Just been pootling around Tenstmuir forest on my shed of a road bike and got to wondering how my experience would differ if I were on a dedicated cyclocross thing.
What is the difference? Coming from a MTB background, would I be able to notice anything?
I'm not going to buy one or anything, just wondering.
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Tyre/mud clearance is the main thing, let's face it most of us stared our off road excursions on 'Trackers' which were road bikes with cowhorns and the knobbiest tyres you could get in there.
Brakes are different, too.
-Brakes are normally cantilever style offering a lot more mud clearance.
-Tyres are bit bigger than road ones and have nobbles on em (kind of cross between a mountain and road tyre)
-Bit shorter than a road bike for better handling in techy situations.
-Some other geometry differences but not sure on these... Higher BB perhaps?
-A lot of them have cables routing along the top of the top tube so you can put the bike on your shoulder and not get a cable stop digging in your shoulder
-More burly than a road bike. Ie you can hammer it off road!
-Different gearing too. Again cross between a mountain bike and road bike. Mines got 44/36 and 28/12
A proper CX will have greater mud clearance, different gearing (losing a few gear off the top and bottom end of a road bike), knobbly tyres, better brakes (with better mud clearance), and possibly a chunkier frame and stronger wheels. The geometry will normally have shouldering in mind too (often with a flat top tube).
Having taken a road bike down short track sections before, I'd be a lot less nervous of breaking something if riding a proper CX bike I think.
a 'Cross' bike is really angry
Looks nicer today than it did last sunday:
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It was the layer of ice under the snow that made it a killer