Pizza Man

I'm getting close to buying a CX bike. I was leaning toward a Felt ('07 for $1399)or a Scott ($999), but just saw that my LBS has the Specialized Tricross Comp on sale for $1299 (regularly $1,700).

Since I will likely be racing with this bike I have a question about BB drop. The Felt is only 55mm, while the Tricross is 69mm, which is very close to the 70mm on my road bike. Does this mean that the Tricross is not as good for racing? (Not enough ground clearance?)

Thanks!

gobes

One of the reasons that I chose the tricross was because of the "road like" bb drop. I didn't like the feel of the bikes with high bottom brackets.
I haven't raced any cyclocross races yet (plan to this fall) but I've ridden a lot of trails and the height of the bb has not been an issue for me.
I've read that 'cross bikes had high bottom brackets for when racers used to use clips so that the clips would not drag on the ground when the riders were remounting. Don't know if that is actually true or not.

vanwaCX

Bingo. Also, a high bb will help mitigate pedal strike on side hills.

I think the high bb is mostly tradition and a lower bb is a better choice for modern crossers. It certainly makes the remount a little easier.

cyclintom

High bottom brackets feel weird. I don't know how they measure the "drop" but remember that if you have road clearance on the frame, adding larger diameter knobbies already increases your clearance by an inch and kicks your center of gravity up.

Some bikes have lower than road bottom brackets so that they have road-like clearance. These bikes also feel a whole lot better. The trade off is nothing. Your chainrings are always below the BB anyway.

flipped4bikes

The BB drop on the Tricross is higher than a road bike, but not too high. I just went touring with rear panniers, and the bike remained stable. The long wheelbase evens things out. No worries!