Thinking of getting a CX bike on the C2W scheme later this year, and fancy doing some Cross races through next winter. I also fancy having a crack at a 29er for general XC type riding and endurance rides.
But can only get 1 of the 2.

What would be quicker over a typical CX course? 29er or Cross bike?
What’s the real difference between a 29er and a cross bike? I know a cross bike has drop bars, and could be lighter, but how different is their geometry?

Thanks

It depends how technical it is.

If it’s technical it will be the mtb that wins

If it’s none tecnical….. you can guess the rest

a cx bike is better at cxing
a mtb is better at mtbing

you can ride a 29er in a cx race, but I wouldn’t ride a cx bike on a lot of trails

I actually find my rigid 29er rolls faster than my CX. I reckon the CX is about three or four pounds lighter than the 29er, but I think the higher volume tyres makes the difference. If you can get the weight of the 29er right down, I reckon there’s not much in it. You’ll have more fun on the 29er on MTB trails

If you are serious about racing cross a CX bike.

As a compromise for CX and MTB then the 29er is the solution.

So, whadda bout monsta cross, where’s that niche sit in all this blah blah blah?

if you are starting out doing CX then you would be as right to go for a 29er and get yourself a cross bike another time if you get serious about the racing

Define what you think a 29er is? It could be a lot of very different things. Full sus, hard tail, rigid, gnar-core, xc race machine, SS???????

Depends on the rider too, I reckon… I’m quicker on my Soda than my crosser just because I’m so much more comfortable with flat bars. But that’d probably change if I spent more time on drops.

If you’re going to race cross, get a cross bike. Once the courses get really muddy you’ll be better of than on a mtb. Proper dismounts, remounts and caries easier on a cross bike too.

a CX bike is a mans 29er.

my mate who rides DH showed up a lot of full suss mincers on a group ride the other day, oh how I laughed.

For CX racing a CX bike.
Nicer for commuting IMO.
For trails a CX bike can become tiring.
A CX bike isn’t allowed in MTB events, with a few exceptions.

An MTB can do evertything and is allowed in CX races, MTB races aren’t as inclusive as CX races.

There’s nothing specifically preventing you from riding a CX bike in any British Cycling mountain bike event. The relevant rule is (I know this because I lost an argument about it):
MTB Specific Regulations 3.1.1
“Bicycles used in competition must be capable of safely and efficiently completing the task and must, as a minimum, be mechanically sound, have efficient brakes on all wheels and all reasonable steps must be taken to ensure the safety of the rider and others. As part of the latter, bar plugs are compulsory”
However, you might need to have a screw loose to try.

MTBs aren’t allowed in UCI CX (National Trophy series and Nat Champs) You need a bike with drop bars and 33 mm tyres.

So there’s no clear answer then. I guess I’ll think about a 29er with 33mm tyres for Cross events (and MTB tyres for non Cross riding). I’m not too fussed about UCI events – they mean too much travelling for a 1 hour race, so drop bars aren’t a requirement. 1 bike, 2 sets of wheels seems to tick all the boxes.

I was going to say exactly what Crispycross has – it’s the opposite to Oldgit’s comment.

It depends if you see yourself being properly competitive in either XC or CX, buy the bike that supports that goal. If you just want to have a bit of fun then MTB fo sho.

People often seem to mention a £1000 limit with C2W, so while I think a hardtail 29er would be more flexible, I suspect you could probably get a more capable for purpose CX bike for the budget. Plus CX bikes are awesome.

Do they let you do self-builds or do you have to buy a complete bike?

This topic reminds of my theory that 29ers were born of mountain bike riders racing CX and observing the pros and cons of CXs against MTBs which then gathered pace when discs became acceptable on CX and tamer riding Enduros took off. The advent of 29ers makes me wonder why the UCI doesn’t impose the kind of equipment rules on mtb that they do on road and even CX bikes. There was a time when Frischy was riding CX World Cups on a flat bar before they made drops compulsory and I’m pretty sure disc brakes weren’t allowed on CX until fairly recently.

Dunno about that cross tyres are about the same size as 26″ tyres (just narrower).

And can we avoid the (IMO) untrue generalisation that 29ers are better at tamer courses. They may well be, but they’re also (IMO) better than 26ers on technical courses too, they’re XC bikes not hybrids (or now appearing in Trail/AM/Enduro/whatever bikes too).

you are not going to get a good 29’er for £1000 on the C2W scheme, it will be a lower quality bike with cheaper transmission, heavy wheels and budget fork, probably 28-30lbs

for £1000 you could get a very reasonable CX bike, the money is not being wasted on a suspension fork, but the budget is going into raising the quality of the overall bike 🙂

@thisisnotaspoon

“And can we avoid the (IMO) untrue generalisation that 29ers are better at tamer courses.”

^^ that about it really. for all the jokes I’ve had about “nice hybrid” I am actually going faster on my 29er on all terrain than I ever went on my 26″ bikes, I was very skeptical about the abilities of 29er until I actually bought one, and was then very surprised

This topic reminds of my theory that 29ers were born of mountain bike riders racing CX and observing the pros and cons of CXs against MTBs which then gathered pace when discs became acceptable on CX and tamer riding Enduros took off. The advent of 29ers makes me wonder why the UCI doesn’t impose the kind of equipment rules on mtb that they do on road and even CX bikes. There was a time when Frischy was riding CX World Cups on a flat bar before they made drops compulsory and I’m pretty sure disc brakes weren’t allowed on CX until fairly recently.

Except 29ers preceded the widespread adoption of discs on CX bikes, which as you accurately say was only adopted by the UCI a couple of years ago, whilst 29ers have been around for almost 10 years…

But yes, the tyre width rules in ‘cross are stupid.

I didn’t actually assert 29ers are better at tamer courses, just that that’s where they first seem to have come to the fore, especially if you appreciated the benefits of a CX bike and knew how capable they are off road.

I actually think 29ers are very capable which is why I’m vaguely surprised the UCI didn’t protect 26ers from the disadvantage.

Enduros are generally tamer courses though, which is fair enough if you’ve got to link the decent trails with fire roads or even tarmac, and of course if you’re riding further on a circuit you probably don’t want a course that wears you out in 1.5 hours.

While 29ers may have been around before disc equipped CX bikes (although these also started appearing more than 10 years ago), I’d hazard a guess the earliest 29er riders had ridden both MTB and CX before 29ers came about.

There’s nothing specifically preventing you from riding a CX bike in any British Cycling mountain bike event. The relevant rule is (I know this because I lost an argument about it):
MTB Specific Regulations 3.1.1

Apologies. I did base that assumption on my own experiences. I’ve yet to be allowed to race a cross bike at any of the MTB XC series I’ve ever done.
Actually what MTB XC races can you race a cyclo cross bike. I only hang onto my old MTB so I can race a few XCs.