Originally Posted by
njkayaker
A mountain bike might "function better". The point of the race isn't necessarily to use the "best functioning" equipment. In cyclocross, the interest is in making the race challenging (not easy).
And, ideally, everybody should be using the same, exact equipment.
May have been the same in the US- but up to a few years ago- There were regs that stipulated that you had to use 700c wheels and drop bars in Cyclocross in the UK. Then it was relaxed so you could use 26" wheels and flat bars. So basically you could use a rigid MTB in Cyclocross. It did lead to a few changes in the bikes- but within a few years- everyone one was using bikes that Conformed to the old regs. They worked better.
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