Cyclo-cross Bike

[LCiolfi]

This is my first year of winter cycling. I've been road cycling for over 20 years. I'll be winter cycling on city and suburban streets in Mississauga (near Toronto Ontario Canada). Since I won't be riding on trails, I'm going for a cyclo-cross bike. Will that be okay or should I go for a mountain bike?

Thanx

[flipped4bikes]

More than okay. I roll with a Tricross.

[Godwin]

Unless you're going to be riding mainly over ice I'd stick with a road bike. Knobby tires are for rough terrain, I've never ridden in GTA in winter but here the roads are usually kept fairly clean but if anything they are usually slicker in winter. You may want to consider fixed for your relatively flat terrain.

[badhat]

another tricross here

great winter commuter.

i'm even considering buying the singlespeed tricross and keeping my snow studs on it for really nasty days

[pinkrobe]

I converted a mtn bike to a 700C CX SS bike. As long I keep the tires from popping off, it's a very good winter ride.

[tsl]

Smart-***** answer: Unless they've risen with the value of the Loonie, last I checked there aren't any mountains in TO. Plenty of roads though. So why would you need an MTB?

Serious answer: For those of us who prefer road bikes to MTBs, I think CX bikes are just about perfect for urban commute duty and foul weather. It's hard for me to explain, but the fairly minor geometry changes are just enough to make me pick my CX bike over my roadie for around town. I like the handling better in traffic and the extra cm or two of front-end height helps too. I still prefer my roadie for open road riding, BTW, but if I could have only one bike, a CX bike would be it.

Three or four other roadies I ride with have come to the same conclusion, and have switched from MTB to CX for their commute rigs. Specialized Tricross seems to be most popular on this side of the lake, closely followed by the LeMond and Trek offerings.

I like the flexibility in tire choices CX bikes provide. I run 28mm road tires in the good weather, switching to 35mm studded snows for below freezing. I keep a set of CX tires around for occasional off-road forays and in-between days like today, where we're supposed to get snow, but the temps should stay above freezing. The CX tires are only a 50 grams more than my road tires, but only 40% of the weight of the snows.

[jmaley]

I just picked up a Kona Jake the Snake to use as a winter commuting bike. I am in the process of switching it over to singlespeed.

[rankin116]

I wish I had a CX bike for my commute, especially one with disc brakes. That is the next major purchase for sure.

[dpr]

To the OP. You might be interested to look at the two threads I made in my research for a winter training / touring bike. I suspect alot of our criteria match. Wide tires, fenders, atleast a rear rack and ideally a front disc brake.

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=364915

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=364914

[PeteFromMke]

I just started using my new modified Bianchi Roger CX and I think it's perfect for urban winter cycling. Rugged for the snow and ice. It has disc brakes and I added a 9-speed internal hub on the rear. When the snow is too deep, I can just throw it on my shoulder and carry it. I did add fenders too -- the roads get pretty wet and messy.