The age old question....should my next bike be a cross or touring bike?

[fallstoclimb]

All of these bikes look nice. I'm not even sure how to evaluate them! I haven't started actually shopping yet, but my fear is that no bike shop will carry touring bikes in a petite lady size.

[Sky King]

Where do you Live? Go to The Surly Website and look for dealers. Don't be afraid of a steel bike For me, it was the answer to road fatigue. If your head can't get wrapped around a touring bike than look at the cross check and the straggler. Both come in smaller sizes. BIG NOTE - if you were in my shop I would be putting you on a bigger bike than any racing style bike. Go read about the bike on our website. Happy Shopping

All of these bikes look nice. I'm not even sure how to evaluate them! I haven't started actually shopping yet, but my fear is that no bike shop will carry touring bikes in a petite lady size.

[Blueberry]

BIG NOTE - if you were in my shop I would be putting you on a bigger bike than any racing style bike. Go read about the bike on our website. Happy Shopping

SkyKing-

I'm curious about this....for the Straggler and the Cross Check. I find that I ride a 52 cm road frame, but a 50 cm cross check/straggler (since the BB is higher, I have to size down to get the same effective top tube). Have you not found this to be true?

[pll]

I've been curious about this, too. The size 50 CC is equivalent to my road bike, a Pinarello race set-up. But it sounds like I'd need a larger Surly? How would I even figure this out? I hate being too stretched out. I assume it's stack and head tube height, and a touring bike should be more upright?

OP, I didn't mean to get so far off your question about Surly's. I love Surly's. It's just I know of quite a few petite TE'ers on Salsa VAyas. The smallest Vaya's have 26" wheels and very high head tubes. Makes standover less of a problem, and possibly mitigate toe-overlap, while still having a very high front end, allowing the rider to sit up a little.

The reason a high bottom bracket is problematic in a petit bike is that it implies higher standover. It's generally at least 1 cm higher than a comparable road bike. I know some women on this forum have a 25-27 inch inseam, or thereabouts, and struggle to find a bike that is small enough in the top tube and has low enough standover. The Vaya has excellent low standover, while still a high enough front end (head tube) to be upright and comfortable.

To me, the Surly Cross Check is more a classic diamond frame (higher standover, lower front end). The regular Surly Straggler is too, but they are coming out with a sloping TT Straggler soon. (See website). Unfortunately, it doesn't look like the standovers are any lower on that model (sloping), which doesn't make sense. The main difference is that it has 650B wheels, to the Straggler's larger 700c. Which implies a difference in handling. (Note, these are suppositions on my part, people like Sky King would know more).

Cross bikes do have a more classic geometry because you need to run with your bike on your shoulder... here's a video that shows the techniques (handy also for carrying your bike up stairs to an apartment): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBAbZzFeT34
I also think cross bikes have a slightly longer wheelbase for stability and a bottom bracket that is a little bit higher than a road bike (for clearance over obstacles).

[TelemarkK]

All of these bikes look nice. I'm not even sure how to evaluate them! I haven't started actually shopping yet, but my fear is that no bike shop will carry touring bikes in a petite lady size.

Do you have a Giant dealer nearby? They have a women's CX bike - the Invite 2 and it comes in XS (14.5), S (16.5), M (18). I recently tested it at a LBS and it's among my top 3 choices for my next commuter bike... may be worth a look if you have a nearby dealer. FWIW, I'm about 5'5" and was testing a size M and it was comfortable... but they didn't have a S for comparison.

[TrekDianna]

Typed and disappeared... I have a Salsa Vaya 3 and I love it. It's steel. I commute on it every day. It's definitely not slow. It's also set up for touring.

[fallstoclimb]

The Salsa does look nice! I've never even heard of that brand. I have a lot to look into now. I'm not sure what my inseam is, I'm not quite 5'3". Toe crossover is one issue that I never had on my road bike, which has normal-size tires -- my feet are tiny which I think helps here!

So I'll have to do a tour of the area shops (I'm in MD) and see what they have in stock that's anywhere close to my size, since there are so many factors to consider here! My husband ordered his cross off bikesdirect and had no issues making it work for him, but us petite ladies are always going to have challenges I guess! Luckily we do have a ton of shops around us.

[azfiddle]

I am "petite" (5'1") and recently acquired a Surly LHT 42 cm. My road bike is 44cm (Specialized Ruby) and I had to change out the bars and seatpost to improve the fit, and I still feel like it doesn't fit quite as well as Ruby. Maybe there is a little more tweaking I can do but haven't had time to get with the fitter again. I have used it for one overnight camping trip and for a few grocery store runs. I haven't ridden a cross bike, so I can't speak to that, but I think it would be okay on some light dirt roads.
It feels stable with the load once I am riding- even if it is awkwardly heavy before I get moving. It's definitely a much heavier bike to start with but it's not that noticeable while riding.
Hope that helps.

[Sky King]

Think this has been covered, yes Cross bike is more aggressive geometry. What was interesting to us on Surly - The DH's city bike is the Surly cross check in a 58cm and fits great but he would actually go to a 56cm if he bought the Surly Straggler - again geometry.
Touring Bikes - IMO - you don't want them to small, I'd much rather go to the longer tt and then change the stem if need be. For me, riding loaded, I like the balance a longer bike gives me. I hate feeling like I am perched over the bike, I like to be settled in the bike and become "one with the bike" I can ride a 52 or a 54 Surly LHT/DISC Trucker but like the 54 if I am using it loaded. When I was bike packing on the 54 I did put a shorter stem as I was a little to stretched out on the one that came with.
Salsa is a nice brand of aluminum - both Salsa and Surly are divisions of QBP. We don't have Salsa only because they wanted us to carry their entire line of bikes - yikes, We are touring specific so didn't work my business model. (sorry for the digress)

Lots of shops in Maryland, Looks like Joe's Bike shop carries both brands.

[Owlie]

Hm.
My CX bike really isn't a CX bike, at least, it's not a racing-oriented CX bike. It's more like an off-road road bike and light touring, though I haven't seen how it performs under load (it doesn't have a rack on it yet). It's steel, so it is a bit heavy compared to the road bike. Of course, standover really isn't an issue for me, and finding a CX bike with a low standover might be difficult. I'd look into something like the Vaya.


If I remember correctly, unloaded touring bikes will ride like a tank, but you trade that for stability when it's actually loaded down.

[pll]

Think this has been covered, yes Cross bike is more aggressive geometry. What was interesting to us on Surly - The DH's city bike is the Surly cross check in a 58cm and fits great but he would actually go to a 56cm if he bought the Surly Straggler - again geometry.
Touring Bikes - IMO - you don't want them to small, I'd much rather go to the longer tt and then change the stem if need be. For me, riding loaded, I like the balance a longer bike gives me. I hate feeling like I am perched over the bike, I like to be settled in the bike and become "one with the bike" I can ride a 52 or a 54 Surly LHT/DISC Trucker but like the 54 if I am using it loaded. When I was bike packing on the 54 I did put a shorter stem as I was a little to stretched out on the one that came with.
Salsa is a nice brand of aluminum - both Salsa and Surly are divisions of QBP. We don't have Salsa only because they wanted us to carry their entire line of bikes - yikes, We are touring specific so didn't work my business model. (sorry for the digress)

Lots of shops in Maryland, Looks like Joe's Bike shop carries both brands.

A cross bike may have a more aggressive geometry relative to a touring one (I am not sure about this) but the geometry is more relaxed relative to a road bike. Head tubes are typically taller for a more upright ride.