What is/was this bike?
 

http://kansascity.craigslist.org/bik/178582522.html

Dear collective wisdom,

Is the bike pictured in that link above a mtn bike turned cyclocross, or a road bike turned cyclocross? I don't know enough to know for sure. Thinking of going to look at it.

Thanks.

in fact it's a mountain bike turned into a road bike. bear in mind that a bike like that is going to have a very long toptube in comparison to (what would normally be) a similarly sized road bike.

Thanks, Willum. I just didn't know what I was looking at. Is this bike to be reccomended for entry level cyclocross?

I would ask the model of the bike if you can. I have a Diamondback Overdrive circa '94 I think and it was a mtb designed to fit 700c wheels. In terms of the toptube my bike is a size 22 and the toptube measures 24 inches effective. The ad mentioned that the bike is sized at 19-20 so the toptube should be shorter and should work w/ a dropbar. Then again make sure you test ride it first to see if it fits you. I posted my bike here before but here it is again.

http://home.comcast.net/~mitschiener...6/site1028.JPG

like the other poster said, find out the effective toptube to figure out if it's the right size. my guess is it will fit like a 58cm road/cross bike. unfortunately, for it's age it is way over priced. for not much more you could buy a brand new cross bike that would be much more suitable for cross racing.

That advice is appreciated, and if I may, can you throw out a make/model or two that you refer to above so that I can get some idea?

Thank you, Willum.

something like a kona jake can be had for $799. or else you could check out some deals on ebay if you know what to look for.

Does anyone know what the deal is with the front fork on the listed bicycle? I've never seen anything like that before. Is that some kind of special function fork? Bewildering.

the fork is an amp resarch fork. i remember them from the mid 90s, back in the days when people were still figuring out the best way to do suspension.

Then to Proflex and then to K2...they work really well actually.