What exactly is cyclocross in your mind? Is it a pursuit for (nearly) pure mountain bikers to keep in shape in the off season? Is it roadies who in the backs of their minds want to be mountain bikers? Let's hear your opinions.

no it's for roadies who want to stay in shape in the off season. Slower paced off road thru the woods at 100% effort you wont freeze to death as on the road. Plus it's great for bike handling skills and just plain good fun! On a personel note to be honest I have no interest in mountain biking but love the road and cx. Maby some day I'll get an mtb who knows?

To me, who raced both MTB and Road... I consider CycloX the best of both worlds. The extreme endurance, eating dirt, drinking cold stagnant creek water... you cant buy that sort of thing! Its tougher than road and mtb.

This is an odd question. It's like asking what exactly is road racing or crit racing or XC racing.
It is a type of bicycle racing.

it's a short-circuit multiple lap race lasting one hour-plus-one-lap [or less] over a variety of terrain including, but not limited to, grass, dirt and singletrack. courses are designed to for riders to dismount and run [over obstacles, etc.] at least twice per lap [and up to four times]. courses are usually 2.5-4 km in length. cyclo-cross is raced in the fall and winter, when conditions are typically very bad. it evovled out of a winter training regimen for road racers that emerged inthe low countries and northern france after the second world war. the best way to describe it is a steeplechase for bikes.

cyclo-cross differs from xc mountain biking in a number of respects:

1. a big part of the sport involves dismounting and running with the bike. this, by the way, is the meaning of "cross" in cyclo-cross.

2. cyclo-cross is an anaerobic sport, xc mountain biking is an aerobic endurance sport. the best way to describe it is a one-hour sprint.

3. cyclo-cross courses are very short and twisty over extremely varied terrain, xc mountain biking courses are much, much longer.

4. despite the variety of terrain and surface, cyclo-cross courses are typically much less technical than mountain bike courses [though, in quebec, where most of the courses are designed by mountain bikers, the 'cross courses tend to feature rather more twisty singletrack than is normal].

It's another way to have fun racing bicycles! As a bonus it helps make you a better rider on road bikes or mountain bikes. We have a series here where we race cyclocross bikes on rural dirt roads. It's a blast. It's kind of hard to ride in a pace line all the while dodging ruts and rocks. I love it all.

A cyclocross bike has the advantage of being able to ride like a roadie but not as easily fast and at the same time ride on dirt also, or do both at the same time.

the thing to remember is that cyclo-cross is racing. if you're not racing, you're not doing cyclo-cross, even if you're riding a cyclo-cross bike.

The topic is "Cyclocross defined?"
Most definitions in a dictionary allow for different interpretations for each word, depending on context. See poignant. Dictionary.com does not yet have a listing for cyclocross or cyclo-cross. To my knowledge, cyclocross could be defined by the
1) sport
2) course
3) participant
3) bicycle
4) other equipment

I hope that MikeOK redefines his question

i think the point to keep in mind is that cyclo-cross is a specific kind of cycling event, the way a marathon is a kind of running event. you only run marathons when you race over 42 km, and similarly, you only do cyclo-cross when you race a specific kind of event. extending the definition to "off-road recreation riding with a cyclo-cross bike" simply misses the point.

I agree with velocipedio, a person can do a lot of things with a cross bike, but if you aren't racing in a cyclocross or training like you are, you are not doing cyclocross. I did not mean to imply that the dirt road race I was describing earlier is anything like a cyclocross. The description was only meant to highlight how versitile cross bikes are. I've used mine for everything from trail riding to road racing (I was in a pinch).

I've never heard of CycloX but it sounds awesome. It has road racing combined with mountain biking. It sounds like a lot of fun. Do you need to have a certain bike or can you use a hardtail mountain bike? How many miles is it about? Do you have to do more than one lap?

you can use a hardtail. If your just starting and you are male then the mens 'c' races are 30minutes. And yes you will do a bunch of laps, perhaps around 7 miles or so depending on the course. What they do is let you lap a few times and take the average time of those laps and forcast how many more there will be to get to 30 minutes. I asbsolutly love it. It's a very fun racing event while being very competitive. I find the people involved are of a different sort, a good crowd to hang around with.

So how does a CX bike Differ from a roady? Other than tires.

higher bottom bracket.

wider stays for mud clearance.

canti brakes.

more relaxed geometry.

frames typically run one or two cm smaller.

Frame geometry and design, brake system, gearing and tires are different. I think thats everything?? Its too early in the morning...