CX bikes – what kind of stuff can they handle?

Did more road miles last year than off-road and now feel CX is where I want to go. Most of my localised miles are spent around the SE, i.e. North Downs/Surrey Hills, South Downs, Swinley, and loads of sections/links inbetween.

So, how much offroad stuff can a typical £1000 bike handle? I’m guessing the rockier stuff is pretty much out(?) but is it possible to attack something like the worst sections of the SDW?

FTR, looking at an Uncle John or similar.

Happy to have different tyres, but the main aim is to know I can get some good miles in, say 75-100 for mainly road/light off-road vs shorter sessions for the harder stuff (if that makes sense).

Cheers

I’ve got a UJ and the limiting factor to its performance is definitely me.

They take all sorts of abuse – 3 Peaks – whether you are good enough to do it is a different matter.

I have a Felt Breed that I often ride around Swinley and the North Downs. It is generally fine, some bits I can ride faster on a mtb, others I am faster on the CX. I wouldn’t want to get too airborne on it, but apart from that it is fine.

Rocks are no problems. Neither is a little air.

Its utterly dependant on your technique, getting airborne, (within reason), on a cross bike is fine if you land it correctly. However the margin of error is considerably less than on a true MTB, get it slightly wrong and you may end up with taco wheels and an odd looking frame.

I’d use mine happily on the North/South Downs .

The Belmont Descent snaps CX frames clean in half. FACT!

Sounds pretty cool so far then; rocks, ND, SDW etc.

I’m guessing then that tyres and drivetrain make a (fairly?) big difference to speed?

Ideally would like a set-up for getting the miles in and another for roughing it. So is it normally pretty easy/quick to change front and rear cogs, or do you have to faff around and have different hubs and/or anything else?

Ta

The Belmont Descent snaps CX frames clean in half. FACT!

Better the frame and not the rider.

I’ve ridden cx bikes on the North Downs/ Surrey Hills for the last 15 years. The only problem I’ve ever had was finding that my tufo sealant had gone off in the bottle when I got a slow puncture in a tub.

Run two sets of wheels, one for road and summer off road, (same thing on the chalk), use the other set for winter off road.

I run a single 38 ring with a 12-25 block and that works for racing and road training. However I’d most likely use a double ring and a wider cassette range for riding on the Downs.

Cool.

Are you mainly on drops, even for the more technical stuff? Does it make much difference? A mate won’t touch them and swears by flats only. But I quite fancy reverting to my old road racing days and giving drops a go. Might well have to get some flats anyway.

Drops give you good stability but can make drop-offs a bit scary 😯

I don’t use the drops that much as I’ve set my brakes up so I can use the hoods and feel in control. See panic stricken look:

control

I don’t have any of that anyway.

Think I’ll start with drops and see how it goes. Ta

We (accidentally) ended up doing the flatter lower section of the Fort William DH on ours, between the first big wall ride and the top of the motorway section. Its not really a case of ‘can you ride it’ more just a case of ‘how much slower do you have to ride it’.

Most importantly though, it was a lot of fun 😀

A road bike on some rocks 🙂

As per 13thfloormonk, you’ve just got to hang on and give it the firey death. Flights of steps are quite punishing on the wrists mind.

Fine. Ive seen two steel crossers fold up including mine, no issues on the ally frame. Also wheels with low spoke counts are more likely to be unrideable if one goes, I threw up a rock took one spoke out and had to walk, no problem generally bashing them about though. I use cheap heavy tyres when not racing. And as for their abilty, well they can do a lot. Steep drop ins are scary though as you are so far forward.

With compact 34/50 up front and an 11-28 out back you’ll be covered for road and the rough stuff.Set up the bars with the hoods as the primary poition and a bit higher/shorter than a pure road bike.Discs would be good for ‘proper’ off road but there are’nt too many off the peg builds about yet…. or invest in some shorty ultimates.Bontager LT3 38mm tyres are a bit bigger and tougher than pure cx treads but clog badly in the goop.
I ride mine off road a lot round N Wales including the odd trail centre and am considering swapping my current rigid 29er for a ‘monstercross’ aka burly offroad cx bike .

Cheers guys. I’ve got a pretty good idea of what I’ll be looking for now. Just need some time to spec it.

I ride mine all over…

Was down in Cannock last week & that was great fun…

As has already been said, it’s more the rider that’ll hold them back..

Oh, and Carbon FTW!!! 🙂

Nice frame, how do you rate it? What did you have before?

Limiting factor is the rider. SDW shouldn’t be a problem. How good are you? 😉

I rode the SDW inaday on my cx bike in ’96 and ’97, and then did about half of it on cx bikes in ’05 with Jo Burt et al.

Another thought….wiiide bars,I run 46cm salsa bell laps and love em… though they are quite deep drop.Woodschippers are good also but a lot less roady.Hav’nt seen the new ragley lux bars up close yet but could be worth a squint.

The Belmont Descent snaps CX frames clean in half. FACT!

Must have been a crap rider. I’ve ridden cross bikes down there loads of times. No snappages.

Was it you? 😉

That X Crow looks the dogs – serious discounts on frames at the minute too. But add everything else and it’s heading for double the UJ. Wish I could justify it but can’t 🙁

Tbh, you’ll probably want to get off an lay down before you actually break a CX bike.

Re: Drops Off-road

*** Potential Controversy ***
You could always set-up your drops with a higher-rise stem so that your hand-vs-saddle height in the drops is about the same as that on your MTB. Much less scary when braking downhill…
*** End Potential Controversy ***

i have just bulit one only used it on roads at the moment but absoloutly love it is feels so light and responsive came in at 9.8 kilo cant wait to get on some trials just concerned if the tyres are good enough they are kenda small block 8s 32mm what do you guys run

Woodchippers,luxy,wtb dirt drops et al are designed to be primarily used in the drops and set up accordingly but work ok on the hoods.Find shaggy’s blog for eulogising the joys of drops.

CX bike in it’s natural environment:

Belmont descent? LOL! I went down that on my Tranny last night and would NOT want to do it on a CX Bike!

I’m sure it was fun and that, but do you not think, “Urgh, this would be so much better on a real bike?”

You could always set-up your drops with a higher-rise stem so that your hand-vs-saddle height in the drops is about the same as that on your MTB. Much less scary when braking downhill…

Erm, unfortunately I sit high up anyway (long inside leg 😯 ), so certain drops and roll-ins can be pretty hairy anyway.

Have you had a look the salsa vaya or van dessel WTF?

The Swedish Chef – Member
Nice frame, how do you rate it? What did you have before?

Love it…

I had a FOCUS Mares before it, so Alu, but yeah… Love the carbon.. Great fun.

I commute across the Quantocks on a CX bike, which gives me to option of quite a few offroad routes, the main limiting factor as far as I concerned is the awful canti brakes, after several years of disc brakes and even V’s before that, the canti’s are really scary.

awesome tandam madness!

my cx gets used on a lot of the stuff I ride my mtb on but I stay clear off hucking type stuff and dh tracks – best suited to bridleway bashing and smoothish singletrack IME

I had a FOCUS Mares before it, so Alu, but yeah… Love the carbon.. Great fun.

Did you not consider the carbon Mares as raced by the US Rapha team, they look super nice, but maybe not available as a frameset option?