Cyclocross - Monster Crosser opinions and experiences?

Anyone have experience of riding a Monster? What were the down sides? Do they combine the strengths of crossers and MTBs or their weaknesses? What do people think would happen if a monster was allowed in a cross race?

(Motivation for thread: to my surprise I've found my crosser will take 45mm tyres.)

The fatter knobbies provide and take exactly what you think they would relative to a more traditional CX tire... tons of traction, tons of rolling resistance, and some nice cush in rougher spots. They are not, IMO, a MTB replacement option (though you'll be surprised what you're able to ride with a simple tire change), and you'll definitely feel a lot slower on hardpack and pavement.

Flared dirt drops are pretty common on these types of bikes as well... though I haven't tried all of them, I ended up moving away from my midge bar back to a Salsa Bell Lap because although the handling was much better in techy sections, I never found a comfortable position for road cruising that was equivalent to the top of the hoods on a normal road bar.

If you've already got a cross frame that can handle the meats, you can try most of this out for yourself for minimal cash outlay. The Bonty XR 1.75's (non TLR) (http://store.trekbikes.com/jump.jsp?itemID=1507&itemType=PRODUCT&path=1%2C2%2C461%2C463&iProductID=1507&bShopOnline=1) are on sale ($23 each) from Trek, and there are lots of other $15-22 tires that would fit the bill also.

I never raced my 'cross bike, but my new 'dropped' 29er is slower. Rotational weight and low gearing contribute to this. It does handle technical terrain a lot better. :thumb:

I have the option of going 1x9 too.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4009/4648502004_3991b85483_b.jpg

I think they wouldn't fair so well in a race. The unsprung weight would be too high. OTH, They look so good.

I think they wouldn't fair so well in a race. The unsprung weight would be too high.

Unsprung weight on a monster crosser would be less, surely - you might add 200g of rubber to each rim, but the degree to which the bike frame and rider were efficiently sprung would greatly increase.

I like Mijone's bike, but I think that people make too much of rotational weight. It's sort of true that weight at the rim counts double - at least for acceleration - but that's against the total system weight, ie of the bike PLUS RIDER! So you're looking at big rubber having about a 0.5-1.0% effect.

I'll check my rims in the morning - I forgot to do so before - and see if they'll take 42s.

I had a Peregrine for a while, and it was clearly too compromised for me. It could fit big knobs, but it didn't feel great on the road. Around my area, it's either road or mountain, without much gravel or in between riding. If you have lots of rough dirt roads around where you are, a monster crosser could be great.

I think fat tires could do OK on a 'cross course. Schwalbe (I think) did a rolling resistance study amongst there tires, and found that the fatter, lower pressure tires had less resistance on grassy and rough courses. Something to think about for this fall...

You can always try fat slicks. Most CX bikes will take up to 45.

And slicks are appropriate in almost all applications except CX racing.

Then get a CX specific tire.