I have a Kona JTS that I bought late last year and just recently got running. It is the first bike with drop bars that I've had in at least 15 years (I'm 40) and I love it.
As I understand it, the JTS is used for CX racing. The reason I bought a CX bike was the versatility factor - I can put most any size tires on it, ride it anywhere I want to go, etc... And yes, it also looks pretty cool, to me at least.
The reason I bought this particular CX bike mostly had to do with reviews by other owners, and features. Specificially Dogboy on this forum uses one to commute, and I saw pics of his bike, and it has provisions for mounting a rear rack and fenders. The reason I bought the 2005 model was the color, but that has no real bearing on this thread.
Anyway, I think you can make a CX bike do most anything you want it to, providing you buy the right CX bike. Some have triples in front (flat here, don't need that), some have provisions for mounting fenders and a rack (some do not), etc...
I really do not believe that the way manufacturers are building CX bikes has 'watered down' the bikes at all. If you want a true competition CX bike, you can find one. If you want a 'jack of all trades' bike, you can find that too.
I could never figure out what kind of bike I wanted until I ran across CX bikes.
bkrownd
04-13-06, 12:21 AM
"fake" CX bike = a useful bike fitting the needs of the vast majority of commuters and recreational cyclists, sexed up with knobby tires so people will buy it.
it's a good thing.
Yep. "Cyclocross" bikes and "touring" bikes are more practical for Joe Public than the common road racing bikes and heavy upright ATB cruisers. Flat bar road bikes are another good all-purpose choice. Mid-sized tires, fender and rack mounts, tough wheels and components, non-carbon frames and forks, etc are practical for a variety of uses. The names are just labels. Do racing purists really get bent out of shape if their frame has fender/rack mounting eyelets?
ZachS
04-13-06, 08:36 AM
Do racing purists really get bent out of shape if their frame has fender/rack mounting eyelets?
it would seem so after lurking around the 'road cycling' forum for a while.
Ronsonic
04-13-06, 09:50 PM
Do racing purists really get bent out of shape if their frame has fender/rack mounting eyelets?
Some guys get sniffy if it has bottle cage mounts.
Myself, I'm a semi purist. It's not a purist bike, it's bottle and fender mounts, but I don't put ANYTHING on that bike. Purity of Essence. Preserve Our Essence. No speedometer, seat bag, bottle cage. Nada. Our Precious Essence!
Ron
ZachS
04-13-06, 10:14 PM
Some guys get sniffy if it has bottle cage mounts.
Myself, I'm a semi purist. It's not a purist bike, it's bottle and fender mounts, but I don't put ANYTHING on that bike. Purity of Essence. Preserve Our Essence. No speedometer, seat bag, bottle cage. Nada. Our Precious Essence!
Ron
without a bottle cage where will you put your pure grain alcohol and/or rainwater?
in a camelbak or something?
spacemodulator
04-26-06, 02:44 AM
my Felt f1x is weeping audibly in the corner, outfitted with lights, computer, seatbag, rack and Arkel tailrider, it knows that it's diluting the genre. it's sorry for the 100 miles of car-commuting it replaced last week. i'll take it outside and discipline it for it's transgression.
bkrownd
04-26-06, 03:05 AM
my Felt f1x is weeping audibly in the corner, outfitted with lights, computer, seatbag, rack and Arkel tailrider, it knows that it's diluting the genre. it's sorry for the 100 miles of car-commuting it replaced last week. i'll take it outside and discipline it for it's transgression.
Me and my fender and bag laden Jamis Nova forgive you.
gboy
04-26-06, 11:21 AM
I don't think I'm ever going back to a regular road bike now that I've been using a cyclocross bike for commuting and recreational rides since last September.
I ride the 2005 Brodie Romax (http://www.brodiebikes.com/2005/light/speed/romax/index.php) with a rack and sometimes with panniers. I commuted with the 35c's during winter and have since switched back to 23c's. The gearing is perfect for any amount of terrain, from relatively flat London all the way up to the more rolling Oak Ridges Moraine.
bkrownd
04-26-06, 07:30 PM
=The gearing is perfect for any amount of terrain, from relatively flat London all the way up to the more rolling Oak Ridges Moraine.
:eek: Must be flat there. That gearing wouldn't cut it on baby hills in my neck of the woods.
Looks like it has disc brakes, which also torques the purists. ;)
sfcrossrider
04-27-06, 01:31 PM
I use my cross check for daily rides to work and racing. Last November I did a race in GG park. I got to the site early so i could take the rack, fenders, and other crap off my bike before the race. Some pri(k (on a "race" bike) had some cute things to say about getting a "real" bike. Needless to say, all he saw of me in the race was my firm *****.
My BIG legs, and lungs the size of a Mack truck make my bike a race bike, not the lack of fender mounts. ;)
sgtsmile
04-29-06, 02:44 PM
My dad used to joke (still does in fact) that if you want to reduce weight on your bike, eat better, train better, and dont worry about grams in your gear ;)
Anyhow, I have one of the cheaper non-purist cross bikes and LOVE it for the reasons most of you already posted. I come from a traditional road riding background - road a marinoni special throughout the 80s with campy bits all over it - and have, since 1995 on, done mostly mtn biking and, shudder, running. The cross bike was for me a great way to get back into the road riding without sacrificing the ruggedness (sp) I have come to love from my mtn bike.
gboy
04-29-06, 08:43 PM
:eek: Must be flat there. That gearing wouldn't cut it on baby hills in my neck of the woods.
Ya, it's relatively flat for the most part in all of Southern Ontario, just a difference of a few degrees here and there. I rarely use the smaller cog. When gmap pedometer has the elevation working again, I'll try and figure out the range.
bkrownd
04-30-06, 12:26 AM
The only problem with living in the flatlands...is the wind.
sgtsmile
05-01-06, 05:36 PM
Wind tell me about it. Southern Ontario is quite windy in the spring. Had a great blast the otherday when the weather was 21ish celcius and the air was dead. Spent most of it in the top 3 gears on the bike and flew. weeeeee! Sure beat slogging into what seems a perpetual headwind!
fruitless
05-03-06, 10:57 AM
So the questions are as such: Do you feel that lesser CX bikes ($1500 and under) are in danger of progressively becoming the SUVs of the bike world? How do you feel about the designs of these bikes, the riders they target, and how it affects the popularity of CX, whether it be for the better or the worse?
maybe the question should be: do you think a redline conquest pro is not a pure cyclocross bike? The SUV analogy is a poor one, SUV's are expensive and inefficient where a bike like the conquest pro will do just about anything and its almost cheaper than dirt. Is a Merckx alu-cross 4 times purer for the money? This is just another one of these two-wheeled-elitist threads, I think the marketing departments have the purists dialed-in and will always have "something" for them at an appropriate ticket price.
arctic hawk
05-03-06, 11:27 AM
maybe the question should be: do you think a redline conquest pro is not a pure cyclocross bike? The SUV analogy is a poor one, SUV's are expensive and inefficient where a bike like the conquest pro will do just about anything and its almost cheaper than dirt. Is a Merckx alu-cross 4 times purer for the money? This is just another one of these two-wheeled-elitist threads, I think the marketing departments have the purists dialed-in and will always have "something" for them at an appropriate ticket price.
I don't think I would call this an elitest thread, moreso from my point of view unless defending last place can be considered an elite cause worthy of mention :rolleyes: My cross bike "races" duathlons in summer, cross in fall (minus the water bottle cage), & in between, commuting, weekend fun rides with family & friends, .... just plain old riding. In the end, it is what you make & believe of it, irregardless of equipment level & money spent.
I have not met any true beginners like myself, virtually untrained & out there racing just for fun of the sport. Having me on the race course is like grabbing a friend who rides once a month, if that, & telling him that he's got to pick up this bike & run with it while jumping ... But I hope to one day!
:)
waytoomanybikes
05-04-06, 04:06 PM
I still haven't decided if this is a rant or just a calm observation.
Lately the cyclocross bike has become "en vogue". For road and even MTB racers, the CX bike is a must have for off-season training and racing, and has always been a high-performance machine. CX bikes were race bikes for race situations. Yet, with thier stronger than road bike, lighter than MTB characteristics, many people found CX bikes fun to ride in general, and there's nothing wrong with that. Some people race CX, some people train with CX, some people fumble around with CX, and some people create a quasi-CX in thier joyrides and commutes.
Now here's where the open discussion comes in: Lately we hear from a lot of people inquiring about CX bikes, but only or mostly for needs other than CX, namely touring, commuting, and general recreation. While there is nothing wrong with this, I am wondering if this new market segment is altering and compromising how large manufacturers design thier CX bikes. For example, while some bikes like the Bianchi Cross Concept and the Ridley CrossBow are pure race machines, lesser-priced CX bikes are now stocked with touring braze-ons, triple chainrings, lax geometry, weak components like Shimano Tiagra, and non-CX cable routing.
So the questions are as such: Do you feel that lesser CX bikes ($1500 and under) are in danger of progressively becoming the SUVs of the bike world? How do you feel about the designs of these bikes, the riders they target, and how it affects the popularity of CX, whether it be for the better or the worse?
Going back in time, the sport that has now become Cyclocross was pursued during the winter months on standard road bikes. Of course racing bikes used to have enough clearance to put wider tires on and still run under the long reach caliper brakes of the day. I can to this day take one of my vintage bikes from the '60's through '80's and put a cyclocross wheel on it.
The limitation of clearance eventually led to racers brazing cantilever bosses on their bikes - then the bike builders and team sponsors started to produce CX bikes, they were standard road geometry. The recent trend to "CX" specific bikes is just some geometry changes around the standard road bike.
If the bikes are marketed as CX and display variation son the theme - so what. There are many variation son the theme of the "road Bike" and many different price points.
I think the point is to get people riding bikes.
gregk
05-07-06, 02:58 PM
Hi, I'm new to this forum, and this discussion interests me. I've done some reasonably long solo tours the last two summers with my MTB, and after doing a lot of research on touring bikes, I came to the conclusion that what I really wanted was a cyclocross bike.
My first tour I used rear panniers and stayed in hostels while going from Edinburg to Shetland over about 3 weeks (Scottish crosswinds are fun at 40mph :). Then I did a mini tour in Maine from portland to Acadia, which was really just a training run for the BOB trailer I bought. Then last summer I did a trip, starting in Seattle, west around Olympia, up to vancouver, back to the San Juan Islands and then to Glacier NP in Montana. I used the BOB for the whole trip, suffering with the fact that my MTB (diamondback Ascent) is not very comfy.
I met a Japanese guy who was riding cross country on a cyclocross bike, and frankly, I thought it was the coolest bike I'd ever seen. It was awesome. It had everything I'd want in a bike.
So i'm the guy who will never race a cyclocross bike, but wants one anyway. And for what its worth, I need 3 chainrings. Have you guys tried hauling 70+ pounds of gear up and down route 20 in Wa without a granny gear? :) I like the fact that they fit full fenders because I ride rain or shine, snow or ice. I like the fact that I could go off-road if I want, that I can go fast with my road biking friends. I like the fact that they're built to take punishment, and that they have comfortable geometry.
I think this will be the next big thing with bikes, replacing a lot of the road bikes that commuters would have bought, and a lot of the MTBs that people know they don't really need.
And I know that the companies will always make high end ones for you guys who like to race, because they like to make money. :)
ZachS
05-07-06, 03:26 PM
you might want to consider buying a "touring" bike. it would fit your needs perfectly.
bkrownd
05-07-06, 03:33 PM
So i'm the guy who will never race a cyclocross bike, but wants one anyway. And for what its worth, I need 3 chainrings. Have you guys tried hauling 70+ pounds of gear up and down route 20 in Wa without a granny gear? :) I like the fact that they fit full fenders because I ride rain or shine, snow or ice. I like the fact that I could go off-road if I want, that I can go fast with my road biking friends. I like the fact that they're built to take punishment, and that they have comfortable geometry.
I think this will be the next big thing with bikes, replacing a lot of the road bikes that commuters would have bought, and a lot of the MTBs that people know they don't really need.
Don't get too excited - you can't really go off-road on a "cyclocross" bike. You need an appropriate mountain bike if you want to really go off-road.
cooker
05-07-06, 03:44 PM
my Felt f1x is weeping audibly in the corner, outfitted with lights, computer, seatbag, rack and Arkel tailrider, it knows that it's diluting the genre. it's sorry for the 100 miles of car-commuting it replaced last week. i'll take it outside and discipline it for it's transgression.
Not at all...like a Labrador Retriever proud to be a seeing-eye dog, it is perfectly happy working a lot of the time. Just remember to reward it by letting it out to play once in a while.
slagjumper
05-10-06, 02:54 PM
I am going to put together a CX bike soon. In looking at the offerings, I noticed that it is a very small niche market. In a recent buyers guide, there are only 3 CX bikes listed. For the CX race heads, I can see a bit of aggravation with the major manufacturers offering all the braze ons and the triple on thier CX machines. I guess it’ll make it easier to spot the posers, like me.
jhota
05-11-06, 06:22 PM
Don't get too excited - you can't really go off-road on a "cyclocross" bike. You need an appropriate mountain bike if you want to really go off-road.
what?!?
so what am i doing most weekends?
I am going to put together a CX bike soon. In looking at the offerings, I noticed that it is a very small niche market. In a recent buyers guide, there are only 3 CX bikes listed. For the CX race heads, I can see a bit of aggravation with the major manufacturers offering all the braze ons and the triple on thier CX machines. I guess it’ll make it easier to spot the posers, like me.
just because there were only three bikes in the "buyer's guide" you looked at, it doesn't mean it's a small market. niche, maybe. but not small. my personal favorite bike company, Bianchi, offers five different CX models. Trek offers one. Indy Fab offers two. Lemond offers two. Cannondale has a couple. i think Kona makes one. Redline has four. Specialized has three. Salsa has one as well.
so there are lots of bikes and frames to choose from. they aren't all the same - some are less "pure" than others - but there are lots out there.
roysmack
06-08-07, 12:18 PM
I think that CX bikes have developed as a response to the awful street quality we see in most cities. Its difficult and dangerous to ride a road bike on these streets but it also quite tedious to pedal a mtn bike around. Hence, a nice middle ground, the CX. I see a Felt F1x as the Audi A4 quattro of the biking world. It does everything you ask it to!!!
jfmckenna
06-08-07, 01:36 PM
I don't see them as SUV's at all. I think people have just adopted a niche for them. Cyclocross in and of it's self is a sport. So a cyclocross bike is a bike designed for the sport of cyclocross. But just like a lot of messengers have adopted the track bikes as a tool for their job many folks have adopted the versatility of a cross bike to suit their needs.
I think too that marketing these bikes for what ever reason has helped in the dramatic increase in attendance at cyclocross events in the U.S.
dzinehaus
06-09-07, 08:36 AM
I still haven't decided if this is a rant or just a calm observation.
Lately the cyclocross bike has become "en vogue"....
...I am wondering if this new market segment is altering and compromising how large manufacturers design thier CX bikes.
...while some bikes like the Bianchi Cross Concept and the Ridley CrossBow are pure race machines, lesser-priced CX bikes are now stocked with touring braze-ons, triple chainrings, lax geometry, weak components like Shimano Tiagra, and non-CX cable routing.
...Do you feel that lesser CX bikes ($1500 and under) are in danger of progressively becoming the SUVs of the bike world? How do you feel about the designs of these bikes, the riders they target, and how it affects the popularity of CX, whether it be for the better or the worse?
I got into cross because of my biking wants/needs, and a guy at my LBS told me I should check it out.
My bike needs were these:
'I wanted a bike that wasnt nescessarily a MTB, but was as sturdy as one. I wanted one that could be used as a commuter, but I could pound the **** out of cause im not generally nice with bikes. I wanted it affordable and something I can take on firetrails whenever I see one. Most importantly I want it to be upgradable for later because I want to use it to train / get in better shape.'
Everyone at the LBS around my area said the same thing. Even bigger they said 'hell if you can't afford one of our (keywords) 'made for cross' bikes you can do what the original riders back in the day did and take a sturdy steel frame and put on decent components.'
The thing is, CX still remains somewhat of an underground cyclist club. For those like me that don't have a full budget to blow on a Ridley or a Bianchi, building is the way to go. Personally I find it way more satisfying learning and building with my own hands. It makes me feel closer to my machine.
in regards to being 'En Vogue' I have a saying on stuff like that... I call it NATURAL FILTRATION. Let all the bull**** be naturally be filtered by itself. Those who choose to continue CX will not be filtered, those who don't will have a nice pricey CX bike to use as a road bike. Generally speaking to them a quick change of tires and seat position and a CX is now a Roadie.
renhack
06-09-07, 03:45 PM
i fail to get the point of this conversation. It's like saying walmart dillutes the need for entry level mountain bikes because they sell cheap full suspension crap bikes. Who cares. Where there is a need there will always be a market that fills that need.
We dont have races around here. I'm one of those poser cx'rs commuting to work and poaching the local golfcourses on my overpriced 17lb empella. Guess what? Its fun as hell and i've managed to convert a few others to the cx side as well. Do we race? Nope, but we dump money into a market that barely existed around here. Do some of us have crappier bikes than others? Yep. Does it lessen the experience? nope.
The only effect I see happening is more exposure to the sport overall. My local lbs has a Tri Cross and a Poprad sitting on the floor right now along with a decent selection of tires to go with it. They would have never dreamed of stocking either of those a year ago. I guess if more people keep buying these "suv's" we might have some local racing after all. :)
dzinehaus
06-09-07, 05:30 PM
...We dont have races around here. I'm one of those poser cx'rs commuting to work and poaching the local golfcourses on my overpriced 17lb empella. Guess what? Its fun as hell and i've managed to convert a few others to the cx side as well....
The only effect I see happening is more exposure to the sport overall. My local lbs has a Tri Cross and a Poprad sitting on the floor right now along with a decent selection of tires to go with it. They would have never dreamed of stocking either of those a year ago. I guess if more people keep buying these "suv's" we might have some local racing after all. :)
HERE HERE !!!
hell man, I'm slowly finding people in my area to ride with. If all goes well I 'm gonna see if my lady wants to do cross also, just cause she's prolly crazier than I am (prolly why we mesh so well)!!!
Psydotek
06-09-07, 08:48 PM
Since someone mentioned the Subaru Impreza earlier...
My bike is set up for commuter duty, but i do have a set of wheels with CX tires waiting to be used...
dzinehaus
06-10-07, 03:43 AM
ohhhh sexxxxxy!!!
I love imprezas
cujet
06-10-07, 10:19 AM
Well, I read this forum, because my bike is a Habanero cyclocross frame. Sure I set it up as a play bike, but it fits no other category on this forum.
Now I feel bad for hanging out here:(
renhack
06-11-07, 07:58 AM
we need another forum category maybe. We'll keep Cyclocross, then under it add the new category called "No really, CYCLOCROSS".
dirtyphotons
06-11-07, 08:17 AM
Well, I read this forum, because my bike is a Habanero cyclocross frame. Sure I set it up as a play bike, but it fits no other category on this forum.
Now I feel bad for hanging out here:(
don't. lots of people on here have little or no racing experience.
and even those who do spend less than one percent of their saddle time actually racing. the rest of it is having fun, like you do. at least i'd hope they are.
i_r_beej
06-11-07, 01:44 PM
Remember the roots of CX: heavy clunker road bikes that had to be carried as often as they were ridden.
I think that purpose-built CX bikes, while "sexy" to look at actually run counter to the original spirit of cyclocross which was more "run what ya brung" than it is today.
I love LOVE cyclocross. The races today are what mountain bike races in the eighties and early nineties use to be. FUN! BEER SOAKED! Crazy cobbled-together contraptions are OKAY!
I wouldn't buy a CX bike without bottle cage bosses and double chainrings that limited my riding to races only. I currently ride my CX bike all kids of places off-road. I've even raced it in MTB races (and gotten much eye-rolling from the MTB riders! Pfft!). I LIKE to ride my CX bike anywhere and everywhere. Come race season, the bottle cage comes off and plastic screws replace the metal ones. It's certainly as race-ready as those damned expensive Ridleys and Empellas.
I think you're in danger of developing the same elitist, snobby attitude that has made road races boring and tedious social affairs where everyone seems to snicker at poor slobs who can't invest every spare penny in expensive road race bikes. It's that same mindset that injected it's smarmy attitude into mountain biking and whithered its free spirit.
Shadowcaver
06-11-07, 01:50 PM
Have had my Tricross for a while now, and have taken it on fire trails, pavement, dirt paths, up/down hills, over grassy areas, etc. It is what I wanted when I researched for a bike to fit my tastes/needs, and no plans to "cyclocross race" at this time - but fits very well my desires for a very adaptable bike. Comparing it to a Subaru, very good analogy I believe. :) [Have test drove Imprezza's, and they are high on the list if/when my beloved Celica would ever need to be replaced.]
Deanster04
06-16-07, 01:53 AM
I have an older Torelli Cross bike (Built by Guercotti) outfitted with Campy Daytona 9spd triple 26/40/50 front crankset. I use is for both offroad and road riding...I just change out the wheel set. I use road wheels with road tires for road rides and 700c 38 cross tires for a hardcore cross bike ride. I have several high end road bikes. I do love to road ride my Torelli as well. I take my Torelli when I travel to have the options for a wider range of riding. Fun, Fun, Fun,...