Old 02-18-13, 01:49 PM
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GregTR
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The real difference between a road bike and a CX bike will be:
1) Brakes
Road bikes will have road brakes, CX bikes come with cantilever or disc brakes. Road brakes work great on roads but they have a tendency to catch mud so they don't get used off-road much. If you're sticking with roads there is no need for cantilever brakes. If you're going to use it as an all weather commuter disc brakes might be a good option to have and there aren't too many road disc brakes options yet in terms of brakes, frames and levers.

2) Tires
A CX bike will come with knobby tires 38mm+ wide while a road bike will come with 23mm slicks. You can always put road slicks on a CX bike, it's harder to put knobby tires on a road bike as the frame clearance might not be there.

3) Frame strength?
A CX frame might be built to withstand a bit more beating than a road frame which would also might make it a bit heavier. I have no real data to back this speculation but it sounds pretty reasonable to expect this.

4) Gearing
CX bikes usually come with a compact 36/46 front chain ring pair which may or may not work for your type of riding. Road bikes tend to come with a more traditional 53-52/39 chain ring giving you a higher top speed but not as much lower gearing. You can always change out the chain ring or the cassette to adapt the ratios to your riding style and speeds. With the 46/11 on a CX bike you will probably start outpedaling it around 33-35 mph. If you have a lot of fast descends or you're a very talented fast rider it might be an issue. A 50T front chain ring would solve the problem though.

So overall I really don't think there is that much difference between road and CX bikes as people make it out to be. For touring/commuting/group rides a CX bike with slicks on is just as capable as a road bike and if you can get past the cantilever brakes not being as potent as the dedicated road brakes you should be fine with a CX bike, especially if you go for one with disc brakes in which case you get a great brake feel with a bit extra weight.

Last edited by GregTR; 02-18-13 at 02:03 PM. Reason: Added gearing info.
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