Cyclocross - Why my CX bike is my best bike

I usually keep my Soma Double Cross off the road in winter but had the chance to ride it this week. I also have a Ti road bike and two vintage bikes. They are all substantual bikes, but the CX is the best; Why?

It fits the best of all my bikes. It’s about 98% as fast as my Ti road bike. It shifts intuitively and has well spaced gears across a huge range. It’s has the smoothest ride. It’s the bike I ride most often. It’s the best bike for a 200k event. It is the most versatile bike and can be taken off-road. It can carry light loads as a commuter.

Being back on this bike made me feel confident again. I can totally trust that bike. Zero issues in 8000 miles of riding. I trust that bike with my life, and it has transformed my physical fitness.

Is it wrong to love a bike?

http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll210/wildcat-bucket/Somka2x2009.jpg

I know exactly what you mean. I've finally got my stable down to 2 bikes. 1 nice steel road bike (Bianchi EV Boron) and a nice titanium cyclocross do-it-all bike. Like you I've found that it's not too much slower than my road bike, but can do so much more. Here in Oregon more than half the year is rainy so this cross bike gets a majority of the miles out of the two. It's also my choice of bike for large mountain passes since it's got a very low geared triple and disc brakes. Rack mounts as well which opens up all sorts of other adventures.

I recently started exploring dirt/fire roads and have found a whole new world. Put some 35 cross tires on it and I can tackle anything my body can handle.

Not many snobby elitist cyclists here I've found but I would dare any of them to keep up with me when I take that dirt road to the right......

I can relate. I own a Kona Major Jake, Specialized Tarmac Pro, Giant TCR0, a 1982 Peugeot and two mountain bikes. The MJ is the overall favorite by a long shot.

My Reasoning:
1) Commuting is a core part of my cycling experience and though I love to commute on my other bikes, the MJ is by far the most versatile for the speed. Fenders? NO PROBLEM! Knobbies? NO PROBLEM! Studded Tires? NO PROBLEM! Fast road racing tires? NO PROBLEM! Lit up like Christmas? NO PROBLEM!

2) I live to go on rambling, off/on road rides (my favorite is a 105 mile [60 mi on-45 mi off] circle from Burley ID through Southern Idaho's City of Rocks). I have found that with a pair or inverted tread tires, I can ride my MJ just about anywhere (including snow covered trails) and give up very little speed compared to an MTB with knobbies.

3) The MJ is just about as fast as my road bikes and that gap almost disappears when I compare apples to apples by putting my "race" wheels on the MJ.

4) The MJ with 25c tires is almost as comfortable as my carbon tarmac

5) The only racing that I LOVE to do is cx: good luck doing that on the tarmac or TCR!

6) There is something about a cx bike that makes it ok to have a small scratch or even little ding here and there: they do not seem to psychologically diminish the bikes performance as they do for a dainty road bike.

I still usually reach for the Road bikes when I am out with the hammerheads but there is no question about it: If I could only have one bike, it would be a performance oriented cx bike.

I have to agree. I have a Kona Rad Jake (Major Jake) and have to say it has quickly become my favorite bike. The comfort, speed, handling and simplicity. I love it. It's not even tricked/tweeked out like my MTB's. This bike sees the majority of my mileage now.

:)

BTW, that Soma IS SWEET.

I just recently went from a 48cm 2006 Redline conquest Pro w/ Ultegra (keep in mind I am 5'11" a 48cm was just a tad small :D ) to two bikes:

Road: 2010 Aerocat w/ SRAM Force 56cm

CX: 2011 Redline Conquest Pro 56cm built with full Rival

There is nothing I love more then riding my new Redline. Mind you the Aerocat hasn't seen the road but as far as I am concerned my Redline is truly my "best bike". For me it is functionality, feel, speed, handling, everything just feels perfect. And while many people tell me that toe overlap is not something to worry about, I am a city commuter, I like being able to do bike stands, toe overlap = PITA bike stands. Best of all worlds as far as I care.

This thread is making me feel even better about my decision to buy a third CX bike (Major Jake) instead of a true roadie. :)

My stable now looks like this:

"Road" bike/nice weather commuter: 2009 Surly Cross Check
Winter/rain commuter: 2008 Kona Jake with front disc brakes
CX race bike: 2008 Kona Major Jake
Family/camping bike: 1989 Specialized RockHopper


Now I just need to figure out which one of these will work best for short track MTB racing. If it's not the RockHopper, I might put drop bars and cantis on that. ;)

This thread is making me feel even better about my decision to buy a third CX bike (Major Jake) instead of a true roadie. :)

My stable now looks like this:

"Road" bike/nice weather commuter: 2009 Surly Cross Check
Winter/rain commuter: 2008 Kona Jake with front disc brakes
CX race bike: 2008 Kona Major Jake
Family/camping bike: 1989 Specialized RockHopper


Now I just need to figure out which one of these will work best for short track MTB racing. If it's not the RockHopper, I might put drop bars and cantis on that. ;)


LOL, I just pulled the trigger on my 2nd Kona yesterday (2010 JTS). It will become my new commuter/pit bike.

I like my Redline Conquest Team. It's older but feels the best due to the way the geometry is. Really fits like a glove. I'm now riding so much that i think my fit is changing and I'll be flipping the stem down and raising the seatpost just a bit to really dial it in. I am riding on heavy wheels and heavier touring tires which slow me down a tad on weekend group rides but soon I'll swap wheelsets to my lighter roadie setup and I know it'll really come alive then.
I agree about toe overlap though, this bike has a bit of overlap and with fenders it can get really annoying.

191320After flatting last winter from a sharp sand spicule on my skinny-tire bike, and thoughts of a lot of roadcrew sand dumping again this winter, not to mention noticeable street and road deterioration, I decided to test-ride some CX bikes. A Crux caught my eye. I test-rode it. Aah, this is niice. Then I talked my wife into test-riding a smaller one, overcoming her reticence to ride a drop-bar bike for the first time in her life. She got on it in the parking lot and disappeared. Came back with a big gleam on her face. So we got each other his and hers Christmas presents.

We rode some hills around Sonoma, crossed the Golden Gate, and ended up touring a dog park. Then I did the bike trail from Marina to Pacific Grove. Back home, we've had weather ranging from -17 F to 68. Been riding on the warmer days. I'm not worried about riding in the road sand or hitting potholes.

http://www.bikeforums.net/images/attach/jpg.gif

You have a look on your face like "look at those poor bastards behind me...."

That crux is a fine looking bike!

Thanks Sawtooth. I'm agreeing with Barretscv. CX is really good for conditions that would be too harsh on a road bike, but you don't really need an MTB, and with CX you can go faster than on an MTB.

Stock brakes on the Crux Expert, not that good. My wife noticed this on hers too. I'll work on this. The frame is good.

I actually crashed mine, not the bike's fault, I hand tightened my pedals, sans wrench, and had pedal breakaway. Oops, had to get a new handlebar, the front wheel slipped out of its holding nubs, the front brake pads went whacko. I had to fix things, It worked out fine. I really want to take classes at United Bicycle Institute in Ashland Oregon. Can anybody comment on this school?

Eclectus, I tried my best to get canti brakes to work well, but the best I could get was fair. Even with some fancy cool stop pads. I switched to mini-v brakes and was quite pleased with them. You can change them out for probably no more than about $30-40.

knobster, that's a great recommendation.

knobster, that's a great recommendation.

A lot of people get good results from mini-vees, but try fitting a fork mounted canti hanger first. It almost always works - at least with metal forks.

These bikes come with them as standard equipment. My 2010 Tricross had them and they did work better than my other Tricross that didn't have it, but were still poor compared to the mini-v brakes.

Check it out in this photo:

http://s7d5.scene7.com/is/image/Specialized/8146?$Display$

These bikes come with them as standard equipment. My 2010 Tricross had them and they did work better than my other Tricross that didn't have it, but were still poor compared to the mini-v brakes.

Yes, but the Tricross fork is about the worst possible case for fitting a canti hanger - the Tricross has been notorious for front brake problems precisely because of its cool-looking but problematic fork. The Tricross is a bike that I'd tell someone only to buy if they were willing to fit mini-vees or TAs. (That's a stunningly pretty bike, btw.)

Otoh, fitting a canti hanger to my old Kona MTB with its utterly rigid Project Two fork produced cantis that felt like hydraulic brakes - the stopping power and modulation were good before but amazing afterwards.

If in doubt I'd always a canti hanger before trying mini-vees. It's cheaper, easier, and allows you to set the pads for wider rim clearance - which is why mini-vees aren't fitted in the first place. And if your fork isn't a problematic one I think the result will be superior - I've never had vees that modulate as well as good cantis.

Oops - re-post!

Yes, but the Tricross fork is about the worst possible case for fitting a canti hanger - the Tricross has been notorious for front brake problems precisely because of its cool-looking but problematic fork. The Tricross is a bike that I'd tell someone only to buy if they were willing to fit mini-vees or TAs. (That's a stunningly pretty bike, btw.)

Otoh, fitting a canti hanger to my old Kona MTB with its utterly rigid Project Two fork produced cantis that felt like hydraulic brakes - the stopping power and modulation were good before but amazing afterwards.

If in doubt I'd always a canti hanger before trying mini-vees. It's cheaper, easier, and allows you to set the pads for wider rim clearance - which is why mini-vees aren't fitted in the first place. And if your fork isn't a problematic one I think the result will be superior - I've never had vees that modulate as well as good cantis.

I don't know... I've owned 4 Tricross's of different levels and haven't had the first problem with fork shudder on any of them. Maybe I had my brakes setup incorrectly which prevented them from applying the proper amount of force to the wheels, but I've heard of this issue so many times and had no idea what it was. I did try mini-v's and discovered they were much better but it was only because of the poor performance of the canti brakes. Even then, the only time I had issues with canti's was on long, steep decents. Normal duty they worked well enough.

That being said, I finally decided to get a bike without canti's.

http://i832.photobucket.com/albums/zz242/rchandler6473/P1000833.jpg

I don't know... I've owned 4 Tricross's of different levels and haven't had the first problem with fork shudder on any of them. Maybe I had my brakes setup incorrectly which prevented them from applying the proper amount of force to the wheels, but I've heard of this issue so many times and had no idea what it was. I did try mini-v's and discovered they were much better but it was only because of the poor performance of the canti brakes. Even then, the only time I had issues with canti's was on long, steep decents. Normal duty they worked well enough.

I suspect that the reason you weren't getting shudder was that your brakes were so badly set up that they weren't generating enough force - perhaps because of a fork problem. Because dozens of net reports say that a Tricross fork *will* shudder with cantis, and the mechanism is well understood:

The shudder is (most likely) caused by the fork flexing which slackens the cable, the fork rebounds which tightens the cable which causes the fork to flex which slackens the cable, etc.
Placing the hanger lower reduces the shudder.

Correctly set up with a hanger, cantis *do* produce enormous amounts of braking power - and set up is easy if you follow the set up threads posted here in the past. Because a hanger is cheap, easy and maintains the versatility of cantis, I'd always try it first before mini-vees - which don't always produce a happy outcome because of their low rim clearance.

Can't argue with that meanwhile.

Barrettscv, do you do any off roading with your Soma? Wondering how well the frame resists scratches. I've taken mine on dirt roads a couple of times, but haven't had it very long to know yet. My Tricross was getting dinged up pretty good by rocks so I quit riding it on those roads and decided to get a Ti bike instead.

Can't argue with that meanwhile.

Barrettscv, do you do any off roading with your Soma? Wondering how well the frame resists scratches. I've taken mine on dirt roads a couple of times, but haven't had it very long to know yet. My Tricross was getting dinged up pretty good by rocks so I quit riding it on those roads and decided to get a Ti bike instead.

I've done some gravel trail riding using 700x28 slicks. The bike is passable as long as the path is firm. Softer gravel would need wider tires. The paint is good considering the price point. A few spots are showing after 8000 miles of use.

Michael

Oh that's steel right? I was thinking it was Ti. It looks like Ti.

Oh that's steel right? I was thinking it was Ti. It looks like Ti.

Steel: http://www.somafab.com/dcdc.html

Can't argue with that meanwhile.

Yes - we're agreed that either a canti hanger or mini-vees should fix any decent cross bike up. The question is why don't manufacturers universally fit one or the other? Hangers are dirt cheap and better braking would sell bikes on test rides - why not fit them? Because the manufacturers must be losing some sales to screeching brakes, fork judder, and poor braking - surely?

What bars are you running on the Soma Barrettscv?

What bars are you running on the Soma Barrettscv?

FSA Wing Pro Compact Alloy Handlebar

Yes - we're agreed that either a canti hanger or mini-vees should fix any decent cross bike up. The question is why don't manufacturers universally fit one or the other? Hangers are dirt cheap and better braking would sell bikes on test rides - why not fit them? Because the manufacturers must be losing some sales to screeching brakes, fork judder, and poor braking - surely?

Can't comment on other manufacturers, but Specialized did change one of their models to mini-v (sport model I think) since it would be used mainly by commuters while their comp and higher level now has the hanger since most people that race cross want canti's for mud clearance. Also, as you mentioned their poorly designed fork, the crux now has a newly designed fork. I haven't heard if it helps with the chatter though.

Seems that Specialized pays attention to their customers complaints and makes changes accordingly, sometimes too often. The Tricross changed so often, that you had to really look over the specs from year to year since they were almost always different.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kFFsK9uidAo/S8jQNlXLCSI/AAAAAAAACHw/z509TN3gxH8/s400/Ti_X_Racer_900px_1.jpg

It's an Indy Fab

It's custom

It's mine

Eat my rubber

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kFFsK9uidAo/S8jQNlXLCSI/AAAAAAAACHw/z509TN3gxH8/s400/Ti_X_Racer_900px_1.jpg

It's an Indy Fab

It's custom

It's mine

Eat my rubber

Thats one big bike! Ti?

Can't comment on other manufacturers, but Specialized did change one of their models to mini-v (sport model I think) since it would be used mainly by commuters while their comp and higher level now has the hanger since most people that race cross want canti's for mud clearance. Also, as you mentioned their poorly designed fork, the crux now has a newly designed fork. I haven't heard if it helps with the chatter though.

Seems that Specialized pays attention to their customers complaints and makes changes accordingly, sometimes too often. The Tricross changed so often, that you had to really look over the specs from year to year since they were almost always different.

My more cynical take is that Specialized like to make a lot of obvious changes so that they can sell new bikes. Which goes with junk technology like zertz inserts. Specialized are the most marketing oriented company in the industry that invented planned obsolescence. That doesn't mean that their bikes are bad - they employ a lot of excellent engineers - just that you have to watch them.

Realistically, if Specialized were really concerned with fork chatter - as they should be - they'd have fixed the problem by now.

I can see your point and I personally don't care for all the changes that they made in the components verses trying to redesign the fork to help eliminate this chatter issue. They could have easily used someone elses fork to help eliminate this and provide a much lighter fork.

This fork chatter debate is becoming a major thread hijack...

Sorry, let me get myself back on topic.

For me, I don't like having a bunch of different bikes. Each one specialized (no pun intended) to each type of riding. The same can be said looking at the individual bike. For about 5 years I've been looking for something that fit all my needs and has enough versatility to do the different types of riding I like to do. Cyclocross bikes fit that need for me, but even further, a bike that could handle various other configurations along with still being a fun ride on the road. A bike like the Soma DC really fits that need as well as my Airborne Carpe Diem. Can't speak for the Soma, but my Airborne is still and very comfortable to ride. Disc brakes are awesome!

Barrettscv, ever entertain the idea of changing your Soma to disc?

Sorry, let me get myself back on topic.

Barrettscv, ever entertain the idea of changing your Soma to disc?

Hi,

Yes, and I may do so next fall. While I have been putting a ton of miles on the Soma, it has been a dry weather road bike. So, disc brakes have not been needed.

I may convert the Soma to a winter bike next fall. I would like to have a bike with studded tires and discs. I would need to change the fork and wheelset along with the brakes, so it would be a bit costly.

Cheers,

Michael

Yep, no doubt. Mine came with canti's. I changed out the wheels for a set of Mavic Speedcity wheels. Nice wheels. Used a set of Avid BB7's with 160mm discs. I think the whole thing cost me about $300 to convert.

I live in Portland so if I don't ride in the rain, that means only about 3-4 months a year of riding. Plus the discs help a lot on long mountain decents.

Yep, no doubt. Mine came with canti's. I changed out the wheels for a set of Mavic Speedcity wheels. Nice wheels. Used a set of Avid BB7's with 160mm discs. I think the whole thing cost me about $300 to convert.

I live in Portland so if I don't ride in the rain, that means only about 3-4 months a year of riding. Plus the discs help a lot on long mountain decents.

Portland requires disc brakes far more than Chicago. I have a vintage road bike with fenders, this has been my rain bike.

Portland requires disc brakes far more than Chicago. I have a vintage road bike with fenders, this has been my rain bike.

I bought a used bike out of Seattle. The brake surface on the Xaero Lites that came on it was so concave I immediately had to retire them.

I hardly touch my brakes. I have 8000 miles on the bike, and the pads and rims look new.

Sorry to hear that. For me, I wear them both out in a couple of years due to the many mountains around here. I worry about safety with rim brakes as they heat up the wheel and could cause a blow out and also the poor performance of rim brakes when it's wet and I'm going down those same mountains....

Thats one big bike! Ti?

Yup Ti. With Paul Racer brakes so no chatter either.

Sorry to hear that. For me, I wear them both out in a couple of years due to the many mountains around here. I worry about safety with rim brakes as they heat up the wheel and could cause a blow out and also the poor performance of rim brakes when it's wet and I'm going down those same mountains....

You've tried Kool Stop Salmon pads? How Swiss Stop Greens? Obviously discs are best, but some pads are better than others.

+1 Kool Stops