Giant Liv Invite Comax

[Helene2013]

I am not too sure Muireen. I'm in bed and my notes are downstairs. Would have to look it up as I can't recall the things on synapse and caad.... but i think it had to do with tires. We'd probably take those narrower than the 35 they come with. We don't intend to ride on mud, nor mountains, etc... it would be better than our current old hybrids for 100km rides through a mix of gravel and asphalt.

Also, my husband was really impressed on how light both cannondale were for the type of bike.

[Owlie]

My CX bike has 32s (Kenda Small Block 8s--started life as a MTB tire). The Synapse is a road bike. I don't think it would take tires wider than a 28, which eliminates the majority of tires with any sort of tread. It's also quite flexible, yet not a comfortable ride on pavement. The CAAD10 is an excellent ride. (Haven't tried the CAADX, because no one carries them in my size.) I'd go with the CAADX or the Giant. (I really, really want a CAADX, but it doesn't look like it would fit...)

[pll]

Helene: How fun that you are considering a cross bike. Look at the Focus Mares, too. The AX series is aluminum and the CX is carbon. I have a Mares CX which I love. Don't underestimate the fun you can have with it --- I absolutely love my cross bike, maybe even more than the road bike. I use it for gravel rides and I've traveled with it for that reason. I would not go with the Synapse for gravel, even if you plan on avoiding mud. Mud cannot always be avoided... The wider tires are not just about mud; they also smooth your ride on bumpy roads and you can choose the type of tire you need. For example, right now I have a pair of 38mm 'file tread' tires (Challenge Gravel Grinders), for dry conditions. During the cross season I put on 32mm Clement PDX.

Competitive Cyclist sells Ridley online and sometimes they have good discounts on them. I like the look of the Niner RTL (they just came up with a steel one) and an orange Santa Cruz Stigmata makes my heart skip a beat each time I see it. A great option if you travel a lot is a Ritchey Logic Break-Away bike -- you can do your own build. I know it's more than what you want to spend, but you can always chose whether to put road tires or cyclocross ones.

I am sure there are some gravel roads around Montreal, but if you consider traveling with your bikes, Rebecca's Private Idaho is possibly the most beautiful ride I've done ... I am going back there this year. Last weekend I was riding in the Flint Hills area in Kansas (the area where the Dirty Kanza 200 takes place), hundreds of miles of dirty and gravel with beautiful sights. You can also take your bike to some MTB single track trails.

[Helene2013]

Muireen,
Makes sense. I did not think of the lower ground thing. Not that we would go in the wild with them, but there are roads we will be using that are partially wooded. Did them with our current bikes and it was not a great ride at all but no choice as we could not really turn back and though it would be "bad" only for a short drive and ended up being over 20 minutes. It is long when not good conditions for our types of bikes.

We are planning to call a few shops around today to see if they carry in stock a Crux and Ridley X-Ride. And of course, yesterday was super sunny, a nice 14c...now it is a snow storm, with a -2c. Very windy. And bike shops I need to go check out are an hour drive from here. We'll see as sun is to come out later so roads may be clear from snow/icy condition.

Thank you PLL
We can't really order on line (we're from Canada) and customs fees and exchange rate (at 30% now) would kill any deal, not counting warranty is void unless I cross to the USA to have it honored. Ridley is rare here and as far as I know, only MEC carries that brand for Canada. Correct me if I'm wrong. Went to a store nearby and they have none in the show room. Will try to call the other store away from home and see if they have some to look at.

We're not planning driving so far this summer but we will be in the Boston area and Nashville (2 different trips). For Boston, it would be the cross bike and for the Natchez we're taking our road bikes. We can't take the 4 bikes as no room for so many.

[pll]

The Ridley web site also has Maglia Rosa Velo Shop as a dealer: http://www.magliarosaveloshop.com

PS: Oh, and I fly to Idaho (and Kansas)... I can't fathom driving a couple of days.

[Helene2013]

I found a store where they have the Crux Sport E5 in my size. So we'll go check it out. That way, we'll know exactly what to expect and can order through my own LBS if we decide.

And the thing I like about my own store is that we can get the bikes, take them home, and not even fully pay for them. Just give him post-dated cheques and he's fine with this. Not many stores can do this. Not many stores either (at least in my area) will take the bike back and trade for something else if I don't like it, even the following cycling season.

The nice thing dealing with owner, and having a good trusting relationship. But it is still more money than I had wanted to pay for a second bike but since we purchase for long-term, in the end we have to take what we like and still look for good quality/good store.

The guy at the store we'll go visit says he has a version of this Crux (2014) and he says it is the best crossbike he has used. Goes anywhere, smooth ride, geometry is not aggressive. He mentioned we'd be luckier than him as the new version has hydraulic breaks, which is new for 2015.

To be continued.... we should go visit today, if the storm can end. They said at noon it will be sunny and it is nearly 11am and still falling hard.

[pll]

The nice thing about cyclocross bikes.... is that you can test ride in snow. :-)

There is a blue and pink Crux E5 frame that looks awesome.

[Helene2013]

I saw the 49cm Specialized Crux. Nice bike. The white when seen in person is more like a glacier with tiny sparkles. Nice one. Could not test drive it because would not have been purchasing it there. Feels a bit awkward to "use" their bikes and then turn around and say thank you...going to one of your competitors... not my type at all.

Saw a Norco. Just too flash with its lime fluo colour and it is in sram or something.
Saw the Caadx. Plain black. Missing some colour but could have been a good option. Except my Amira is flat black, with minimal colour and you all know how I complain from day one from lack of colour
Ridley...none around here left.
Giant, the one we would have liked is over our budget

So for the time-being, I'm leaning towards the Crux.

I could have gone back to my store and ordered 2 (one for each of us) but I want to give myself time to think of my options. It is still over my initial budget. I had planned a max of $2000 each, all inclusive and now it would be $2000 plus 15% taxes x 2. And we know when we buy a bike, it needs pedals, bags, and a few things...which add up. Still trying to figure a way to fit in my budget. Store owner tells me I can take the bike and handle him a few post-dated cheques but I don't work that way. I prefer to pay it all and I'm done. I don't want to pay for it for a few months. $1000 a month for 4 months (plus my deposit) is a LOT of cash. So if I buy something, it's because I have the money in hand. I can order one bike, pay for it, then wait a few months and order the 2nd one.

I can always turn around and go for the Caadx at the other store. And I'm still trying to find a used crossbike in the classified. But so far, nothing comes up for our size. They are rare and when found, they had a line up of buyers. The good thing... if I buy one and don't like it, I maybe able to resell it quickly. At lost but doable.

TBC....

[Helene2013]

There is a blue and pink Crux E5 frame that looks awesome.

OMG... we don't have that frame set in Canada. Boring colours again! dah!

I wonder how much it would cost me to get this frame and build my own bike. I could pick up this frame when we go camping in May in the USA and then have my LBS put it together. ahhhhhh that would be soooooooo cool. Probably cost me twice the price of a normal E5 but what a thrill. Let me think some more. haha

[pll]

OMG... we don't have that frame set in Canada. Boring colours again! dah!

I wonder how much it would cost me to get this frame and build my own bike. I could pick up this frame when we go camping in May in the USA and then have my LBS put it together. ahhhhhh that would be soooooooo cool. Probably cost me twice the price of a normal E5 but what a thrill. Let me think some more. haha

Go for it! [you can get a custom wheelset with pink hubs, say Hed Belgium Plus with White Industries Hubs (the Belgium Plus rims are 25mm wide and tubeless ready ... I have a pair of them with black hubs, they are *sweet* wheels).

I think the key would be for you to ride the bike in the US and take it back to Canada used.

[Helene2013]

No hurry at all...but I don't want to wait 2 years either. I'm pretty compulsive when I want (and make it in the back of my mind a thing I need to survive haha) something.

I will ask my LBS on Monday how much it could cost me to get that same bike with that frameset. He has good connection with Spec office. So who knows. But it won't come cheap for sure. I just love to dream in colour and don't want my bubble burst until Monday.