Which CX? Genesis CdA?

I’m in the market to replace my Giant Defy winter bike with a CX. It needs to be good at Winter road – with guards- and used as a CX racer next season. It’ll be my 1st CX season.

I was considering a Genesis CdA, my heart wants a Kinesis Crosslight pro 6 in green.

What bike then? Any comments re the CdA are most welcome…

Cross light I’m afraid.

Good onya.

Or a TCX 1 or 2.

Nice 2015 merida for a £1000.

The Cyclo cross 500? It’s not really floating my boat tbh…

Frame and parts bin or looking for a complete build? Guessing budget around a grand? Crosslight does seem the obvious choice.

I’d be happy to o build one, but would need advice re gear ratios. In fact I have some drop bars and spate road wheels albeit 2kg in weight in the mancave.

Do wonder how people get on with CX bikes they use as winter road bikes and race CX on. You’d need to be popping guards, lights, wheels, maybe speed/cadence sensors , etc on and off (a bit easier I guess if you go the race blade route.) But then typical CX racing ratios will not be that great for the road so you probably might want to change chainsets too and maybe chain and cassette. Also how close is your CX race position to your road position? All a bit of a faff changing stuff for a bike you may want to ride on the road on Sat and Mon but race on Sunday then maybe some CX training on tues. Though maybe some people are happy with a bit of a compromise. So how do folk get on?

Funnily enough mine is always in race setup, even though I use it as a road bike and have never raced!

Ratios? Erm, compact 50/34 12/28 (or 12/30) simple ratios, easy to get hold of, stock sizes. If you ride mountains then possibly a 32 but other than that I don’t think you’ll need anything special.
Take stock of your roadie position then apply that to the CX’er. If you want more upright positioning then stack up 15mm maybe 20mm but not too much more.
I’ve ridden the CXLight, it’s a nice riding bike, racy enough for erm racing on but also nice to ride all day on.
Bar width, I use 42 on my roadie and 44 on the CX’er, find this slight difference helps with control on fast tech decents in the drops.
Frame size? Don’t be tempted to go bigger than you need, I’d advise smaller so if you ride a 56, go 54 and get a longer stem and set the saddle back more than you would normally.
Tyres you say? I’ve got some smart sams you can have FOC, new never used.

Interesting. My road bars are 42 and the spares are the original 44’s. If I want discs though I need new wheels. Need to add up frame fork , groupset and wheels but I bet a compete Crosslight is the better option.

How fussed are you on Model Yr? heres a 2012 model for £600 (ish)

Winstanleys CXlight price for 2012 model..

Or the Pro6 current model for £1300 (ish)

Current model full build..

I say the CXlight because a mate has one and we did the Welsh Lakeland Monster CX thingy before Xmas and we rode each others bikes half way round just for an objective view.

600 quid is build kit only, no frame or fork 🙂

I’ve got a CdA 20. Great bike for the money.

I’ve got a fixie for commuting so I use this for off-roading and dabbling in local cx races.

1×10 gearing with SRAM x-7 mech on the back so a bit tougher than a roadie mech. Wheels are a bit heavy but with the saving in money you can a new wheelset easy enough for racing and swap over to stock wheels for commuting.

Have also been out on proper MTB terrain with the bike and (almost) kept up with full-bouncers.

bikebouy – Member
Ratios? Erm, compact 50/34 12/28 (or 12/30) simple ratios, easy to get hold of, stock sizes. If you ride mountains then possibly a 32 but other than that I don’t think you’ll need anything special.

That’s far too big for me. I use 46/36, which is fine for racing where I rarely get out of the 36 on your average muddy course, but also good for general off-road hacking. I occasionally need a bigger ring on road but I like the compromise. (I have a smaller cassette though at the moment. I’d rarely put anything bigger than a 27 on a cross bike. I cope on the climbs around here in Wales.)

mrblobby – Member
Do wonder how people get on with CX bikes they use as winter road bikes and race CX on…..how do folk get on?

Mine is set up as for racing. During the summer I’ll add a bottle cage, in winter I’ll stuff a bottle in my pocket. Never use mudguards anyway. Rarely ever use electronic bits on the bike. Lights pop on and off easily. I always have cross tyres fitted, rather than road slicks, so that probably affects my overall speed and allows me to think that 46/36 isn’t too bad on long descents. I guess that I’m always conscious that it IS a cross bike and that if I wanted a road bike, I’d go and buy one. But the road bike probably wouldn’t be ideal down the gravelly path to work, or the bridleway I’ve just diverted onto…

To answer the original question, I like both but would probably opt for the Kinesis. Especially in green.

Just found a Crosslight pro 6 for £1100.

I’m a 57 road or M/L on the Defy though 6ft less a bit 33 inside leg – I should really go for a 54?

I’m on a 54cm Cannondale CAADX, previously a 52cm Kona. 5ft10, 32″ inside leg. I’d sit on one if I were you. (Sounds like an insult!)

Kryton57 – Member
Just found a Crosslight pro 6 for £1100.

I’m a 57 road or M/L on the Defy though 6ft less a bit 33 inside leg – I should really go for a 54?

Hmmm, good question, didn’t know you were a 6ft’er. Do they do it in a 56? I have a 33 inside leg too and my TCX Adv is a medium, definitely the right size that. Saying that Giant reckon their M = 54, but I also ride a 54 on the road both bikes have a 110 stem and the seat pretty far back as I’m old school stretched out.
I think the L in the CXlight will be too big, but it clearly depends on the bikes main duties and how you like to ride it (stretched out or compact) Damn if all I can say is “go sit on one” but I think realistically thats about all I can say. Ohh Mates CXlight is a 54 and he’s got a 100 stem on it, the bike felt a little more upright than my TCX but then I have that dialled to me, I enjoyed riding the CXlight, he too has the green one and it rode very well indeed. We spent 4hrs playing tag and I’d say the CXlight is just as capable in that kind of event as my TCX.
As for gearing, well it’s all personal and I have a 50 on because I hack hard on the flat/gravel and I’m used to it also it means I get to big ring longer in that mode. In the 34 I get all the best options, use this pretty much always for single track, mud, racing, climbing general flick/flack riding then slip back into the 50 when back on the road/gravel sections. For me it works well. Some of the NCN routes I’ve been doing means I’m never in the 34, no need. Stick the Xplor’s on and I’m in head down commute mode for the vast majority of the ride, but then when the Grifo’s/Limus are on I’m hacking the single track and in the 34.. Today I did a 45k loop mix of forest/mud/gravel/road all about 25% each and had the grifo’s on and used a mix of big/little ring all the way around. So get a compact 46/36 or something similar and you’ll be right. If you top out in the big ring change the cassette or go up a tooth or two on the big ring, or just bounce 😆
Thats just the versatility of a CX’er. Hack roads/gravel/play in mud/race/commute/tour..

That CXlight for £1100 looks like a right bargain, mate paid £1300 ish for his Sept last year. Didn’t really read the spec for the other link I placed so sorry if thats sent you down a roadblock. As for the events I’ve done (long distance CX/CXrace) there have been a lot of CXlights on the courses, very popular and capable bikes.

Could be worth seeking out an LBS that has a CXlight in and a wet/windy Saturday afternoon..

Clearly all this is IMO, no idea on the CdA but surely thats a pretty capable bike too.

I’ve just bought a Pinnacle Arkose Four for this purpose. A bit of winter bike now, and then possibly some cross racing next season.

Its not a proper cross bike but its probably lighter than a CdA, which isn’t a proper cross bike either.

Oh and hydraulic discs are amazing! Don’t think I’d want a cross bike with canti’s even if I was serious about cross racing.

There two additional elements to this.

Kryton Jnr looks as though he’ll also start racing at 7yo having done a couple this year. I think that means as I’m there with him I might as well race too, my wife thinks that means she has to be there too, and doesn’t want to be so without anyone to look after him, racing for me won’t happen. Vis a Vis I won’t race CX and I’ll ride road/mtb on a Sunday as I do now.

Its my dream and promise to myself that on my 50th I’ll be having in Enigma Ti Road frame – thats in 7 years btw – but then they’ve just released the Ecroix, so do I combine my dream and my potential need and bring that gift forward a bit.

*drums fingers*

Oh and hydraulic discs are amazing! Don’t think I’d want a cross bike with canti’s even if I was serious about cross racing.

There is an argument that discs are needed less for racing than for general riding. There are certainly courses where I’ve barely touched the brakes at any point during a lap and I’ve very rarely thought I needed more power while racing. (Other than more power in my legs, but that’s a different story. 😀 )

I’m not being a luddite here btw – I’ve had discs on the mtb for 15 years and would swap my suspension fork for rigid before I gave up hydraulic brakes.

I would however love to have hydro discs for the 3 Peaks and that’s simply because of the sustained, bumpy descents.

I’m a bit confused with your winter bike, cross bike, 50th Ti bike thing.

If you’re not going to race cross then there’s not much point in a race frame? The pro6 was viewed as quite harsh and twitchy on berkradar.

A ti roadframe is great and discs would be good on a winter bike that gets used on lanes etc (2nd pair of open sports to replace). I currently run an Etape, love it and would like it cloned with discs and clearance for bigger tyres for comfort =>Kinesis Tripster ATR Ti but I can’t help feel the one road bike I have should be a road bike and not a CX bike I will never use on trails.

Also although it’s great to wait for a treat I’d say live life while you can – you never know what’s around the corner.

Strangely perhaps I’m with you there adsh. August to December is basically my rest/base period – basically just enjoying myself so,I’m not sure I want to add CX and be racing most of the year.

In what case the winter road bike should be the purchase and I’ll enjoy shuttling Jnr around and stick with 2 disciplines. . Rather jealous of your etape btw…