Cyclocross - Custom cyclocross bike what would yours have/be like........

Hey all I have been looking for a new bike for about a month or so. Being that I have only rode mtb's before now I was looking into road bikes and found out about cyclocross bikes. Now that I am set on the type of bike I am having trouble finding one with all the features I want and figured I would see first what other would have for their ideal cyclobike and also if anyone has an recomendations for my ideal bike.
1. either aluminum, carbon, or titanium frame
2. carbon fork
3. internal cable routing fully housed
4. disc brakes
5. decent group set such as 105 or apex
6. and of course a sub 2k price

Now that I've described it does anyone have a match? Also I would love to hear what some of you all would like a "custom" cyclocross bike to have?

1. Aluminum Frame
2. Carbon Fork
3. Internal Cable Routing
4. Disc Brakes
5. Dura-Ace group set
6. Mainly Black with blue and white pattern/lines/etc design (like Kona JTS 2011 model)
7. Sloping Frame
8. Eyelets in case of touring and commuting
9. Under $4.5k (Under 450k yen)
10. Allows up to 45mm width tire
11. Under 8.5 kg

It's all about wheels and tires.

Hey all I have been looking for a new bike for about a month or so. Being that I have only rode mtb's before now I was looking into road bikes and found out about cyclocross bikes. Now that I am set on the type of bike I am having trouble finding one with all the features I want and figured I would see first what other would have for their ideal cyclobike and also if anyone has an recomendations for my ideal bike.
1. either aluminum, carbon, or titanium frame
2. carbon fork
3. internal cable routing fully housed
4. disc brakes
5. decent group set such as 105 or apex
6. and of course a sub 2k price

Now that I've described it does anyone have a match? Also I would love to hear what some of you all would like a "custom" cyclocross bike to have?

The internal cable routing with disc at that pricepoint is tough to find. If you give up on the internal cable routing, several models come to mind.

I have internal cable routing on my road bike, It's a great feature.

It's all about wheels and tires.

...and the gearing...

The internal cable routing with disc at that pricepoint is tough to find. If you give up on the internal cable routing, several models come to mind.

+1

The Airbourne Delta was the first one I thought of. Although if you're thinking of using this as a commuter/utility bike, the Airbourne may not have eyelets for fenders.

My list would look a lot like yours.
1. either aluminum, steel, carbon, or titanium frame
2. carbon fork
3. Hydraulic disc brakes (coming soon!)
4. decent group set such as Tiagra or apex
5. Sub 2k price

I'm going to have to wait a year or two for number 3, and even then it won't meet the fifth criteria. If I were going with mechanical disc brakes, I would definitely want BB7's.

Mondo - what do want to do with the bike - race? dirt roads/light trail riding? commute? do you ride aggressively? those are the some of the questions that should determine features and help guide your decision. what is dictating your preference for features 1-4?

Steel

No braze-ons or water bottle bolts.

Low BB, race geo.

Threaded BB shell.

Canti mounts only.

1x10 Campy drivetrain.

1500g tubies.

590mm VTT
190mm headtube
430mm chainstays
600mm seatmast
72.5 degree seat and head tube angles
132.5 dropout spacing
70mm BB drop
True Temper OX for 220 LBS. of rider and 40 LBS of load
Canti mounts on the seatstays and disc mounts on the chainstays
rack & fender mounts
Ultegra 3x10 drivetrain
Room for 700x40 Schwalbe tires
Three wheelsets: HED Stinger 6 Flamme Rouge for tubular tires, HED Ardennes SL Stallion build, Velocity Dyad/Shimano touring build

titanium frame, carbon fork
mech. disc brakes - BB7s
105 or preferably Ultegra drivetrain
135mm rear spacing
Wide gearing ~30s-110s gear inches without using a triple. Probably a 48/34 upfront or similar.
Can take wide tires. 45mm would be nice, 35mm doable.
Cable routing - either above top tube or internal
Eyelets for optional rear rack, ideally. i don't really need full fenders so having fender mounts doesn't matter too much - a seatpost rear fender and downtube splash guard are fine.
Under 20 lbs

This wouldn't really be for riding CX, mostly just a great all-round use bike. I love my road bike but it's not quite as versatile as I'd like.

The Lynskey Cooper CX is close to it but I can't justify the $.

Denver~Boulder , Go shopping ..


Kiss off #6 and Moots in Colorado will build a posh Ti frame for you.

I have a Pinarello I got when the AlAn was stripped and sold.
It's steel frame and fork.. Dusty since I am old and never was competitive.

the transportation to the events was too expensive as well

Fantasy and nostalgia ?

I liked the ones Keith Bontrager built in Santa Cruz , before he became
a bought brand name of Trek Corp.

the Bolt together Switch Blade fork was clever. the dawn of the suspension forks.
They used his crown type, at first.

Siberian Sports had a source in Russia that made a tapered blade uni-crown
fork In Titanium for them , that was a metal working challenge in itself.

Look at Salsa's Vaya. It's steel, but don't let that dissuade you. Complete bike is under your budget, and it's quite versatile.

fietsbob is correct - go to your local bike shops (There're dozens in your neck of the woods, many specializing in 'cross bikes, both custom and out of the box: Schwab, Salvagetti, etc.), and see/test what the local racers and wannabe's are riding. Steel yourself up and take the shops' abuse with the toughness 'cross demands). This is a much better approach than living vicariously through anonymous internet ne're-do-well's.

For me I would be using this bike as a all-round type bike. Mostly road and paved trails but with some dirt/gravel and potentially snow weather riding and light mtb trails. I just want a bike that is versital and can with minor changes do a little of everything. Some of the bikes I have been considering are the specialized crux and tricross (both 2012), maybe the ridley x-fire (not stock with disc brakes but can has the attachment points to upgrade). However I do not know how much the ridley x-fire goes for

fietsbob is correct - go to your local bike shops (There're dozens in your neck of the woods, many specializing in 'cross bikes, both custom and out of the box: Schwab, Salvagetti, etc.), and see/test what the local racers and wannabe's are riding. Steel yourself up and take the shops' abuse with the toughness 'cross demands). This is a much better approach than living vicariously through anonymous internet ne're-do-well's.

I would like to visit some shops that have a real selection of cyclocross bikes. I have been to roughly 5-6 shops in the past week or so but they are all general bike shops (performance, treads, westside cyclery and others) but none of the stores I have been to have more than 2-4 cyclocross bikes. If you know of any shops here in denver that would be better please let me know.

I would want a stainless steel or titanium Cross Check with a lugged frame and a few more braze-ons.

Siberian Sports had a source in Russia that made a tapered blade uni-crown
fork In Titanium for them , that was a metal working challenge in itself.

You got a link for the fork you described. I'm curious. I tried the Google but could only find info on the Sibex tubular constructed fork (a lot of which were broken, yikes). Or if you could provide some search terms (other than the ones that are already obvious) I can do the work.

Thanks,
TM

Parlee Custom CX/ENVE fork
Campy CX 11
Enve cockpit & seat post
Enve 45's on Chris king 24/28 drillling - 3 sets
Dugast tires - typhoon - rhino - and pips

My current custom cyclocross/winter commuter setup:

1. On-One Dirty Disco carbon frame
2. Avid BB7 mechanical road disc brakes and Gore Ride-On sealed cables
3. SRAM Force groupset with Chris King GXP bottom bracket (black)
4. DT Swiss RR465 rims (black) with Chris King ISO Disc hubs (black)
5. Some random FSA stuff (seatpost, handlebars, headset)
6. Fizik Arione CX saddle
7. Currently running Schwalbe Marathon Supremes (700x28) for commuting

I think it was around $3.2k USD total, purchased many of the components at different times.


Only drawback I've found so far is that there are no dropouts or fender mounts (I know, it's marketed as a cyclocross race frame), so I've been having a difficult time finding decent commuting fenders. SRAM Force is decent (I like the DoubleTap action), but I really enjoy DA 7800 that's on my old road bike, it has taken five years of abuse (almost no maintenance) and is still reliable, smooth and quiet. Can't say the same with Force.

I do not know how much the ridley x-fire goes for ..

Ridley is QBP distributed now, in the US, so ask any bike shop, with a QBP account.

I'm confused, do you want recommendations for an off-the-shelf bike that meets your criteria, or do you want suggestions for a manufacturer that will build you what you want? "Custom" and item #6 don't belong in the same thread unless you plan on building the frame yourself.

That being said....Although it's steal and doesn't have internal routing, the Spot Brand - Sprawl offers most of what you want. It would be easy enough to order just a frame and build it up to suite your budget. Spot will also do custom mods to their steal and Ti frames if you contact them directly. I think the way they have the Sprawl spec'd on their website is little over the top. It could be built much more budget oriented. I believe the Mod could also be custom ordered with accomodations for discs.

If you really want custom, I like the suggestion of contacting Moots. Again, other than #6, some of the Moots frames would get you close right off the shelf. Ti would be uber cool, and currently I don't think there are too many CX carbon bikes that offer accomadations for discs....it is comming though.

My personal list for a "custom" CX would be:
1. Titanium with carbon fork
2. Disc brakes
3. Sliding vertical dropout
4. Belt drive compatible
5. Aggressive geometry, but still have accomadations for rack, fenders, bottle cages, and clearence for 700x45c tyres.

It's all about wheels and tires. AMEN!!!!!!! that's all folks!

http://www.curtgoodrich.com/images/full/nahbs_09_sat110.jpg

frame, color, components are all perfect.

http://www.curtgoodrich.com/images/full/nahbs_09_sat110.jpg

frame, color, components are all perfect.

I watched those Goodrich team bikes the last two seasons, and I've decided they are my favorite cross machines.

Absolutely gorgeous in person, and I will buy one on the spot when made available to me.

I would like to visit some shops that have a real selection of cyclocross bikes. I have been to roughly 5-6 shops in the past week or so but they are all general bike shops (performance, treads, westside cyclery and others) but none of the stores I have been to have more than 2-4 cyclocross bikes. If you know of any shops here in denver that would be better please let me know.
Alpha bicycle company specializes in cross bikes. They are on Arapahoe just west of I-25.. I found them just last week. Ridley, surly, kona, salsa, Raleigh, niner, and I think a couple other brands. Knowledgeable and friendly', but still trying to make a sale......

Now, this is totally disregarding cost, and is probably not all that practical. Just what I imagine would be badass, with some stuff that may not exist. I wouldn't want to run my nice custom bike as a commuter.

*Columbus Zona Steel w/ carbon fork
*Fully housed cables w/ internal routing
*Similar geometry to my Crux, just optimized for myself
*1x10 SRAM Rival/Force groupset (brifters would be v-brake compatible haha)
*BB30 Bottom Bracket
*Paul Motolite Brakes
*3 Zipp 303 Tubular Wheelsets w/ Michelin Mud for wet stuff, Challengo Grifo XS for dry stuff, and Specialized Tracer for the pit wheels (these are pretty good all-around tires, imho)

I kinda wish CX had done with their rules what Keirin did. The market would still be friendly to steel and lugs if it weren't driven by amateur riders wanting to emulate the AL/Carbon/TI/whateva pro setups.

Lugged frameset with lugged, threaded straight-blade fork. Horizontal TT. 55cm c-t, 54cm c-c. I hate that so many framebuilders reverse these two measurements and you get stretched out over the frame as a result.

Some kind of quill stem whose front entry clamp that accepts a 31.6 bar so I can use my Shamano compact. Best bar ever because of the reach. Salsa Poco is #2 but they don't come in silver.

Campagnolo 8-speed Ergo with extra parts to replace everything. Everything else seems to be a pain to match unless you buy it all new and then you'll just have to replace it in a couple of years. Might be better to just have friction Bar-cons and learn to use them, so upgrading every five or six years doesn't have to happen. New Campy cantis as well.

Wheeles and tires- TBD.

+1

The Airbourne Delta was the first one I thought of. Although if you're thinking of using this as a commuter/utility bike, the Airbourne may not have eyelets for fenders.

My list would look a lot like yours.
1. either aluminum, steel, carbon, or titanium frame
2. carbon fork
3. Hydraulic disc brakes (coming soon!)
4. decent group set such as Tiagra or apex
5. Sub 2k price

I'm going to have to wait a year or two for number 3, and even then it won't meet the fifth criteria. If I were going with mechanical disc brakes, I would definitely want BB7's.
Is Airbourne back in business? I had an Airbourne years ago and it had every braze on you can imagine and disk or canti lever mounts. I really wish I never sold that bike it was awesome, except for one reason, it was a compact frame.

If I could have a custom bike it would be a Richard Sachs, full Campy... Dream on.

All Ti frame and fork because there is no corrosion issue ..
and resilient for crashing, running off the course, etc.
.. double-shielded sealed bearings, that keep water,
even from pressure washers, out.

TM, Sibex went out of biz, by now.. Ya all didn't buy enough..

Now, this is totally disregarding cost, and is probably not all that practical. Just what I imagine would be badass, with some stuff that may not exist. I wouldn't want to run my nice custom bike as a commuter.

*Columbus Zona Steel w/ carbon fork
*Fully housed cables w/ internal routing
*Similar geometry to my Crux, just optimized for myself
*1x10 SRAM Rival/Force groupset (brifters would be v-brake compatible haha)
*BB30 Bottom Bracket
*Paul Motolite Brakes
*3 Zipp 303 Tubular Wheelsets w/ Michelin Mud for wet stuff, Challengo Grifo XS for dry stuff, and Specialized Tracer for the pit wheels (these are pretty good all-around tires, imho)


I know you prefaced your post with the disclaimer of impracticality, but I am compelled to point out few things

My Circle A (http://www.circleacycles.com/) is ZOna with an alpha q Cx10 fork (no longer made) ... me likey

internal routing not so good for CX because of the frequency of maintenance

gore ride on is best choice for a semi sealed system (still gotta replace though, about 1/4 the interval of standard systems)

BB30 while stiff sucks for CX, bearings foul rapidly from all the bike washing (unless you enjoy removing BB30 bearing cleaning and re-greasing twice a month or your pro and have a mechanic to worry about it for you) GXP is better from a the standpoint of maintenance and the weight and stiffness gain of the BB30 is not mind blowing enough to justify it IMO.

Muds are not made in tubular

Muds are not made in tubularThey are, if you are well-connected enough. [FWIW the Mud is a great all-rounder tread but not, ironically, for mud. Rhino or Limus for that.]
http://cdn4.media.cyclingnews.futurecdn.net/2010/11/16/2/adam_craig_tcx_mud_600.jpg

The Foundry Augur looks like just about what I'd want in a disc race bike, except I'd prefer standard BB shell.

There are a few carbon tubular 29er rims out there, I'm guessing they'd work pretty dang well for cross. So if we're talking money no option, get me a pair of those Enve jobbers on Chris King hubs, please.

Have you looked at the Uncle John frame from Planet X and building it up? The Planet X standard build doesn't fit your list but I just built my own custom build that is probably close.

1. aluminum Planet X Uncle John frame (mine is a medium, they size quite big)
2. carbon fork (I built mine with a shop4cross carbon disc fork, others are available, eg Kinesis)
3. internal cable routing fully housed - doesn't do this
4. disc brakes (frame has disc tabs and canti bosses, I built mine up with a Hope Tech V-Twin hydraulic disc converter but BB5 or 7 would be a cheaper option)
5. decent group set such as 105 or apex (mine is running a 105 groupset except for shifters which I intend to update at some point)
6. and of course a sub 2k price probably just about if you shop around for parts.

Shout if you want to know more.

if there were a carbon framed cross bike with disc brakes, thats the only bike I would ever need. I would thin the herd down to one.

if there were a carbon framed cross bike with disc brakes, thats the only bike I would ever need. I would thin the herd down to one.http://foundrycycles.com/bikes/auger

Foundry is a QBP brand, meaning you can get one through almost any bike shop. The Auger is available in two different builds, and as a frameset too AFAIK.

thanks for the link. those are some slick bikes. who knows I may end up with one.

That Auger disc model has me jonesing to replace my Fantom Cross Outlaw.

http://foundrycycles.com/bikes/auger

Foundry is a QBP brand, meaning you can get one through almost any bike shop. The Auger is available in two different builds, and as a frameset too AFAIK.


Ridley is QBP distributed now, in the US, so ask any bike shop, with a QBP account.
Ok in response to these comments not every bike shop can get these brands you have to have a contract to be a dealer of that brand which means having to sell or buy a certain quantity of that brand. I work at a coop and we get qbp and I cant order either of those brands as I have been wanting a ridley xfire or xnight really bad. Salsa is the same way as well. Now surly and all city can be bought by any shop without contract. Now with that said the you would be better at looking at ebay or going with a Chinese frame unless you want to spend 1.5-2k on the frameset alone.

My bike
carbon/Ti frame with rack mounts
NO internal cable routing( if you havent done it personally you wont realize how much of a headache it can be if a liner isnt installed at factory)
sram drivetrain{in progress with rival shifters, red crank, and rival derailurs**
AC\Alpha 340 wheelset(32 spoke 3 cross with revolution){in progress of being built**

Basically my current bike that is built on a surly CC but with a carbon or ti frame.
I would even like to keep a 8cm drop for saddle to bars which i have on my 46cm CC(love its geometery just too heavy)

1. Bigger legs
2. Bigger lungs
3. Smaller belly
4. Better technical skills

- Not picky on material. Light though.
- Disc only since that's how things are going.
- Track ends or sliders. Would be SS all or most of the time.
- Looow BB.
- Lots of nice wheels.
- I dunno?

Honestly for a race bike none of those things is super critical to me and I'd be willing to flex on most points. The specialized Crux disc with an EBB would check most boxes. Too bad I dislike the company.

They are, if you are well-connected enough. [FWIW the Mud is a great all-rounder tread but not, ironically, for mud. Rhino or Limus for that.]
http://cdn4.media.cyclingnews.futurecdn.net/2010/11/16/2/adam_craig_tcx_mud_600.jpg


yeah that's not fair, and for the record he'll glue what ever the hell tread you want, you don't really need to be well connected either anybody can send him a tread.

Steel
Couplers (I travel for work)
Disks
Room for 45C tires
Force/XO 2x10
Velocity blunt sl to dt 240s

I have everything except the frame and Waterford is currently building that for me.... Loosely based on the salsa Vaya I'm on right now. Can't wait!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/54505107@N05/6899570305/in/photostream/lightbox/

Gunnar Fastlane 56cm (True Temper OX Platinum air hardening steel frame built by Waterford Precision Cycles on January, 2012), Gunnar black with matching unicrown fork
Chris King NoThreadset headset, silver
Shimano 105 5700 grouppo in black, with exception of the shifters, which are in silver.
Ritchey Classic handlebar, stem in 110mm, and seat post, all in silver
Mavic A319 wheels (silver) 32h, hand built with DT double butted spokes, XT hubs, and brass nipples by River City Bikes, Portland, Or
Avid BB7 disk brakes
Continental Top Contact tires in 700x32c
SKS P45 Fenders in black with leather mud flaps
Cateye computer
Jandd Mountaineering rear rack, black
Stainless Steel water bottle cage
Brooks B-17 Special saddle in honey
Brooks bar tape in honey, with gel inserts