Originally Posted by
aztimm
I have a Specialized TriCross that I got almost 3 years ago, and it was a great bike for me for the first ~2 years or so. The reason I got it was that I live near trails and I thought I could use this bike on either the trails or on the roads. But in the end, I used the bike 95% (or more) of the time for roads, and eventually got tired of having to push that much extra.
That said, I did a few group rides with people who had normal road bikes and never had a problem keeping up. Heck, I climbed South Mountain with that bike, and because it has a triple I thought it was easier than with my current road bike (and I kept up with some fast guys):
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/24976524
I think the longest I rode the bike was about 60 miles, and I was pretty well spent. But that was probably more conditioning than anything. I have passed people on normal road bikes while riding it, and most tried to re-pass me (it sometimes went into a game).
I haven't even taken that bike down from the rack for ~3 months, but one of these days...I'm going to and see what happens.
To the OP: if you are looking at one of these and don't NEED it immediately, I'd wait until Nov/Dec. My bike retailed for around $1200 and I got it during the end of year clearance for around $650. Unless you happen to be in AZ, then shoot me a PM and make me an offer
I doubt I will be doing 95% roads, but who knows
Thank you for the confirmation that cross bike can keep up with road bikes! Even if I use it all the time for two-three years, that will be good.
Good idea about waiting couple more month. But on the other hand, these bikes starting to go on sale now. They will be cheaper in few months, but bike I want might not be available. Right now, LBS is offering Cannondale CAADX 6 TIAGRA for $1k, which is about $250-$300 off. I'll check few more LBS in the area, but this Cannondale seems like good deal.
Great info in this thread.
Agree!
Originally Posted by
david58
My CX bike is my do-everything. It picked up about 2000 road miles before I also got a road bike. I continue to ride my CX bike to work, race it in CX races, and ride it on the road when the weather ain't as good (it wears fenders better than my road bike).
I can't think of why I would try to dissuade someone from getting a CX bike - I love my road bike for road riding, but the CX bike is a close second and is actually more comfortable for long distance. Put some 28 road tires on it, it is a nice ride. I put an 11/28 cassette on mine to make me able to climb some of the local hills (came with an 11/25) and it is still fine for CX races. Just a nice bike, versitile, and often a very good bargain for what you get for the $$.
Thank you for the comment. It's great to hear reaffirming comments! Also, at first I did not even think about riding in no-so-good weather, but it seems like cross bike can handle that as well.
Truly versatile!