GaryL, that looks lovely! Any good as a do-it-all bike, ie. Off-road explorer, commuter and light tourer (back panniers only) as well as possibly a cross racer?!
Was starting to think next bike would be a croix de fer, but my head is being turned…
I’d say its strength is its offroad manners. I largely ride it instead of an MTB if I want to link up some more spreadout/less ridden trails.
Not fitted a rack though but have run it with slicks and some SKS race blades – super smooth ride and the slack angles make it very stable (some would say slow to turn) so I’d wager it would be great with the full rack and pannier setup. Racer? Bit heavy with discs – 23.5lb as above but the Cotic wheels alone are 2.2kg with skewers. 23c tyres bring it down to 21.5. I reckon with new wheels 21.5lb with cross tyres and discs is perfectly doable without spending big money – I think sub 20lb is going to cost you somewhat.
The Croix de Fer is very good, the X is just a bit more special and lighter (tested both for about 6 months)
[video]http://vimeo.com/23672452[/video]