd 105, hope/stans crest wheels, Spyre brakes. It’s a really nice bike, raced it at the weekend, handles good, no problems there. Came in at 20lb all in for the largest size they do (with pedals and cross tyres).

Rose have a UK agent based down in Wiltshire. I got in touch with him when I bought one (not a CX) and he brought down a van full of bikes to Bath for me to try out in various sizes. Worth doing if you aren’t sure about size / feel but keen on the bike.

Lunestock-how have you got on with the Dolan? Have the Spyres worked okay? Thinking of taking the plunge!

The spyres are in my experience the best mechanical disc calliper out there, east to adjust, plenty of power with good modulation, easy to source pads, its just how a disc brake should be.

When I was looking at Dolan, he said he’d fit the Shimano Hydros for an additional cost. Can’t remember if it was £300 or £200. Might well be less now, but even then it only takes the cost up to the Germans…