On a budget

[Dan0930]

OK I'm turning to the experts here....

I'm getting back into biking and have been reccomended to get a cross. I'll be riding a combination of trail and road with a strong bias to the road side.

My options are as follows

1. A used trek xo1- i did a search of the forums and found no definative opinions about this bike. Anyone offer any personal experience

2. A new Kona Jake - reasonably price d and it looks like i could always upgrade it

3. Redline conquest

4. Surly cross check - I don't know why but I'm strangely attracted to this bike. I checked out one at the LBS that the owner had built for himself.

Also if I get a frame and fork how much can i expect to spend on parts if i go on the Do it yourself route? I tentativly budgeted 700?

[patmidd]

I'm riding a Trek xo-1 that I rebuilt from its stock Sora to 105/Ultegra. I love it and use it as my primary road bike as well. Its stiff, excelerates like hell, and I can do almost anything I want on it. It works great for my road riding, although it is all aluminum which does give you more vibration. Also, the new version is speced with Sora STI's which shift differently than other groppos and will not work with other Shimano stuff. If you end up doing a lot of road riding you need to look at just getting a Shimano 105 setup. For components, unless you go low end and old, you'll spend more than 700 to do everything right.

[arctic hawk]

I bought a used 2001 XO-1 (the blue one) off ebay last May & love it. I commute, race CX & duathons with it. For the commute & duathlons, I have a 2nd set of wheels with road tires. Great weekend/Sunday rides too. Mine was upgraded by the previous owner to mostly 8spd Ultegra parts, RD/crank/bar con (no STI). The real funny part of it was that it was barely used, with 2 scratches on it. No big deal.
After I raced CX with..... swapped Ultegra 53/39 crank for FSA Energy Compact 50/34. much better on the climbs now with the extra little low end, moreso the rider than the bike when it comes to climbing.


I have not heard anything about the Jake but there is plenty about the JtS though. A fellow that I raced with last season (hope to race with him this season too) has a Conquest & he loves it! He is more of a roadie with a very nice road bike & the Conquest for CX for lousy weather/conditions. Another fellow had a JtS & it looked like a really sweet bike.