Ok,
I was kinda set on buying a whole new bike, but what if I took my current road frame and sold it to buy a CX frame? I have a Campy Proton wheel in the rear, would that hold up to beginner CX? I'm 140lbs and don't ride harsh. Its got Campy Centaur Components which I hear is pretty good for CX. The only things I would need to buy are canti brakes, a fork with cant mounts and a CX frame/headset and tires. Is there any frame around $300? I am going to call Bianchi and see if they have any left over Axis frames.

How are the Redline Conquest frames? I see them pretty cheap.

Byron

Check out a surly cross check. its an all steel frame and fork and from what ive heard there great. and the frame set is around $400

those parts should be fine for cx, check out excelsports and cyclocrossworld for framesets, they have them fairly cheap. I'm getting a Redline Conquest Pro frameset shortly, I've done a lot of research into them and they seem to be the best for the buck, also it's kind of nice to have the option of having discs if you wanna go full out later on.