ParaDoc

I've had a 79 varsity for the past 3 years and the beast has treated me quite well but i'm finding myself with more time on my hands and want to dive deeper into cycling. I was shopping for a touring bike, but i realised id be doing just alot of day riding when someone mentioned cyclocross bikes to me. Did a little reasearch and shopping and found this.

https://quadcities.craigslist.org/bik/2364989344.html

Which looks like a decent deal to me. But i have no knowledge of CX bikes and or any bikes made in the past decade.

The bike would primarily be used for long rides and the occasional tour such as RAGBRAI, and commuting until i turn the Varsity into a Fixie.

Would i beable to throw a rear rack on it for touring, light touring at that, I cant tell and can't find it but it doesn't look like you can mount a rack. I'm 135 lbs and 5'9'' would it fit? I did email the guy to ask for the actual size of it.

Anything i should ask about it or anything i should know/you need to know?

I appreciate any help you can give me and i apologize for the "Should i get this bike post."

Thanks!

borg

If you are not looking to do any off road riding, doesn't make much sense to go with this cross bike. The listing mentions a high bottom bracket, which is an advantage for some situations while off road, but I can't see any advantage for road riding. Even for cross racing I don't want a bike with a high bottom bracket, but opinions may vary. You definitely will want to sit on the bike before purchasing for sizing, or at least a similar sized bike. My gut tells me the bike is a little too big.

Andy_K 

That bike looks great. I'd get it if it fits you. I suspect that if you get it the Varsity will quickly become unbearable.

ParaDoc

The guys said this is how it measured.

"It measures 52 C-C, 54 C-T. Colnagos measure strangely, my C50 measures almost the same way."

Are there any real disadvantages to a high bottom bracket? I was also thinking since the guy replaced the wheels with race wheels it would work for road riding just as well as a road bike just with a few extra lbs.

Andy_K 

I'm 5'9" and have three CX bikes with 54, 55 and 56 cm effective top tubes on them (one of each). The one with a 55 fits best but I've made the other two effectively match with stem and handlebar choice. It's hard to reconcile what the guy said with the geometry listed on the Colnago site (https://www.colnago.com/bikes/2010/world-cup) but I think there's a good chance it will fit you.

The bottom bracket height issue tends to be blown way out of proportion. A lot of CX bikes don't even have particularly high bottom brackets these days. Strangely I don't even see that listed in Colnago's geometry chart. I use my CX bikes for road riding. With the right tires, they're great -- arguably even better than many road bikes if you prioritize comfort and stability over acceleration and nimbleness. I've got the Aksium wheels on my Cross Check right now with a set of Schwalbe Ultremo R.1 tires. This made for a very nice ride on a metric century I did last week.

waynesworld

I don't see rack braze-ons, but you can use P-clips. Shouldn't be a problem. Great looking bike.

5shot

The Mavic Aksium wheels that he seller has put on the bike are heavy and are not really "race wheels." THey are Mavic's cheapest wheel and are more like "look like race wheels." That said, I doubt they's be good for touring either given the low spoke count and not readlily available to replace spokes.

Andy_K 

Re: Aksiums...definitely not a touring wheel because of the spoke issue, but they're fairly tough. A lot of people use them for cyclocross. I think they're at least comparable and probably better than the Shimano WH-500 wheels that were stock on that bike. They aren't light like race wheels, but they've got decent aerodynamics. They're good wheels for the price.

ParaDoc

Thanks for the input everyone, looks like ill be buying the bike if it fits me alright. I'm not going to do any serious racing, and ill be getting some new wheels if i plan to load anything on the beast.

fietsbob

quite a jump from a Varsity to an Aluminum and Carbon Colnago.

you will want to hang on to the Schwinn, for utility sake.

the new one cannot be locked up and left anywhere,
for more than running in for a quick snack,
even then, lock it up well, to something solid..

Germany_chris

That question was like, ya know I drive a Chevy lumina and I was looking to get more into cars. I saw this ferrari for sale, you think it would be more inspiring and fun to drive while maintaing some utility.