Silver, Come to the dark side...

Yes, the Bianchi is gone, so no more Campy for me, finally standardized on Shimano 10 speed. Seemed silly to have 2 regular road bikes. The Cannondale is a great rain/backup bike, but adds the ability to cyclocross. It has cantilever brakes and room for fenders if you want.

The geometry is a slack compared to a regular road bike, and super slack compared to a TT bike. My saddle is a bit lower, my handle bar/seat drop is about the same, but typically it's not as extreme, also top tube + stem is a bit shorter then my Madone. My Madone is a 60, the TTX is a large, and the Cannondale is a 56.

I'm currently running a 105 drive train with a 36/46 12/27 combo. Seems to work great.

The awesome thing is about cross bikes is the value, tons of great choices in the $1,500 range. Cannondale, Kona, Salsa, Specialized, Giant, Trek, etc... I lost some weight by running my RaceXLites wheels, and will likely switch to a BB30 crankset and loose another 2/3 lb.

I hope to race for fun sometime, but having a blast on the college's cross county course. 4 laps takes about 48 minutes and is a serious workout. So nice when you don't have time for a 40 mile ride. Your total body is working, dismounts, running, bike control, etc... Great cross training!

Silver, try it you will love it! Number of women is really growing, and Louisville has one of the best courses around!

Check out this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRZOa_E9Qs8