Thinking of Cross Bike

I've been thinking of getting a cross bike and wanted some input or suggestions from others.

I have the opportunity to trade in some bikes we don't use and can get either a Specialized (S works) or Red Line Cross bike.

On my tri and road bikes I ride compact 50-34 with 12-27 cassette. What would you suggest for gearing on a cross bike? Same cassette?

Do you ride similar size as your road bike? tt bike? Is your reach same as either? Fit more like a road bike?

What other things do I need to consider when I pick one out?

The bike shop suggested I could use my Zipp 404's with different tires on them for Cross. They are pricey and are my tri race wheels and don't want to wreck them.

I don't really know much about frame geometry or gearing, but I can tell you that I have the Redline Conquest Pro and I love it! My road bike is a Giant, size small, and my Redline is a 48. I went with the Pro because it has 10-speed gearing, which all of our other bikes have as well. I wanted to the flexibility of being able to swap wheels with my husband, if necessary.

I have a single ring up front, a 38, which I switched to when I found that my 42 was too big and didn't give me enough to get up some hills. But, I'm not a real competitive rider and am not in racing shape. You may find you need something different. I do, however, highly recommend the single ring up front. I can't tell you how many people I have watched pull over to the side in the middle of a race to deal with their chain coming off. I've never had that problem.

I bought my bike from someone who is very experienced in Cross and he was extremely helpful. I would recommend checking around with others in the area who are experienced cross racers to see what they recommend. The more experienced cross folks tend to ride expensive wheels, I think, but as a beginner I would never think to do that. I've crashed way too many times. :rolleyes:

I'm sure you'll get some other great opinions from the ladies here, too!
Good luck!

I also have the conquest pro which I built up from a frameset. It is a great bike and extremely comfortable. But I second the idea of looking around and seeing what all is out there. The new and cheaper Van Dessel is quite nice, and the Bianchi Axis as a complete bike is not too shabby for the money and comes in a huge size range.

However, if you already have parts in decent condition and would not be opposed to transferring them to your cross bike, that would be the way to go. It would save some money and if you plan on racing at all, your bike will get crashed and abused no matter how skilled you are. I transferred my lightly used ultegra 9 speed grouppo and it has proved to be reasonably light and very dependable. Also FSA's chainrings come in a wide array of sizes and are all priced under $30, so you can experiment with the setup that works best for you.

As for wheels, I am using a pair of Eastons that come stock on my cervelo r3 They are nothing special, but are have taken alot of abuse and remained true. Similar wheelsets are always avail. on ebay and craigslist for around $250. I would also recommend the Rol Volant wheelset, which retails for under $400 and comes with a set on Continental GP4000's to use on your road bike for free. For the money, I think they are better than some of Mavic's offerings. In any event, save the Zipps and get a couple pairs of modestly priced wheelsets.

I hope I could be helpful in any way.

I ride a Conquest Pro Redline - it was a free frame - so that is why I got it, but I like it. (Won it in the end of season cyclocross raffle) I set it up more like a roadbike than a time trial bike. It should be more upright than a tri bike especially if you are going to use it for cyclocross (which is offroad and sometimes you are going down more technical steep downhills so you do not want to be leaned to far forward); or if you are going to be riding offroad. Or for that matter, even if you are riding as a utility bike, cause you want to be more comfortable on a utility bike. As for wheels, I can't really recommend a certain type of wheel, but do not go real cheap. Again, if you are riding offroad, you want to have sturdy wheels that don't have to be trued too often. I think I have an shimano ultegra wheel hub, cant remember what rim I had built up anymore, but it is plenty beefy, but not too beefy. How beefy really depends upon your size too. If you are heavier, you need a better wheel to handle the bumps of offroad. My redline is a 50 centimeter and almost too big as far as standover height, but is really much shorter in the top tube than my old steel Bridgestone Road Bike.

spoke

Woops, forgot to answer your question about gearing. Since I ride the cyclocross bike offroad and in cyclocross, I put a triple on my cyclocross bike. I ride only a double chain ring on my road bikes, so this will give you an idea that I wanted more gearing on my cyclocross. Dirt gives you more resistance thus the need for more gears and it also can give you much steeper hills (with the added resistance of dirt) so more gears are essential, at least for me.

My husband actually runs only one chain ring in front on his cyclocross cause if it is too steep, he runs, but he is an animal. I prefer to ride some of the stuff he runs.

spoke

I will also weigh in on gearing. As it is a dedicated cross bike, I use a 12-27 in the back and a 38/44 up front. I also alternate between that and a single 42t ring in the front.

The only part I could not swap out from my older road bike was the canti brakes and pedals. For the brakes, I chose the wide profile TRP Euro X brakes which are very light, have alot of clearance room, and once adjusted properly have adequate stopping power. For pedals, I used the Crank Bros. Candy SL, which have all the mud shedding properties of the Egg Beaters with just a bit of platform for a bit of extra stability.

As for the geometry of the bike, I found it most important to focus on the standover and top tube numbers. For example, I ride a 48cm Cervelo and due to the longer top tube and stand over differences, I found the 44cm Cross Pro to fit like a glove.

Thanks for the advice..

With a triple do you drop your chain a lot? My first road bike was a triple and the chain dropped all the time. I switched to compacts for all my bikes and I once a season drop my chain.

I have an '07 Tarmac with 105/ultegra parts I probably could use. Depends on what is the best deal.

My goal is to pay $0 for the bike as I'm trading in but then in a way you don't know what you are really paying as it is sort of fuzzy with the trade in values and such.

I'm going next week and ask for different options. Hard thing is they will order the bike so it makes it tough to test ride to make sure it is right.

I agree that I probably won't use my Zipps unless for some reason I become a competitive cross racer and it will make a difference..which I doubt.

If I had a cross bike I could ride it today as we had our first snow and as much as I want to ride outside it will be a trainer ride for me today.

No, I don't drop my chain with my triple - although I hear some people have that problem with triples. I'm pretty good about not putting it in a cross over gear so that makes it less likely to drop - also when I'm going downhill, I gear up to my big chain ring in front to keep the tension on so that it does not bounce off on the bumps.

I would think that a compact would be good enough on a cross bike. It would be enough for me, but like I said, I ride a road bike with a 51 and 38 front chain rings.

Hey Kathy! I ride a Specialized S Works. Loved it SO MUCH, I bought another one as my "beater" 'cross bike :D . I ride a 54 on the road, and my 'cross bikes are the same size. They fit perfectly!

The geometry will be different from your TT and road bikes. Slightly more upright position, and a higher bottom bracket. I set my bars up so that I sit a little higher - this gives me more control in the technical sections of a course.

My race bike is outfitted with lots of "bling". Mavic Ksyrium wheel set, Ultegra grouppo, very light ALUMINUM bars (broke my carbon bars earlier this season and it HURT). I run a single chain ring up front for racing (39 or 40), and a 12-27 in the back. Around here, that works fine for me. I have been able to ride quite a few of the hills.

I would stay away from using your Zipps as race wheels for the 'cross bike.

Let me know what you end up with! And does this mean that NEBC has another 'cross racer in our midst??? ;)

SheFly

[QUOTE=SheFly;264700
My race bike is outfitted with lots of "bling". Mavic Ksyrium wheel set, Ultegra grouppo, very light ALUMINUM bars (broke my carbon bars earlier this season and it HURT). I run a single chain ring up front for racing (39 or 40), and a 12-27 in the back. Around here, that works fine for me. I have been able to ride quite a few of the hills.

I would stay away from using your Zipps as race wheels for the 'cross bike.

Let me know what you end up with! And does this mean that NEBC has another 'cross racer in our midst??? ;)

SheFly[/QUOTE]

Yep after Ironman Lake Placid in July I'm only doing fun stuff which means bike stuff for me. I plan on doing a 12 hour road race, then giving cross a try and see what I think. By getting a bike this year I can use it as my winter bike and get some help from some NEBC folks so I can practice some skills. I've never ridden other than on roads so it is all new to me and I have a lot to learn.

I hope to make a swap so my cross bike costs $0 out of pocket making my family happy.

If you find a great deal on the cross frameset of your choice, go for it. I wound up getting my conquest pro brand new on ebay for $280. After swapping out parts, and selling the Bianchi Vigorelli frameset they came off of, I broke even. This is a miracle considering the extra cross specific parts and labor costs for certain assembly projects I did not have the tools to complete. The end result was a lighter bike with better components than stock for $100's less than retail in a shop.

Also, I should think that your Tarmac frameset would fetch a much higher price on the open market than my Bianchi, leaving you even more money for additional upgrades to your bike and/or equipment. I could be wrong, but in my experience some shops are similar to car dealers in the low amount they offer on trades.