jbembenek

I've been commuting on a cannondale R600 road bike. I thrashed it and have it at the shop to replace almost everything at a shop that specializes in restoring old bikes and does everything much cheaper using old parts they have from other bikes. I am considering a new commuter, mainly because I am concerned about traction in winter months. Is there an ideal road tire that works well in snow/icy conditions?

I really like the cyclocross bikes I've seen. I found a 2009 Gary Fisher Presidio for 1500 (down from 2000) that is truly nice but perhaps overkill. Does anyone commute with a cyclocross, what are your thoughts on this? I've been thinking I'd wait to see if the price drops at all, what would be a good price for the gary fisher?

Seattle Forrest

I have two bikes: a CX ( Novara Element ) that I use for commuting and for anything that would have me lock up and walk away, and a road bike ( Cervelo RS ) that I go on long or fast rides with, but don't leave out of my site except at home. They won't let me take my bike inside the building at work, or I'd only have one bike.

A cyclocross bike is 80 % of a road bike, ie it's fast, handles pretty well, and is good for getting around. It's also half a mountain bike, in that you can jump curbs on them, they'll take wide tires, etc. You can leave it locked up to a bike rack, and it won't be destroyed if a messenger drops his fixie against it - this fear is why I won't lock my carbon bike up. ( That, and theft. ) A CX bike is maneuverable enough to get around in traffic in the city. And if you get one with disc brakes, which a lot have, it's wonderful in nasty weather.

Highly recommended.

Consularrider

Can't answer your first question other than to say that if I were looking at a new commuting bike, I'd probably seriously consider a cyclocross bike next time. I am a year round commuter and ride in all conditions. In answer to your question about road tires for snow/icy conditions, I think you have to look at studded tires (see the Winter Cycling forums for discussions). But, one important thing to note is that there are no narrow studded tires and your bike has to be able to take a 32 or 35 mm wide tire. That's another good reason for a cyclocross bike. I have Schwalbe Winter Marathon studded tires that I use on an old rigid MTB with 26" wheels once the temperatures regularly drop below freezing. see https://www.peterwhitecycles.com/studdedtires.asp for a good discussion of studded tires.

JPinWI

I bought a lightly used Schwinn Super Sport DBX off Craig's List this Spring. It's has been a great bike for commuting....I have a rural commute of 34 miles a day and decided at the end of last year that I should upgrade my ride from the Trek 820 MB I was using. I've got light's, fenders, rack and even a flasher flag on the DBX and it has been working great. I looked a trek XO-1 last fall but couldn't pull the trigger on the $800 the guy wanted. If you're patient CL is a great place to get a good deal on a commuter.

plodderslusk

I commute on a Focus Mares CX-bike, great bike for this task. In the wintertime I put on Nokian studded tires. I love the dual set of brakelevers and the extra robustness of the bike compared to my roadbikes. It feels a lot faster than my hardtail so as an allyear commuter this is the best choice for me.

El Gigante

You have to talk my recommendation with a grain of salt, since we barely get rain in my part of the country, much less snow - but, I don't think you could go wrong using a cross bike as a commuter. They are light, quick, but much more durable than your standard road bike. While I don't think I'll be jumping too many curbs on my Specialized Tricross Comp, it can handle the potholes, cracked asphalt, and other adventures that the street throws at you with no problems.

My bike came standard with 32 mm tires, and I believe you can go up to 38 mm. Also, many cross bikes are now coming with rack and fender mounts which makes them ideal for commuting or touring. Good luck, and let us know what you decide!!

mustang1

I commute on rb and cx. MY strong preference is to use rb as much as possible, even in rain (rb has no fenders, cx has full size fenders and rack/panniers). The cx is not as fast as rb, nor as maneuverable in tight traffic, and the brakes aren't as good either. But what the cx lacks in those areas, it makes up with the following:

1. very comfortable
2. not as fast as rb but realistically not much slower when consider stop/go traffic + light signals and cautious speeds in traffic.
3. no sweaty back with rucksack thanks to rack/panniers

I have no experience with the tires though, I only use 32mm Burroughs and have not yet ridden it in snow0like conditions.

jefferee

A lot of CX bikes make nice commuters, but I'm not sold on those paired-spoke wheels or a 10-speed drivetrain on a bike you're planning on riding in the salt and slush. Salt and grit wear out things in a hurry, and 10-speed components are expensive.

canyoneagle

+1
I was considering a cross bike, but ended up with a cross-like (i.e. similar geometry, etc) bike with an internally geared hub and belt drive (I converted a 2010 Norco Vesta to Alfine). I like it. Alot. I have a similar gear range as a compact double road bike (29-91 gear inches) - I lose the top 2-3 gears, which I couldn't care less about (I can spin up to 30mph on hills and coast if gravity pulls me faster - if I wanted to spin to 40mph I'd get a racing bike). I run 32mm slicks in fair weather and have installed 35mm cyclocross tires for winter muck.


In the price range you're looking at, consider the Civia Bryant. https://civiacycles.com/bikes/bryant/bryant_belt_alfine/

In the standard cyclocross genre, you can't go wrong with the Surly Crosscheck - either as a bike or as a frame for your own custom build - (which you could build with an IGH if you wanted).
The Soma Double Cross is pretty cool too https://www.somafab.com/frames.html as is the Vassago Fisticuff https://www.vassagocycles.com/fisticuff

For bang 4 buck, check out the options at bikesdirect.com.

I've commuted on mountain bikes, road bikes, hybrids and my current "cx-like" bike, and my current bike is my favorite thus far. I encounter hills, lots of weather, and my commute has averaged 10-15 miles each way. I enjoy the speed of a road-type bike, the comfort of 32mm tires, the sturdiness of a good frame, and the utility to accommodate fenders and a rack.

I do know that there are a number of flat-bar bikes that offer many of these traits, and are also good options, such as the Swobo Baxter, Trex Fx series, etc.

jtgotsjets

In my mind, there are two kinds of cyclocross bikes. There are race oriented ones—no rack mounts, fancy drivetrains, carbon bits—and there are stealth utility cyclocross bikes—good for racing, but plenty of "non-race" additions like rack mounts, horizontal dropouts, all-steel construction...

CCrew

I own a Fuji Cross Pro. It's my "go to" bike for my commuting and I push nearly 60 miles a day. I think the Fisher is on the high side, My Fuji just cracked $1k bought on sale at Performance, and is Ultegra components with bombproof Mavic Aksium wheels.

I run 32mm Ritchey CrossMax tires on it and absolutely love the ride. It's actually a better ride (albeit marginally slower) than my full carbon road bike. And it's eyeletted for rack and fenders.

FWIW, the Fisher Presidio is a rebadged Trex XO

ChrisENC

i use a cannondale cross bike with 28cm tires and it serves me quite well for the commute

BarracksSi

This ^^^^

What I'd consider to be a good commuter bike is pretty different from what I would use for cyclocross racing. Different enough, IMO, that it'd be hard to call it a cross bike at all -- no reason to race with a dynohub, long wheelbase and fenders, ya know.

BarracksSi

To add to my post, here are some variations on what are usually called "cyclocross":

Bianchi Volpe -- rack mounts, including pannier bosses on the fork, decent steel frame (it's what my '07 Valle will look like besides not having a dynohub). But, it's got canti brakes like most cross bikes, and routes the cables on top of the top tube to keep them out of the way when carrying on your shoulder (and even has a flattened section for comfort under the top tube near the seat tube):
https://www.bianchiusa.com/bikes/gran-fondo/volpe/

Cannondale SuperX; full carbon, might as well be a road bike if it weren't for its tire clearance and canti brakes. No rack or fender mounts of any kind. Would be plenty of fun to ride, but I'd rather carry stuff on the bike instead of on my back (which might still be possible with an Axiom or Tubus rack, but that's beside the point )
https://www.cannondale.com/usa/usaeng...ERX-SRAM-Rival

There are plenty of bikes that bridge the gap between these, but they kinda represent the ends of the "cyclocross" spectrum.

1fluffhead

I have Kona Jake the Snake I picked up used and use for commuting some days. It is great and I am glad I got it. I got it for $650 about 2 years ago. I use 28c tires on it and find that size to be a nice compromise between super skinny road tires and fat cx tires.

cappuccino911

I have a giant rapid 3 that is now becoming my commuter bike. It's not a cyclocross bike, it's a flat bar road bike, but quite frankly it's geometry is very similar to a touring or cx bike. I already converted it to a drop bar bike so my gf could have the flatbar shifters on her bike since she didn't like the drops. I just put 700x35 tires on it with zero issues. It has regular road bike long reach brake calipers and the big tires fit easily, I could probably go as large as 40s if I really wanted to but I don't see the need.

I live in NYC and there is a bike lane on 1st ave that I take on my short commute to work that is just one big pothole with a seam running down the middle of it because the road is concrete slab, not asphalt. I was tired of worrying about my 25c tires getting caught in that crack. These new 35c tires are great, much softer ride for me and I can hit a lot of the smaller potholes with no issues I also weigh 235 so the softer ride is nice. My rapid 3 was 550 bucks new and has mounts for fenders/rack on both front and rear. Ijust put the bigger tires on today and added the rack and looking forward to commuting on this as it's a pretty quick bike.