[Closed] CX vs road bike for commuting

If you put road tyres on and have the same/similar position then it won't be any slower. Similarly many road bikes, particularly at the prices you're talking will take racks/guards.

I'd suggest that there's really not much difference between a CX and road bike at a given price in terms of what it'll handle - more often than not they'll have the same wheels anyway. CX tyres will take more abuse (since they're bigger) but will obviously be a bit slower (1-1.5mph ish IME) and they'll wear out on the road.

I'd suggest the CX bike - not for any of the reasons above, more because riding CX bikes offroad is great fun so you can give it a go 🙂

Are you going to use it off road? Do you want a CX bike? If not then just get a road bike.

People generally don't realise how much fun a CX bike can be until they've tried it... Get the CX bike 🙂

any suggestions of cx bikes at the 1k mark for me to go and research and put a leg over?

thanks

Boardman

Not sure of others specifically I'm afraid.

Guards are a must for commuting IMO, discs are also pretty high on the list for me - a lot less hassle for a workbike, better function on bad weather days too. I think disks are currently more prevalent on hybrids and CX. Like for like road bike will be lighter and there'll be options with guard tabs, depends how important disc brakes are and whether you are likely to go offroad or do some dirt road.

A light fast road bike is nice but if you commute everyday dependability and versatility may be more important.

Not for commute, but I got a road bike, and couple months later sold it on, now v happy owner of an "all road" bike - Peregrine in my case, as above racks, guards, just more versatile. The clincher for me was the ability to head down rough tracks or indeed trails and pick and choose my route rather than be restricted by tarmac..

alzore - Member
...a daily commute of 23 miles each way...

...mudguards maybe for me but [u]a rack is not really important[/u]...

it really is.

there's a difference between a Cx bike for racing, and a Cx bike that should really be called a 'tourer' (but that's not a cool enough label), i'd recommend the latter.

the Pinnacle Arkrose is hard to beat.

the distinction between road and CX is sometimes blurry e.g. a kaffenback has CX style clearances and discs but isn't a CX bike

I would get the boardman and put guards and road tyres on it

23 miles is a long commute if you are going to do it regularly but good on you for doing it, factor in a rest day until you've been doing it a while

[i]I was all set to buy a road bike for a daily commute of 23 miles each way and then a good friend of mine said that a cx bike would be a better choice and would only add another 5mins onto the journey over a road bike.... What are peoples thoughts.?[/i]

Your friend doesn't know what he's talking about.

I have a road bike and a roadified cx bike for my 20 mile each way commute. The cx bike has guards and lights, the road bike is for dry summer days. Spec is similar and if I stripped the cx of guards and other paraphernalia there would be no difference in speed between the two if all other things are equal.

If you compared a cheap cx bike with an expensive road bike then yes there would be a difference but like for like there's nothing in it.

The weather affects commute time far more then a road/cx conundrum would.

I wouldn't say a rack is a must, I've not used one in 8 years of doing my commute. Usually drive once or twice a week or if doing the full week then take a waterproof rucksack with clothes and lunch on the Monday and bring it home Friday.

Full guards are definitely a must though. I use sks longboards.

Fwiw, I got a Pinnacle Arkrose CX last year on C2W. Chose it over a more road oriented bike because I wanted something I could use on towpaths to give me more options for routes, would take Mudguards and panniers, and would take fatter tyres for more comfort and grip, and would give better braking in tbe wet with discs.

Over tbe foul wet winter it was used instead of my road bike and used on a 150k audax as well.

It works for me, you might have other priorities. It's slightly slower than a proper road bike but I don't race my commute anyway.

I commuted on a Kinesis Tripster (sort of a CX bike) with disc brakes and road tyres (Conti 4 Seasons 25mm) and mudguards

Recently swapped to a road bike, with the same tyres, so I can do road races.

I did the same 12 mile commute on both and could not detect any difference in speed whatsoever, but the tripster had much better braking, especially in the wet. For that reason alone i'd pick a CX bike with discs for commuting.

He also said the wheels would handle the roads in all conditions.

I had a Ribble Carbon Sportive, then I bought a Boardman CX, put road tyres on it, and sold the Ribble.

It added 1 or two minutes onto a 15 mile commute, but it lets me use studded tyres in the winter and have proper mudguards.

I don't use a rack, though I could, and I prefer discs to rim brakes.

My ideal commuting bike would have road bike geometry but disc brakes, room for big tyres and mudguards, and have rack and guard mounting points.

If you don't want to commute when there's a chance of frost/ice (fair enough) and you either know you won't want a rack or you can find a model with rack mounts and you can put up with rim brakes being no-quite-as-great when it rains (coming from MTB it was a real shock just how much difference weather makes to road rim brakes) then go road. If you want an all weather commuter that's 95% as fast then get a slick-tyred CX.

I commute on a roadie-fied cx bike; the one thing I wish was different is that canti brakes just aren't suitable for commuting, they're just a faff to maintain and poor if the weather is bad. I'd prefer discs, but even normal roadie brakes are an awful lot better.

Agree with phiiiiil regarding brakes. I'd go for a disc bike if I was replacing the current winter/wet day commuter.

I also commute on a roadie-fied CX bike (Arkose 3), and as others have pointed out above, the main advantage of this over a normal 'road' bike is it's flexibility. You can have racks and guards and big tyres, or just skinny tyres if you want. It'll be pretty comfortable, strong, and reliable.

I've used mine all winter, and on longer road rides (home and abroad) and it copes well with these varying tasks.

I bought a cross bike (Spesh Tri-cross) for commuting and pretty much everyday wished I'd bought a road bike, as the Tricross is such a slow, joyless bike to ride. If you are only ever going to use it for the road, then a road bike with mudguards is perfect.

better body position while riding. He also said the wheels would handle the roads in all conditions.

Oh and regarding tyres I always ran 23mm or 25mm on the winter beast, switched to 28mm conti 4seasons last October and I'm really happy with them - more comfort and a more solid feel.

So ideally you want

A frame that takes guards
has clearance for wide tyres
disc brakes

no difference if you choose road or cx and the wheels will be the same either way.

[i]I bought a cross bike (Spesh Tri-cross) for commuting and pretty much everyday wished I'd bought a road bike, as the Tricross is such a slow, joyless bike to ride.[/i]

I would say that's down to the bike model you bought rather than cx bike sin general. Unless you're riding it with cx tyres?

I started commuting originally on a hardtail then bought a defy and realised I could take 10 minutes of a 11 mile journey. I then got into road riding and didn't want to shag my defy so bought a Genesis Cdf. I'd have to say It's comfier too ride cant take racks and panniers and Isn't much slower. If you are only too have one bike get a CX as you can use It as a road bike with slicks but cant really do the same with a road bike off road.

I use a CX bike to commute.

But then a lot of my commute is along cycle path which might be a little rough and muddy for a sparkly road bike in places.

Nice having slightly bigger tyres (I run 28mm Conti 4 Season, but have plenty of room to go larger), plenty of clearance for full length guards, disc brakes, rack mounts.

Off the shelf my bike was 8.75kg, lighter than something like a Specialized Allez Comp road bike (9.26kg). So it doesn't follow that CX bikes are always heavy, though you'll always be able to get lighter road bikes obviously.

A mate had a Tricross commuter. It seems a slow bike, he seems to slow down when riding it compared to his road bike.

So worth bearing in mi d that not all "CX" bikes are created equal.

i bought this last month to commute to work and back. so far i've been pretty impressed with it.
its a lot quicker than the hardtail that i used previously.
although i know i could have gone for a lighter proper road bike but for my budget i wouldnt have got disc brakes so i chose this one.
the tyres are 700c x 35 and seem to be well suited for the horrible road surfaces.
so far they seem to be coping with the abuse they're getting
[img] [/img]

A hybrid probably isn't great for a 23 mile open road commute though.

a rack is not really important...

it really is.

Not if you don't need to carry stuff...

Are you going to use it off road? Do you want a CX bike? If not then just get a road bike.

Nail/head.

I had three successive 'cross bikes as I liked the theory, in practice if I was going for a road ride I went for a road ride, and thought "wish I was on my road bike", if I went off road, I went off road and thought "wish I was on my mountain bike". The geometry on the cross bikes (Tricross was worst of all, about 25lbs of shopping trolley-esque 'fun') was never good, the cantis didn't work any better than calipers (discs I can get), and I got as many flats as using 23 or 25c road tyres, more actually.

For my money, and on a similar commute, I use a 'normal' road bike. Allez in winter, with guards (which I'd absolutely recommend). Madone in summer. I don't carry any luggage - take shirts in when I get the train, so jersey pockets are fine for stuff I need on a daily basis.

Tricross is such a slow, joyless bike to ride

my vaya feels a bit like that on the commute. pompino is much more lively. on paper they are similar; (gears/ ss aside) geometery is quite different though.

my ideal commuter would be guards, 28s, discs in that order. SS/ gears/ frame material is all personal choice. Traditional racy CX geo, over newer 'gravel'/ tourer geometery would be my preference.

[url= http://2014.merida-bikes.com/en_int/bikes/cross/cyclo-cross/2014/cyclo-cross-4-355.html ]i would look at this. [/url] i haven't ridden one though...

I had three successive 'cross bikes as I liked the theory, in practice if I was going for a road ride I went for a road ride, and thought "wish I was on my road bike", if I went off road, I went off road and thought "wish I was on my mountain bike". The geometry on the cross bikes (Tricross was worst of all, about 25lbs of shopping trolley-esque 'fun') was never good,

and

A mate had a Tricross commuter. It seems a slow bike, he seems to slow down when riding it compared to his road bike.

+1

I'm 5 mins slower over 10 hilly miles on the Tricross than my Focus CF road bike. Even more annoying is the Focus seems more comfy on the terrible road surfaces, as it's going faster. NB: Other cross bikes around that price point are equally heavy and slow IME.

I'm not much more slower on my TCX SLR 2 with 700x38 Halo Twin Rails than I am on my carbon road bike. I prefer the CX bike if I'm honest, as it offers me the ability to deviate my route off road should I wish (and I usually do).
I am actually contemplating getting rid of my road bike.

so jersey pockets are fine for stuff I need on a daily basis

That's the biggest 'load' for me, I take shirts in when I drive, shower gel etc is left in my locker. So everything else I need to carry, apart from lunch and snacks, could probably fit in a second water bottle (to keep my phone & wallet dry when it's raining)

[i]How do you carry enough food?! Or do you eat out (fnar) every day?[/i]

For me cling filmed roll or sandwich in one pocket, double wrapped sandwich bag with pasta/rice type lunch in another.

Tubes, etc in a seat pack.

What about one of those Pinnacle Pyrolites? Discs, guards etc etc

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/pinnacle/pyrolite-two-disc-2014-road-bike-ec055211#features

A rack is just in a different league compared to a rucksack for long commutes.
Likewise full guards.
Something that will comfortably take 28mm - 35mm tyres too.

But 23 miles is a heck of a comute.

CX bike for me.
This "looks" interesting.
[url= http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-gb/bikes/model/2014.giant.anyroad.1/14991/66577/ ]Giant Anyroad[/url]

I'm a cross convert.

My only reservation is that it's becoming embarrassing having other bikes when I seem to end up on the crosser so often. They are truly excellent fun off road if you get it all right.

Assuming C2W budget, if they hadn't all sold out then the TCX-SLR2 would be hard to beat. I love my steel Cotic X but I particularly wanted steel along with discs and a 135 rear end before everyone was making them...

Looking at most £1000ish crossers my only real criticism is that the compact double and mtb 11-32 cassette really compromise the bike. I fitted 'normal' CX 36/46 rings and a 12-28 cassette recently and they've totally transformed the bike. The small ring is actually usable now, and I'm not often going to miss the 50 top when I'm on 35mm tyres.

How do you carry enough food?! Or do you eat out (fnar) every day?

I eat out. Our London office provide fruit and cake, our Horsham office I buy apples from the supermarket and leave them there. Then buy my lunch.