CX bike with a mountain triple?
 

I am looking for a CX aluminum bike that has a mountain triple (48/38/28 or 42/34/24 ) along with a cassette that has 34/14 or 11 (the small cog doesn't matter) on the back.

I've looked at all the major brands and the ones on Bikes Direct but nothing I can find suits my needs.

Does anybody know of one or will this be something I have to have built? I'm ok with lower end components such as Sora or Tiagra.

Thanks in advance for any help.

The only models I can think are all monster cross bikes;

http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/gravity/zilla.htm

http://salsacycles.com/bikes/fargo_3/

I built my own using a 48, 36 & 22t Shimano crankset & a 12-27 cassette. It works with Tiagra and 105 derailleurs;

http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/l...Windsor004.jpg

It may be that your best bet is to get something close and change it up as necessary. The Kona Jake, which I highly recommend, comes with a 50-39-30 triple and a 12-28 cassette. A 12-30 cassette will fit on there without any troubles. You'd have to switch the rear derailleur to use an 11-34 cassette, but that's not a huge problem. I also don't think you'd have any problems swapping the 30T front ring for a 26T. A 26x30 gear would be nearly as low as a 28-34. A friendly shop might be willing to make these changes at the point of sale to save you a little money.

Off topic, where are you in Western Maryland? I'm from Cumberland.

Thanks. Your setup looks like what I want.
Can anybody make an uglier bike than the Gravity Zilla? What were they thinking?

Thanks Andy. The Jake is real close. I may have to go to a shop that sells them and see what they can do.

I'm outside of Antietam battlefield near Sharpsburg. An hr or so from Cumberland.

I agree that the Road triple with a 26t small chainring is a great option. My Soma Double Cross has a 50, 39 & 26t and works great with a 12-30 rear cassette;

See: http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...ighlight=12-30

http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/l...ecember009.jpg

Here the two drivetrains are compaired (not much difference). The road triple is a 3x10, the MTB triple is a 3x9;

http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/l...vMTBtriple.png

That's not western Maryland. You easterners have no sense of geography. ;)

[duh] You have the shop you buy the bike from change parts to what you want.:rolleyes:

Competing?, You would come in last, but climb easier in the saddle.

then it's just a commuter/touring bike .. with a different frame.

Double check to see if the Jake is available with a triple...

What are you going to do with the bike?

I thought perhaps that the fine folk here might have a suggestion for a bike. The Jake is one I'd never seen so I've gotten that additional piece of information.

Nope, not competing. I was looking for a bike I could take on hard pack trails along with pavement which includes climbs in the Appalachians and the Eastern Continental divide.

I reckon.

Don't let the comments bother you. The semantics with Cyclocross bikes gets blurry. Most Cyclocross bikes are not designed or used for serious Cyclocross racing. Nothing wrong with using a Cyclocross bike as a sports/touring bike or even for commuting.

Un like a Car, Bike = a frame with a brand painted on it,
and a bunch of interchangeable parts someone decided
the Rationale to fit them onto that frame.
price and features are some of those various considerations .

Talk to the Local Bike shop, they're there to sort out this stuff .
recommending a brand you have to travel 3 hours to find is not practical,
as any services after the sale.. will be another 3 or 6 hours.

some touring bikes and commuter bikes have Mountain triples,
just a different category..
go see what there is to come thru the LBS.

Is that graph generated from some web page?
I'd like to play around with some possibilities of my own.

Sound bit of advice, thanks.

Sounds like a "monstercross" bike might meet your criteria.

Does SRAM Apex have the gear range you want?

Hi IBOHunt,

You may need to build-your-own. A wide range road-bike 3x10 driverain will include the following;

The best crank to use is a Shimano 105 FC5603, these are still on ebay but are no longer produced by Shimano. Shimano now offers the FC5703, but a 26t small chainring will not fit. So look for a new FC5603 for about $90-125 on ebay. This one has a 170mm crank arm: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Shimano-105-...item3370b27aeb

The shifters need to be able to shift a triple. Some, but not all, modern 105 and Ultegra shifters will shift a triple. Some modern shifters are able to shift both a double and triple, while some will only shift a double. The ST5603, ST5703, ST6603 & ST6703 will shift both triples and doubles. The ST5600, ST5700, ST6600 & ST6700 are double only.

Any triple front derailleur for 10-speed chain will work, including FD5603, FD5703, FD6603 & FD6703.

You will need a Deore MTB rear derailleur if you use a 10 speed Shimano XT 11-34 cassette. Consider the Deore SGS RD-M591.

You bike shop will question the wide range, as it exceeds the factory recommended chain wrap capacity of the derailleur. But the Shimano ratings are very conservative with a safety margin of 5 units or more, see: http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/derai....html#capacity

I built my own on the cheap. Not aluminum though but any frame will do.
Race Face triple crankset and BB.
SRAM 8 speed cassette, SORA derailleurs.
Sora 8sp shifters

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=352024

I'm working on putting something like what you're looking at together myself. Alot of times what dictates my decisions is what I find in CL. I found a FSA Triple Gossamer with 50/39/30. I'm going with MTB derailleurs and probably a road cassette. Something like a 11-25. Basically I'm shooting from the hip and kinda know my target. :thumb:

A little off topic, but what are doing for shifters?

+1

You'll save yourself a lot of headache if you use a road front derailleur (unless of course you're going to use bar end shifters or RetroShift).

For those that have put mountain triples on CX frames, did you have an issue with chain line and how did you deal with it?

Maybe so, but I already have my derailleurs lined up. Pretty much just missing my drop 9 or 10 shifters.

put what you want on it, it's your bike.

brands parts manager does not rule your taste do they?

Used a Campag Race Triple , in a 50,40, 24 combo ..
the Right Triple crankarm is made different than the double so both share the same BB.

and the chainline is shifted out just enough to center on the Middle ring.

The basics is you get the set, crank & BB ... to be a compatible set. @ same time.