Are you a beginer? Have you raced cross before? If the answer to the second question is no, then I will tell you now that cross is allmost as hard on bikes as moutian biking. I would use a cf cross bike maybe and I do use cf forks. BUT I would never use a cf road bike as a cross bike. They are just not built the same way. And no manufacture is ever going to warranty a road frame that you trashed racing cross.