Cyclocross frames for LD rides?
 

Anyone trying cyclocross frames for long distance bikes and touring?
The chainstays are longer than most road bikes. They use cantilevers, which i like.

I love my Soma Double Cross. Very smooth ride & stable. It weighs 23 lbs in a size 60.

http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/l...asilver019.jpg

I ride a Cross-Check. Very comfortable. A little bit on the "tippy" side from a higher bottom bracket, and the front end isn't designed for the rack/front-bag I use so the steering can feel a little floppy, but overall I've been very very pleased with it.

I've ridden a Specialized TriCross with stock components on a few 200Ks. It's totally doable. It's a heckuva lot more effort than riding a bike set up for road use (the 32mm CX tires were a bit much), but it's nice to know you can safely run over anything in your path! :D

As long as the bike fit's you and you are comfy, go for it.

I have two bikes I use for long rides, one with gears and the other a single speed. Both are cyclocross frames more or less. The geared bike is a Surly Cross Check and the single speed is a converted Bianchi Volpe. Personally I like cross-style frames for some of the features they offer, like:
- they have the tire/fender clearance I want
- they tend to have bosses and eyelets I want for fenders, racks and water bottles
- they're tough without being as tank-like as some touring bikes

When I rode across the US this summer, one of the other riders rode a Specialized cross bike with no problems, it had road tires of course.

I use a Specialized S-Works Tri Cross. Bottom bracket drop is actually 2mm more than my lemond Zurich and only 3mm less than my Trek 720, so it's very stable.
I bought the frameset only, so it is set up for LD rides.

My last df brevet bike was (is?) a Gunnar Crosshairs, and I couldn't recommend it more highly. Unlike most CX frames these days, it's essentially a sport-touring road bike with mondo clearances. Surly's and Soma's equivalent bikes have much higher bottom brackets and slacker steering geometries which at least in my size (62cm, and I'd ride a 64 if they made one) makes for some very unpleasant handling characteristics: very tippy, and the front end feels like it's in another time zone. The Crosshairs just feels like a classic ('70s - '80s) road bike. Stable, comfy, lively, great road manners in general. If I hadn't been seduced by recumbents, I'd still be happily piling up the miles on the Gunnar.

In fact, if you need a big frame, I really should sell the Gunnar...

SP
Bend, OR

For longer brevets, I ride my RedLine Conquest Ti.

I blogged about it here: http://www.onyourleft.net/blog/2005/...chased-new.php

Since that posting, I have changed the tires to Conti Duraskins - 28 mm.

The bike is reliable, and the disk brakes are great in the rain.

I use a Giant TCX 0 'cross bike for any long ride or tour I take. During the summer, I take off the in-line brakes, replace the low-spoke original wheel set with Open Sports and the Giant saddle with a Sella An-atomica.

It ends up being about a 23 pound machine that I find very comfortable for light touring, etc.

Found a new Specialized Roubaix with Ultegra for $2899. Will be adding some lower gears because the climbs here are 8% to 19%.
Putting off the cyclocross plans for now.

There are a lot of bikes being marked down because it is August in a recession.

I bought a rbx in feb and absolutely love it for long distances (3hr and up).

I have a custom steel-framed Rock Lobster CX bike that I have set up for long rides. It's essentially a road bike that will accept 35mm tires. I normally ride on 23mm tires, but it's nice to have the option to ride thicker ones. It also has rack/fender mounts on the back.

The only issue I've run into is having my Paul Cantilevers overpower the frame. But I solved that by getting different brake pads (the salmon ones that are designed for wet conditions).

I've even done some racing on it and found it no worse for crits than my old steel road bike was. Of course, it doesn't corner as well as a full-on racing bike...