I have been thinking about buying a cyclocross buy now for a while, mainly to commute to work and take recreational trips with both on and off road/trails. I do want to commute all year round and reading the winter cycling forums has lead me to believe that mountain bikes are great in the winter. Reading this forum, and practical knowledge, leads me to believe that street/road bikes are best for the summer. A speedy bike that will let me put on fatter tires for the winter = cyclocross.

My issue is that i would like to put an internal gear hub on the bike. The winters here are harsh, my city likes to dump sand/salt and some liquid chemicals down to keep the streets clean. I figure that an internal gear hub would be easier to maintain in these situations. I also would like to get disc brakes, i hear hydraulic brakes can withstand colder temps than mech ones, and they work/feel better.

I have written the few cyclo crosses that we actually have here in my town, the Tricross sport, Kona Jake, and a Poprad( my current fav). They were, for the most part, all very nice bikes, but they all lack an internal gear hub. Would it be cheaper/smarter for me to purchase one of these pre-fab cyclocross bikes and get a new rear wheel assembled for it? Of would i be better off selecting the pieces of the bike i would like and building it myself?

Has anyone here built their own bike and have any comments on the process and how it turned out?

Thanks for any comments.

You will be happier with a bike that you build up yourself because everything will be exactly as you want it. However, it's almost always cheaper to buy one ready made.

If you are planning on commuting in a harsh environment, I'd recommend getting a dirt cheap used mountain or hybrid bike for the winter. Deicing chemicals will eat frames and components alive, no matter how well made so it's often wiser to treat your winter bike as disposable and save your 'good' bike for the summer.

There are 2 problems with your plan.

* cyclocross bikes have the vertical dropouts, while it's better to have the horizontal dropouts for internal hub bikes to tension the chains
* there are no internal gear shifters for drop bars, they are mostly grip shifters for flat bars

Maybe, it's better to start from Trek Soho 4.0:
https://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/bikes...n/soho/soho40/
It has an internal hub and disk brakes.

Thanks I will check the SOHO out, does anyone have any experience with this bike?

I did realize that if i replaced the drive train on a pre-fab cross that i was going to have to go to flat bars, but I didn't see much of an issue with that.

You've got a pretty specific wish-list there. There's some problems, as mentioned though. To add to them though...

The number of cross bikes with disc brakes is quite low. The number of cross bikes with hydraulic brakes is ZERO. You have to use road discs if you're using drop bars, which means mechanical.

Combine that with your desire for an internal gear, and I believe you're out of luck. Something like the cross-check would have the horizontal dropouts you need, but lack the disc mounts.

Personally, I'd work through my priorities in order to arrive at a compromise.
- internal gears + disc brakes = mountain frame
- hydraulic brakes = flatbar
- dropbar = mechanical brakes or no discs

Well, you don't HAVE to... there are people who attach the shifter to the end of the drop bar, or coming off the stem area. Neither are quite ideal, but they do work.

This Soho is a new model. Nobody has seen it.
There is a cheaper variant - Bianchi Milano, but it looks like a beach cruiser, and doesn't have disk brakes.
There will be more soon.

If you want to build a bike, you can get a compatible frame, build wheels, and install a few components.
Why would you get a cyclocross bike and get rid of the rear wheel, crankset, derailleurs, and shifters?

*The Surly Cross-Check is an idea frame for an internal hub, because it has horizontal dropouts AND it's really cheap.

* People who run Nexus hubs and such and drop bars mount the shifter on the right bar end.

Bianchi San Jos8, courtesy of Harris fit the bill?

No discs... but it meets the balance of what you are looking for.



It does have track ends on the rear, which means changing a flat with fenders can be a chore... but if you are running it as a commuter you can mount up some stout and sturdy tires.