Hi All.

So I thinking of getting a cross bike and trying it out, I have a MTB and I do enjoy it but as I’m a roadie at heart I prefer riding on the road.

What are your thought, stick with MTB or sell and get a cross bike.

Looking for a 60cm bike, anyone know of one going??

Cheers

i have both and i would give up the cross bike first. absolutely love it, but i wouldn’t want it as my sole bike. 32c tyres beat you up too fast ime. 80 km last weekend and i had to have 3 days off the bike and still feel beat up.

What a crosser is best for is exploring mixed road / not too tech off road. If you fancy that then it’s the tool of choice.

I wondered about a cross bike as lots of the bridleways round by me are a struggle to ride (across working farm fields), but there are a decent number of farm tracks linked up by country lanes.

Decided it was a no-go as the compromise would (could?) make it the worst of both worlds; uncomfs off road/not as speedy on road. I do quite go for having the right tool for the job, so it’s an XC bike offroad & a racer onroad.

I’ve thought about this too, but truth is I can only justify one off road bike for the amount and type of riding I do.

I really don’t fancy selling the Cotic anyway, I’m no riding god but I’d miss being able to throw it around the woods!

What MTB would you be flogging (ie. 10yr+ old bike with Vs or a ‘current’ bike?)

What kind of riding do you do (off road) and would it be as ‘enjoyable’ on a crosser.

The crosser is a different ride to the MTB but not really a ‘cross’ between road and MTB at all. eg. you might struggle on the CX due to brake / handling / lack of suspension etc.

I love my CX and ride it off-road a lot, nice to have something that can dive down rutted tracks but is quick on the road. I’ve ridden it for events like the SPAM Winter Challenge, HoNC and Three Peaks etc.. but.. (there’s always a but) it’s always nice to come ‘back’ to the best tool for the job – the MTB. I wouldn’t give up the MTB for a crosser.

No way you can afford both?

What MTB would you be flogging (ie. 10yr+ old bike with Vs or a ‘current’ bike?) – Nice MTB with Disc etc.

What kind of riding do you do (off road) and would it be as ‘enjoyable’ on a crosser. I mainly ride up in Woburn woods or once/twice a yr up the Pecks.

I have posted a add asking but budget only £200. 🙁

The prob, I have a cross bike yrs ago and sold it !!!! WHF.

I have a cross/road bike at the moment. I havent ridden my mtb for months – fair weather only rider. But Im not going to sell it as I enjoyed some awesome mtb rides last summer, so its worth keeping hold of.

I’m a roadie, but have always had an mtb for the odd weekend blast, usually my road rest day, and the odd ‘epic’ or trail centre weekend away. I spent last year without an mtb as I had it nicked. I picked up a crosser last autumn thinking this would fit the bill for me more than replacing the mtb. Whilst it did combine elements of both road biking and mtb’ing, the things I love, it just combined them into something that wasn’t quite as good as either for me. I’ve sold the crosser and picked up another mtb which in about 5 rides has given me more smiles the crosser. I’ve got nothing at all against cx bikes, and can see why folk love them, but I guess they are not for me.

My thoughts?

Bender….that is all.

This my first season with a cx bike and so ride my 29er a lot less. It’s amazing where you can ride a cx bike. In fact I intend to do all the Merida MTB marathon series on my cx bike to see how it works. If I had to have one bike, think I’d have a bling carbon cx.

If you ride fairly gentle terrain, with lots of road links, then go for the cross bike.

A cross bike can be ridden on some fairly gnarly terrain -it’s not about the bike… but the frames can only take so much punishment. Mine went over the Wayfarer once and up/around the rocky bits of Rivington & Winter Hill numerous times before the frame snapped in half.

I wouldn’t give up my mountain bikes.

What a crosser is best for is exploring mixed road / not too tech off road. If you fancy that then it’s the tool of choice.

Rode mine on exactly this when going to pick up the car yesterday. Absolutely perfect for my commute which is a mix of converted railway tracks and road.

Does not replace the mtb however as I find it too uncomfy and lacking in controllability when it gets more than a little bumpy.

CX is great for my little jaunts around the city, exploring every little bit of wooded area/bridal path/footpath and linking it up with road/river bank/canal towpath.

I can’t imagine taking my CX into the wilds of north yorkshire, an the brakes are not adequate for Hebden’s technical descents (at least not for a man of my limited skill).

Everything has a place, I’ve been riding more road than MTB for a few years since I broke my thumb badly and couldn’t grip mtb bars, but was ok on hoods/drops. I’ve now set my mtb up in a more XC approach, flat narrow bars, longer stem, narrow tyres and its great. I might even get bar ends!

Sounds like you`d be best served by a 29er!

I got rid of my mountain bikes including a 29er and kept two cx bikes they are great

Rochey. Woburns my patch as well and I’ve ridden my crosser there for years…BUT even though Woburn seems tame there’s still a lot you couldn’t do on a crosser.
Constant crashing along over roots will get to you.
Drops/decents that require hanging off the back of an MTB are near impossible on a crosser.
Frozen or sun baked hoof ridden trails will shake your fillings out.
Stopping/braking on even modestly technical descents is hard on the hands.
Climbing up Woburns famous sandy and loamy hills takes Herculean effort with typical CX gearing. And the same applies for wet chalk and clay. The skinny tyres just keep digging in or skid over the top.
Got back on an MTB after fourteen months and I can tell you it’s the way to go.
CX bike remains a race tool only.

If I could only have one bike ,it’d be a crosser (with discs).

This did the job. Croix De fer. road compact, XT rear gear and cassette, customised Deore hydros, Ultegra bar end shifters etc. Then thought, why bugger about, save the crosser for race day and build an MTB for MTB stuff.

In fact I intend to do all the Merida MTB marathon series on my cx bike to see how it works

Can’t quite imagine it would be any fun at all, say coming off the 3 Breathren into Selkirk – and any other fast/technical descent…

And its been the CRC series for a couple of years now.

Cx is good enough for the 3 peaks then its good enough for some rough stuff

I only rode my mtb twice last year and my cx and road bikes loads. But then I’ve only been riding cx bikes for 15 years.

Cx is good enough for the 3 peaks then its good enough for some rough stuff

For me it kind of boils down to this: Yes you can ride some pretty tech stuff on a crosser but will it be as fast or as fun as on an MTB?

Sometimes I want the challenge but once I’ve provde it’s possible I go back to the right tool for the job.

For mixed road / not too steep or rocky off road the crosser is the tool for the job but definately a jack of all trades master of none.

I have riden my uncle john in the lakes for years (disc) its is now my default bike for everything done a some big lakes epics on its a real swiss army knife i going to be well upset if it ever dies.
Carbon crosser anyone? Got this for sale in 52 flavour if anyone is interested ? £360 it’s new never ridden long story etc.

IMG_5052 by Piers Mortimer, on Flickr