gilpi

Just came across this a couple of days ago and from what I get, it's a combination of gravel and road? This fits my bill as I don't mtb any longer at my age but still enjoy some of the easier flat trails mixed with road riding.
Now, where I'm a bit confused is in the hardware, what classifies a monster cross bike, are they mountain bikes with drop bars or a CX bike with fatter tires?

Spoonrobot 

Monstercross was more a sandwich of MTB/Road as the idea was to ride beefy cross bikes (monster bikes) on MTB trails (monster cross course) but it seems like monstercross has been absorbed by the dual-headed beast of Enduro All Road and Gravel Grinder.

Quote from here.
IME it's one of those things that's pretty fun to do once in a while but kind of sucks if you had to do it every day.

Barrettscv 

Monstercross is a term applied to a drop bar bike that accepts 700x42 or larger tires. Tires this fat usually require a mixture of road bike and mountain bike components. You can build a Monstercross bike from a rigid 29er frame, but most Monstercross bikes are based on touring or Cyclocross geometry that were designed for larger tires.


This is my Origin8 Monstercross. It's a fun bike on local trails and gravel.

Frame: Origin 8 CX700

Fork: Surly Cross Check

Handle bar: Salsa 46mm woodchipper

Stem: Forte MTB 120mm

STI Brifter: Tiagra 3x9

Saddle: Forte

Seat post: Thomson Elite

Seat post clamp: Surly

Rear canti cable hanger: Surly

Front derailleur: Tiagra for triple

Crankset: Shimano Deore FC-M590 48-36-22t

Rear derailleur: Shimano Deore SGS RD-M591

Cassette: 11-32 Shimano 9 speed

Brakes: Tektro CR720

Brakepads: Kool-stop Salmon Thinline

Wheelset: 40 spoke Velocity Dyad/Formula

Tires: 29x1.8 Kendra Small Block 8

mstateglfr 

Its a really fun segment of cycling, and like most others, its a vague caregory which encompases different components.

Flat bar or drop is ok.
Disc, canti, or vbarake is ok.
Mtb or road components is ok.


Basically, its a bike that can fit up a 45mm tire or around that, with geometry that is not as aggressive as cyclocross race, but not as slack as many mountainbikes.
The frame typically looks like an endurance road frane rather than a 29er frame.

Again though, thats all just a generalization and there a lot of variations.

Monster Cross Frames - Black Mountain Cycles

This is from who i bought the frame i recently built. Its incredibly versatile and ive ridden it on some relatively flat flowing singletrack as well as rural gravel rides which have a mix of dirt road, loose gravel, and packed gravel with climbs.

Probably 60% of the components were bought (gently)used and thebother 40% are new.
- 105 5800 11 speed front and rear derailleurs with a sram 11-36 cassette and Wolftooth Roadlink adapter to accomodate the larger cassette and a Shimano cx50 crankset.
- h plus son archetype rims with 105 hubs and 40mm Clement MSO tires.
- origin8 Gary OS Sweep bar.
- Gevenalle 11speed shifters connected to old SunTour XCD cantilever brakes.
- easton ea50 stem and seatpost.




Extremely versatile frameset that could be built with a double or triple. It can take tires up to 50mm(2'). It has mounts for fenders and a rear rack, and also mid fork mounts for a front rack so it can be built up for commuting or off road touring.
Really stable on loose gravel too.



Another bike i looked at, though not called a monster cross, is the Diamondback haanjo comp. The entire haanjo lineup is really diverse and interesting.

Pendergast

Here's Raleigh's entry in the monstercross category.

https://www.raleighusa.com/stuntman

Barrettscv 

Ive never seen these tires before, sounds awesome: Clement X'PLOR LZY Tubeless, Folding 700x50c

gilpi

Great thread, I'm enjoying the heck out of it, nice bikes BTW! Where I'm still confused is in the bikes and their components that makes it a monster cross but I get the overall concept, something just a bit heftier than a cyclecross bike with tires in the 700-42 to 700-50 range with most preferring drop bars.
Got to admit, as weird as those flared drops look after road cycling for decades, they are starting to grow on me and I would even think they are comfortable.

mstateglfr 

Yeah, that was my 1 takeaway from the Raleigh too!

...well i did have another takeaway...that i cant imagine coughing up thst much $ to ride gravel. But its a clearly nice looking bike.

Really curious about the tires though.

mstateglfr 

Yeah. Less race geometry than cyclocriss, typically. And more room for wider tires. The ability to hold 2 water bottles and racks is, for me, also something i would consider different. And often times the chainstays are a little longer than cyclocross bikes.

The flared drops are really comfortable on the tops, ramps, hoods, or drops. I appreciate the flare when im on loose gravel as the really wide position allows for steady steering, almost like driving a bus. Then i can go back on the hoods or ramps for regular stable ground.

jasonandrew76

The tires are a brand new spec. I have a Stuntman on order and cant wait until it gets here. Supposedly in November. Plan on building up another wheelset so i can have both monster and something a little more cx'ish (35-40mm).

jasonandrew76

Also, to me the bike is worth the money as it is going to be not only a gravel bike but an all purpose bike...i can swap tires out to something skinnier and it will serve as a backup road bike, or serve as a great work commuter as is. It also has the rack and fender mounts for a bike-packing expedition im planning for that will be 200 miles of pavement, gravel, and dirt. Not to mention the distinct advantage it will provide on the gravel/dirt rides when conditions get hairy. Come on guys, if you are like me you have to justify your bike purchases to your other half and this one is a curious case but the logic is here right???

corrado33

Looks like an anemic 29er with drop bars if you ask me.

A mountain bike is truly a go anywhere bike. These bike are "go to specific places" bikes. Very smooth dirt trails or gravel is the only place I'd ride these.

But I guess I'm used to there being lots of large rocks in the middle of the trails I usually ride on here in MT.

Barrettscv 

I agree. Monstercross bikes can convert to road use and can make very good touring bikes. I have two wheelsets. One has a 40 to 47mm wide knobby and the other has a 700x40 Vittoria Voyager Hyper. The bike is a good road and dry-weather gravel bike with the slick 700x40 touring tire. See: https://www.bicyclerollingresistance....ger-hyper-2016

Certainly a better long distance bike than most mountain bikes.

Pendergast

The Stuntman looks interesting. A dropper seatpost seems like it would be really useful on a bike with drop bars that's going to be used on trails.

I like the gravel bikes Raleigh has been coming up with the past few years. The Tamland gets a lot right and not much wrong. The Roker strikes me as being very well thought out but a bit overpriced. If the Roker were a little less pricey, I might be riding one of those.

mstateglfr 

Family rides pulling a weehoo.
Weekend paved trail rides with friends.
Gravel road rides.
Bikepack/off paved road touring.

Im fine with riding to all the specific places the above types of riding get me to...and all are fun to do on a monstercross.

I certainly wouldnt want to ride on large rocks with my bike. But thats because it isnt meant for that type of riding just like the mtb you speak if isnt meant for paved rides or loaded touring which my bike can easily handle.

If i had to ride in an area with massive rocks in my qay, id want something different for sure. Actually, i would want something IN ADDITION to the monstercross.

wheelsmcgee

Fair enough. Another way to look at it is a road bike with a maximum useful range of tire capability for those who aren't worried about counting grams.

And that's where I think most people are riding them. If you don't do the rougher single track stuff that really makes use of that suspension fork, it's just extra weight/expense. Drop bars are nice on long road rides for multiple hand positions and lower more "aero" positioning.

Hiro11

Raleigh's doing some interesting stuff lately. Their attainably-priced niche bikes are much more exciting to me than the next $10K super aero / super fragile / super uncomfortable 14 pound carbon wonder.

I like the 631, 1x Rival, thru-axles on the Stuntman. The 2.1 tires and dropper post are a bit much unless you're really going to use it offroad. Also, it's at least $500 more than I'd spend on a bike like that. The CXmagazine preview listed it at $1,999 which seems more in the ballpark.

1242Vintage

Not a monster cross bike, but I crammed some 40 mm Maxis Rambler tires on my cross rig and really loving the ride. Air volume is larger so I can take the tires down to a lower pressure. Grip is great and ride much softer than I was getting with conventional narrower cross tires. Going to race with this setup this weekend at a conventional cross race.

BluesDawg

Seems to be a typo on the Raleigh site. The photos look like these. XC LXV 29er | Clement Cycling, Cyclocross Tires, Adventure Tires, Mountain Bike Tires, Road Bike Tires

bikebreak

You can make a nice monster cross bike with a specialized tricross frame. Plenty of those floating around.


I just set mine up with a 29x1.8 tire in back and 29x2 in front. Many 29er tires run a bit small, especially at lower pressure. At ~21 psi these tires are 43mm in back and 45 in front.


If I remember, I'll post pictures when I get home

Pendergast

Kona also has one.

https://www.konaworld.com/sutra_ltd.cfm

manicmike

Soma's contribution, "The Wolverine".[IMG][/IMG]

jasonandrew76

I like the Sutra too, however, they only make it up to a size 58

mstateglfr 

Thats a heck of a good looking bike!
I considered the Wolverine frame, but ended up wanting to go the canti route and also wasnt sure if their largest size was going to be big enough.
Really nice build.

Caliper

They are. After riding Woodchippers, I'm absolutely sold. My main road bike has Salsa Cowbell bars and I've found some of the older Randonneur style bars for other bikes. I wouldn't say you have to get something as flared as Woodchippers, but some flare is definitely very high on my list when looking at bars.

Personally, I'd say a Monstercross bike must have drop bars. Without drops, it's basically a rigid MTB.