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Only ever having ridden mountain bikes, I've recently moved to Norfolk and only get to ride MTB's at weekend. I bought a cheap road bike from a mate, but am struggling with state of the roads in the sticks where I live now and thought that it would be better to get a cyclocross bike to deal with roads and so I can nip down bridle ways if I fancy it.
I now qualify for Cycle to Work scheme at new job, but usual £1k restriction and it has
to come from Evans (which means I can't try before I buy as there are none near here)
Choice is:
Specialized Tricross Sport Disc
Norco CCX 2 Triple
Whyte Charing Cross
Cannondale CAAD 6
Genesis vapour 10
Genisis CdF 2012
Kona Jake
Not knowing anything about them, any opinions would be welcome
If it helps, I have a 2011 CaadX 105 which I like -nice frame, 105 works well and it looks good in raw 🙂
Ultimately - Pick the brand or fit you like? for Caad size down I would suggest. It's comfy side of racy, but still handles well.
Wheels on mine could be a little heavy but are tough.
<1k bike wheels will generally be a bit meh..
with cx knobblies it may not feel as fast as you might hope on tarmac (23mm 120psi comparison). Fire road/hardpack it flies though.. I run Vittoria CX and like them.
your not from bolton are you?
Have you considered the Boardman CX, I think that comes out mid £800s so gives you money for accesories (such as a tyre change, you may find a semi slick better for road/bridleway work if you aren't racing).
I have always liked the Spesh Tricross and may be more what you want. The only thing that put me off was no disc brakes which I see from your original post they have now remedied.
I'd love the Boardman bike, seems great value, just that I am stuck using Evans Cycles
I was offered a Genesis Vapour Disc for £1000. Maybe you could haggle. It's getting to that time of year.
Faced with that choice I'd go Genesis CdF, or Day One and buy some decent wheels.
Not on your list but I have a Genesis Day 01 Alfine 8 for pretty much the reasons you said. Got it for under £1k thanks to 10% off from the LBS and love it, so yeah, +1 for anything Genesis!
Evans will get any of their stock in for a £50 fully refundable, no quibble deposit and they'll let you test ride it as well.
I was trying out a Colnago for half an hour on my own. No pressure, no hassle and instant refund of my £50 when I finally decided it wasn't for me.
Evans will get any of their stock in for a £50 fully refundable, no quibble deposit and they'll let you test ride it as well.
I was trying out a Colnago for half an hour on my own. No pressure, no hassle and instant refund of my £50 when I finally decided it wasn't for me.
Charge Filter Hi? Or whatever one is the CX of the two in their range.
i have the whyte and can't fault it. chicken levers and mtn bike geometry make it a bit easier to get used to than a more racy cx bike.
A mate has just got the Charge Filter Hi. I quite like it. But will not tell him. It's quite heavy though
Boardman looks the best that I have looked at. Didn't know that Spesh had a Tricross disc, which will be interesting if the work C2W materialises later in the year.....
Having the same dilemma here http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/cx-bike-should-i-do-it
Was just about to sit down and do some more research so the extra suggestions here are useful. I'll add the Kinesis Crosslight Five T and Cotic X Weekday build to the list of contenders!
Planet X Uncle John?
I'm in the same market as the OP and am interested to read some of these opinions. Probably looking for something race-oriented tho...
Scud,
I would like a cx, but really can't justify it!
Here was my post from last month. Incidentally, there was one just like on Ebay a couple of weeks ago for 800. 😐
http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/i-called-into-on-one-today-and
Workmate has just bought this from Evans:
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/fuji/cross-20-2012-cyclo-cross-bike-ec029204
This, I can categorically state, is the bike you want 🙂