Light cyclocross with rack eyelets for going car-free?
 

Currently I only have a low-end 2010 Trek 6000 mountain bike, that I use for riding on the road and everywhere, well because it is all I have. However, recently I have been listening to the Cycling 360 Podcast, which is geared mostly toward road racing, which I am not interested in, but I am interested in getting faster by following some type of structured training and other advice they offer. I also demoed a ridiculously expensive $11,000+ Specialized road bike with RED 22 & Force 22 components and Zipp Firecrest wheels at a local 2013 SRAM Road Ride experience event. That one hour demo ride made me realize that weight really matters, there was very little penalty to get up to speed after a stop and climbing was far easier than my mtb with knobbies, far less fatigue, and I could go much faster and sustaining speed was much easier. Also I really love the SRAM doubletap.

Now that makes me want my next bike to be a cyclocross that is light as possible so I can do structured training but which also has a rear rack and fender mounts since I want to go car-free also and I don't have room for a stable full of bikes for several different discrete separated purposes. So far my preference is the 2013 Trek Ion CX Pro which retails for $2,099.99 and weighs 19.8 lbs(9 kg) according to road.cc.

-- Does anyone know something that fits my needs and/or is lighter than the Ion CX? I honestly am willing to pay significantly more about $2,500, maybe even $3,000.
-- As I understand it, cyclocross season is just about starting up soon, when new models will be released. How does this work to my advantage or disadvantage? No local bike shops have much cyclocross bikes in stock, but do Trek and other manufacturers have their own inventory of 2013 bikes which I can maybe get for cheaper, since the new models are coming out?
-- Is it dumb to buy a bicycle blind without a test ride? I don't see how I could possibly test ride an Ion CX, unless Trek actually keeps tab on the inventories of local bike stores and I do some serious driving.

Not that I am in your position, but that's a huge upgrade and a chunk of money (at least for me) so I'd want some seat time. FWIW, that's more than I paid for the Audi that I drive on occasion.

Can you go to (a) local shop(s) and get seat time on a bunch of bikes, so that you know what you like and don't like in your price range.

A lot of cross bikes in your price range lack eyelets since they are race bikes. I like the gunnar crosshairs which you can build up and fit within your budget. It will make a light bike. My guess is that (depending on which parts you use) it will come in a bit heavier than the trek ion but the gunnar is a beautiful and versatile bike.

No local bike stores stock any significant amount of Cyclocross bikes, let alone ones meeting my VERY narrow requirements. I have tested the following bikes:
-- 2013 Jamis Nova Race(but it didn't have fork eyelets...) which is $1300 and listed as 23.75 lbs. I did not like the ride or feel at all, the bike at 54cm was also way too small for me as I am 6'0.
-- Raleigh Cadent i8 a bike with an internal hub gear, just for the heck of it. It was also not a good ride and way too small.
-- Novara Verita $1299, which came with fenders and is made of Reynolds Steel. I think it fit me though my foot hit the floor sometimes on turns. It was a good ride, I enjoyed it and it also had Sram doubletaps, but it is less bike than I want and heavier than I would prefer. Also it would not be good for taking offroad shortcuts.

I want weight reduction to a certain extent without getting into the upper limits of weight weenies where you are just paying hundreds of dollars for a few grams, but I also want some degree of utility. There are not enough people who have my narrow requirements for local bike stores or manufacturers to cater to it.

I will email Trek...

@bikemig:
I don't really enjoy things like building bikes, nor do I have the mechanical aptitude for it as I was raised by woman unfortunately. Thus I need the favor of a local bike store and the one most local to me, about 4-5 miles stocks Trek and offers free cable adjustment on brakes and dérailleurs for life and 20% discounts on servicing for bikes purchased new from them. So I don't see why I would go through all the trouble just to have a heavier bike, that will cost more to maintain. However I realize that professional bike fitting is very important and building up a frame/fork would offer the best fit possible...

By the way, it doesn't look like you really need a cross. From your posting, it looks like you want a light road bike that can take fat tires. There are more options if you expand your search criteria a bit. The all city space horse would work for you: http://allcitycycles.com/bikes/space_horse.

Any good bike shop can build up a frame. By all means, work with your local bike shop. I'm just saying that there are more choices out there than the trek ion that you will want to consider.

This might fit the bill: http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/..._pro_ti_xi.htm

Currently out of stock, but you can probably get one if you're patient. (Although they still have the 54 cm size in a different version with Shimano drivetrain). Get a LBS to assemble it if you're not confident in your bike mechanic skills.

The store may not have them sitting on spec , on the floor when you walk in ,
but that does not mean they are un available. ..

It just means the Manager does not see customers wanting them often, so has not ordered it ahead of your visit.


Ask. Speak ! woof! ;)

at some point a Commuter, Drop bar Cross Bike loses the rack braze on/Riv Nuts , because they are for riding in

and occasionally (say,once per lap) carried in the actual Cyclocross Races.

and there is not even a need for a water bottle to fit since it gets in the way of the Portage
When the bike is shouldered for the steep run ups .

as I said ASK the Dealer. there is the new 3rd model of Trek Cross Rip with Cantilever Brakes .
joining at the lower cost the 2 with Disc Brakes . not racing this may be the way to Go.

strip the frame and up price the components if you wish..

My dream bike came to me earlier this summer - tho, like having a supermodel girlfriend, dreams are separated from reality. I REALLY like the BMC Gran Fondo - a cross bike that manages to look sexy and I think could be had for a reasonable price in the 105 setup. Take a peek online - they have both "regular" and disk brake models.

I just determined that my NEED was more along the lines of a steel touring bike with disks for commuting, so my CX bike can just do CX, and I have a BMC road bike that serves me very well.

@bikemig:
There are some shortcuts where I Iive that involve going on light offroad bits, which is why I am looking at a cyclocross. Remember, I am not trying to exactly be a Lance Armstrong wannabe going nowhere all the time, and I don't currently have the space or funds for two dedicated bikes each for a different niche, however I do want to get into doing some structured training. I figure the best balance I could find with my constraints is the lightest aluminum cyclocross bike with rack and fender mounts, that comes with a carbon fork like the Ion CX.
[MENTION=275176]Spld cyclist[/MENTION]:
But it will cost more for me to maintain that and I am very frugal, so I will end up riding an out of a tune bike. If I had mechanical aptitude and space for dedicated bike tools, I would be all for avoiding local bike stores, but I don't have the skills or the space.

@fietsbob:
I am not interested at all in racing or race culture, this guy seems to have summed it up best:
The cross-rip is lower-end and heavier than what I am looking for. Also it is all aluminum, meaning no carbon fork for road dampening like the Ion CX.

@david58:
Well in those two sentences alone you mention you had three bikes and your profile also lists a Specialized Hardrock. I don't have the space or money for all that. Thus I figure getting the best and lightest cyclocross that can fit my needs is my best bet.

"Structured training"? Training for what?

this thread is quite obtuse, even for a BF commuting thread.

as an aside, I rode a colleague's CrossRip ... as was not impressed at that price point (£950). we have a bike to work scheme in the UK that maxes out £1000 for a calendar year and that's what he bought :lol: that's Koga Miyata money.

Maybe a Richey Break Away.. the knock down feature will let you stow it in a small Space He has a CX version..


I'm old ... and slow even 30 years ago.. :50:

they had a PDX halloween weekend outing to have a race at the Co Fairgrounds .

It moved to Bend [ more prize money there, and that week in the last couple years has been dry , there ]

When Cross-crusade weekend was Here between watching the races , I went to the Beer tent :beer:

No. 1.

@I-Like-To-Bike:
To be faster, within limits, so I can get to places faster. The limit being that all or most my riding not actually being structured training like say an actual professional cyclist or the thousands of wannabes.

After listening to the Cycling 360 Podcast, specifically their episodes on cadence and structured training, I realized that I will not get faster or enjoy my riding as much until I start changing things up. Of course, I could do that on a lesser bike, but the Sram Road Ride demo made me realize that bike weight, componentry and tires really matter, especially compared to the stark example of the most sub-optimal ride possible, a low-end hardtail mountain bike with knobby tires on the road, which is what I am doing now.

You know, the cycling club that haunts my favored riding areas around my house, road racers all, I somehow manage to keep up with them on my Surly Cross Check, complete with fenders and racks and a bell, two lights and a heavy Brooks saddle. I am also twice their average age and most of them are riding carbon fiber race bikes. I figure that is my "structured" training.

This weight thing is a misguided adventure. The bicycle that you want is not the one that you need. And in fact, I do not think it is made---yet. I think that I am going to take a frame building course somewhere or something so that I can build myself a titanium Cross Check or I would settle for stainless steel.

LC

[MENTION=177723]Loose Chain[/MENTION]:
The you who beat them on Cross-check could have been beaten by a clone of you on a lighter bike. That is what matters. I also notice you have six bikes listed in your profile, so you don't face my problem of paucity of space and funds. Kind of like all the too common single-speed cheerleaders who have a stable of bikes yet foolishly advise someone who has or will only have one, to go single-speed...

Dude, you seem to push people around quite hard for someone who rides a MTB and had one ride on a nice bike. Given the people in this thread you access to such a wealth of information about brands/bike from all around the globe. If you weren't being such a meckerer you'd probably get more help. I'm still amazed that you're going to drop that much cash without riding it and I think that you could do much better at that price point (£1500) but all you've listed is that you want a low weight CX bike. Perhaps you should ride a little more to know what you like.

:innocent:

And all that I am telling you, having been a cyclist all of my life, and the Cross Check being the bike I now ride 90% of the time, for a general purpose, do all bike, concern yourself more with the practical features and less with it's weight. Perhaps something with a steel frame and a carbon fork, some good wheels with 28 to 32mm tires, like I said, the perfect do everything bike is not made right now. For me, it would be a titanium CC, for others it might be something very different but when you start trying to do commuting, performance riding, trails and fitness all on one bike, that is a large pill to swallow without giving up or compromising something. The something that I was willing to give up was a few pounds to get durability and functional qualities.

An aside, I cannot ride hands off on any of my bikes for any distance except for my CC. Last night, due to a sore back, I kept sitting up and finally said to hell with it. I rode twenty miles, never touched the bars but for a few stop signs. Now when I ride my Pinarello, it is like, Holy Hades, this thing is twitchy, but in the peloton, it is a razor, not a club, the CC is a club, somewhat crude, but it never dulls.

LC

@acidfast7:
I don't know what the hell you are trying to say. I think you mean to say mukracker, and actually I will get more replies and more advice the more mukracking I do.

I have noticed on bike forums that most people who do the majority of posting have large stables of bikes, and been riding for years, even decades, so you cannot take their advice seriously, despite what you say about the alleged experience factor. They do patently silly things like say advise newbies to get a single-speed because they love riding their when they are not riding ONE OF THEIR OTHER FIVE BIKES... Which is fine if you live in flat area or are very fit to begin with, which won't apply to most. I have called these alleged single speed cocaine sniffers out on this before already in my short time on this forum.

In 2012 I wanted to get Surly cross-check with my tax return but my cat got sick and I had to burn like $1000 fixing her up. If that were the case, I likely would not have had the same requirements-parameters for a new bike, or maybe I would not even have wanted one, but that is not the case.

About trying bikes, I could try lots of bikes, at bike store parking lots, and while telling if it not a totally sh1t ride is possible, you still cannot make much else of it. Unfortunately as a tactic bike manufacturers for their demos always seem to showcase ultra-high end bicycles costing several thousand, which most people will never buy to encourage upgrade-itis. So paradoxically I managed to get one hour of otherwise unrestricted saddle time on a bike I could never afford costing upwards of $11,000 but have no idea where to demo an affordable for me, Ion CX pro even in a parking lot...

Not me. I believe in a one bike does all philosophy, due to space. I think having more than one bike is expensive. In Stockholm, each m2 of space in the city was roughly €30/mo for rent, so keeping an extra bike inside could be 100 USD/mo or more. In fact, I just bought a SS so I can lock it up outside out my flat, commute on it and leave it chained outside and save my MTB for the weekend rides in the mountains or touring.

Every time I tried a bike (at least in Germany) it was for a 1-2h ride in street clothes and I left my wallet behind. No biggie.

http://translate.google.dk/?hl=en&ta...to/en/Meckerer

Manage to park 3 in the Mud Room entry , because 2 of them are small wheel , Bike Friday and a Brompton.

Wall hooks are planned, to hang one Up .. , maybe a cabinet to stow the folded Brommy.

We'll see how it goes. All my furniture is still in Germany. Also crappy is that the UK loves carpet.

:ugh:

One will live under the stairs and the other is a SS beater/commuter destined to exist outside only.

SWEden No universal OPa/OMa bike that every one has ridden for 100 years like NL?


One of My friends (80+) has twice yearly visits by his Wife who still lives around Stockholm,

she flys over to MN first where there are Their children abd grandchildren to visit.

Then out here .. when she flies back He has more food prepared in a thaw and Eat larder. to cook for a few Months.

almost no commuters in northeast England. everyone rides drops :( it's like being back in the states :( and it's all in ENGLISH so I understand every benign word of every conversation

:cry:

Well at least the Slang is a little different..

^this.

We did this a couple of years ago. My wife's crosshairs in a 54 frame comes in at 19lbs including pedals (most bike weights don't include pedals). That's with tubular tires (aluminum rims) using the Tufo system.

The biggest thing for getting that bike to accelerate is having light wheels. You can save a couple hundred to three hundred grams on wheels by going with aluminum tubulars over clinchers (aluminum). Our experience with the Tufos is 1/6th to 1/8th the flats - where we would get multiple flats before, we now seldom get one until the tire is down to the threads.

J.