Cyclocross commuter?
 

Specialized TriCross
http://www.specialized.com/ca/en/bikes/road/tricross

Trek CrossRip
http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/bikes...ross/crossrip/

Opus Spark 3.0
http://opusbike.com/en/bikes/road/cyclocross/spark3

Devinci Tosca S
http://www.devinci.com/bikes/bike_463_scategory_116

Mec 1971
http://www.mec.ca/product/5031-880/m...10+50002+50208

Miele Andiamo
http://www.mielebicycles.com/1242-an...road-bike.html

Schwinn CrossFit
http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/sp...l#.UqSTONKOTZM

The Schwinn CrossFit is a bit of an exception as it has a double crankset instead of a triple. However, for the price, you could change the crankset.

All of these bicycles have eyelets for a backrack. I decided to make this list because I find bicycles with cross-top or interrupter brake levers are more convenient than road bikes. And they can also fit larger tires with fenders.

But I have a question for you. What would you think if a manufacturer came out with a cyclocross commuter with 650b wheels?

Or something like this? http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/...iberty_cxd.htm

or thishttp://www.bikesdirect.com/products/..._cross_cx2.htm

I have a friend who upgraded from a hybrid that was constantly in the shop to that one and he really likes it.
I have the second one and have put over 1000 miles on it this year alone. great riding/ commuting bike.

Bianchi Volpe!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v8...CAM00228-1.jpg

Interruptor levers can be installed on any bike, so I would not limit yourself to bikes with cross-top levers pre-installed. I find for a commuter that they are not that useful, and get in the way of the other things that are nice to have in the handlebars (lights, computer, etc.).

I have two cross bikes and a touring bike that I commute on - I would definitely add the Kona and Surly offerings to your list, although most people already know about those. Soma, Gunnar, Rock Lobster, All-City, and many others make nice cross offerings. Marinoni as well, as you are in Canada. If you are buying a cross bike to use as a commuter, make sure that it also has seat stay and fork eyelets in addition to eyelets on the rear dropouts. You'll want fenders on that thing.

My CX commuter is Opus Sentiero.
I've upgraded to a CF fork & seat post, its heavy compared to my other CXers, but it serves me well.

Brands selling one ? , [back to the I got an [X], and it's great thread ]..
It's a Popular Market Segment Now, hard to find a major Brand without one.


well, if they think they can sell a lot of them, to make it adequately profitable , its Possible ..

It was a FRENCH utility bike wheel size ..Like Porteurs hauled Bundled Newspapers to sales Kiosks.

over beautifully laid down cobbled streets ..



styling after a CX race bike is another thing entirely

My wife and I have Fuji Cross 3.0 as our commuters.

Like I always say...
CXer's are what hybrids should've been.
Not sure what they were thinking when they came up with hybrids?

They do all exceptionality well.

I've got the same bike. I use it for rain rides, and winter, but it would be great in this role. and Cheap too

Charge looks good too.

http://www.chargebikes.com/bikeimages/Plug4.jpg

http://www.chargebikes.com/bicycle-collection/plug-4

I think PerformanceBike carries this brand.

You missed my favorite, the Kona Jake:

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5453/9...8db21b6f_c.jpg

The 2013 model has a triple, but they switched to double for 2014. :(

The internal cable routing is a nice feature. I've got about 2200 miles, lots of them in the rain, and I'm still happily using the original cables. I think Tiagra is the sweet spot for commuting components -- very good performance at a reasonable price.

Regarding 650B wheels, if I manufacturer did that, I'd think they were crazy. It limits tire choices and for commuting wheel size really isn't such a critical issue. The only advantage I see of smaller wheels is that it allows better fit for smaller riders. If that's an issue, maybe look into the Salsa Vaya, which has 26" wheels in its smallest sizes.

I believe Surly come in smaller sizes that fit 26" tires too.

I believe that would be the Long Haul Trucker, and LHT Disc.

Why in the world would you want a triple for your commute? A compact double is a magnificent thing.

If you're into the SSFG thing, I would recommend my On-One Pompino. A lot of nice touches, including rack and fender bosses. The drawback is that you are limited to 120mm (track standard) rear wheels.

Really?

I want a triple because with a compact double I'm constantly shifting between the big and little rings as I start and stop, whereas with a triple I can leave it in the 39T ring for almost everything, just using the 50T in the rare cases where I feel like pedaling downhill and the 30T in the one case where I need to go up a very steep hill. A 50T ring isn't suitable for starting from a stop, and a 34T ring isn't suitable for my normal cruising speed. Not to mention, 34x28 isn't really low enough for that one hill I've got.

If it weren't for the lack of a triple, I'd suggest adding a Raleigh Roper to that list.

People act like they cannot change parts, You can get the Bike Shop to upgrade and change things

And add accessories, even before you take it home.. .. service is the difference ..

I want a Cannondale CAADX. They are available with a higher component spec than some of the others on your list.

Don't forget Giant, they have a few bikes in this category too.

I could take or leave the interrupters and disk brakes, but I like the bigger tires and long wheelbase stability of my Paramount and would like to have them on a modern bike. It's kind of uncanny how the geometry of some of these is a ringer for old 10-speeds.

I use a CX bike for commuting and light touring (no rear rack but a large Carradice saddle bag). If anyone has found a way to use a handlebar bag with interrupter levers, I'd like to know how you did it. It's a minor gripe when commuting, but for touring a handlebar bag would be great.

--J

It just depends on overall gearing. If you have that 11-28 cassette with a 50-36 double then the big ring is too big and the small ring isn't small enough. It's race gearing, you're supposed to be pushing all the time. But a 11-34 cassette and a 36 bottom ring will get you about the same low gear you had with the triple.

Unless I wanted to use the 11-34 with my triple....

Anyway, I'm not saying you can't make a compact work. I'm just saying a triple is better. I have yet to hear an argument that convinces me otherwise, with the possible exception of "I want to use SRAM and they don't make triples."

22 comments and no mention of CrossCheck?

Any of them would do the job. The Crossfit is probably the worst of the lot, however. Although I'm not a fan of disc, it is nice to see that all of the disc equipped bikes have the caliper mounted on the inside of the rear triangle. That makes rack mounting easier. Now if they would just change the location of the front disc to the other side of the fork so that the brake is pushed into the dropout instead of out of them.

One other caveat: Cross bikes have short wheelbases. If you plan on carrying panniers, you may run into problems with heel strike on anything but the smallest pannier. I only use a rack bag with my cross bike which isn't all bad since it limits the amount if stuff I can carry.

I currently ride a triple, but thinking of getting a compact double with a wide ratio cassette in the future. The reality is I rarely use the large ring except in a big decent - for my uses something smaller then the 54 in the front would be better. I have been nervous about giving up my small gear in some of my bigger climbs, but it seems like a double vs triple will mean simpler shifting in the front, less over lapping gears, less combos where "cross chaining" is a problem, simpler tuning, etc.

The bike I have been looking at is a gravel grinder and I think it has a 48/34 in the front and a 11-36 in the back, which I think will give me a pretty good range.