Had an epiphany
 

My n+1 bike is going to be a cx. Here's why:

I am not happy riding anything but a drop bar. Riding my upright Bianchi hybrid made me feel miserable this past week. But I had no choice. The weather wouldn't allow for anything but wide 35mm studded tires. I was completely vulnerable to the 20-35km/h wind. If it don't get you in the morning it'll get you in the afternoon. I felt scrunched up riding in this position. Completely miserable.

I need a lightweight cx bike with these same studded tires. So the search begins. Unfortunately there isn't a whole lot in the used market at the moment.

Who among you ride a CX bike on your commute? And what are your opinions on this idea?

I'm not happy riding anything but drop bars myself. I converted an old MTB in order to have fat tires, but a cross bike (especially now that many come with disc brakes) would be a great choice as well. :thumb:

The wind and the ability to accept wide tires is what pushed me in that direction. You will love it. Good luck in your search and have fun!

I'm guessing a lot of folks are still racing, Wait a few weeks and you might see more CX choices.

Ben

Found one of these:
Redline Conquest Team cyclo-crosser review - BikeRadar

Used model--2009, apparently in good condition.
Any opinions?

Cross bikes make great commuters. I agree about drop bars. One of my bikes had bullhorns, which I liked but they provided nowhere to hide on windy days. So I ended up putting drop bars on that bike as well.

The big issues with using a cross bike for commuting is finding one with the right geometry for you, and also getting one with mounts for fenders and racks. For some reason, a lot of CX frames seem to have short head tubes and long top tubes, which is not my preference. That rules out the Surly and Soma CX frames for me. My CX bike is a Ritchey Breakaway Cross, which fits me perfect and also has fender/rack mounts. Unfortunately, the Ritchey Swiss Cross is strictly racing and has no mounts for fenders and racks.

You might also want to consider some touring frames. The Soma Saga is designed much like a cross bike in many respects, but has fender/rack mounts, stouter tubing and longer chain stays. In contrast, the Soma Doublecross has a much shorter head tube, longer top tube and shorter chain stays. You might also consider the All City Space Horse, which is more of a do-it-all than cross bike but has features similar to the Soma Saga.

I really like the Gunnar Crosshairs as well, but it costs a bit more than the other frames I mentioned. However, you can have it painted just about any color, and it's lighter weight and higher quality than more budget steel CX frames.

I've attached photos of my Ritchey cross and Soma Saga. They ride and fit very similar. If I had to choose one or the other for commuting, I would pick the Soma Saga because it costs quite a bit less and is designed for carrying loads.

Is it practical to put drop bars on the hybrid you have?

Thanks for the insight.

I am intending to put fenders on this bike, but perhaps not a rack.

I haven't really been riding long enough to have developed a preference for a type of frame. Both my drop-bar bikes feel fine to me. One is a vintage racer, the other an endurance road bike. I do know that I don't like the flat bar set-up or the hybrid set-up, but I can't put bigger/studded tires on my drop bars.

As far as the Bianchi is concerned, no, because I am realizing that the frame is likely a tad too small for me. So even with drop bars, it's not going to feel right. I suppose a x-long stem might work. I hadn't thought about it.

Though the Giant Rapid 2 could easily be converted to a drop bar bike it lacks enough clearance for bigger tires. I need to have studded tires on this bike for winter. They came in quite handy yesterday morning when there looked like a thin layer of ice on all the roads.

How feasible is it to build a CX from the frame up? Anyone done this before?

That has got to be the most gratifying way to do it (if you like doing things like that) and the way you are most certain to get what you want, but also might get more expensive than buying a complete bike.

Of course, some on this forum seem to have a lot of parts on hand, so for them the expensive way might be to buy complete. And if your hybrid's frame is the wrong size for you, then maybe you don't need much more than a frame that fits and a fork that will accept the tires you want if you can harvest parts from the hybrid.

Feasible. About 8 years ago I did just this with a Cross Check. Stripped off the decals and ran it single speed for about 5 years, had 2 wheels sets, slicks and studded, I could swap them out in 2 minutes. It has a rack, fenders, drop bars. etc. I've since switched it to 8 spd IGH after a knee injury made having gears a necessity. I've set this bike up with drops, flats, and albatross bars. The cross check has been my dedicated town/commuter bike. It's a trooper and has more miles on it than all my other bikes combined by a factor of 10.

However, This year I picked up a used Santa Cruz stigmata CX bike which might be my favorite bike ever. I commute on it in nice weather, and long gravel grinder rides on it, single track even, it's just amazing.

The Masi CX, CX Comp and CXGR all have rack and fender mounts: Masi Bikes.

I just checked the measurement on the Bianchi. The top tube is the same length as my other drop bar bikes--54cm. However, the seat tube is much about 6cm shorter. But I think if I put drop bars on the reach is quite close.

I want to do as little as possible with this bike, keeping as much of the original equipment as possible. It currently has a 6-speed freewheel, 130mm OLD, twist shifters.

What are my options?http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=423857

I would love to be able to build a bike from the frame up. I think it'd be a good learning experience, but I've already purchased 2 bikes in the past 6 months and restored an old vintage one. It might be a bit excessive if I bought another one at the moment.

I'm riding a tour bike which has some similar features to a cyclocross, but not as "racy". However in my case, I skipped the worst days last week as I prefer not to ride on ice and snow. But consider a tourer if you can't find a cyclocross. Can handle wider road tires. Stable ride in windy conditions. Still has drop bars.

Here's a really cool thread over on C&V about a drop bar hybrid conversion. Looks like he used a pretty long stem. Granted, his project was much more involved than yours would have to be.

http://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vi...s-italian.html

I had a Specialized Tri Cross that I commuted on. I never swapped the tires out. I also never used the drops. I also ended up not liking the bike so my experience is not the normal. Ended up selling it for a single speed with bullhorns and have since gone fixed gear with bullhorns. I love the multiple hand positions vs drops, even with the wind. What is your budget if you decide to get another bike?

You're not supposed to have an epiphany for another couple of weeks

I'm riding a 2011 TriCross Elite Disc as my everyday commuter, and as far as I'm concerned it's maybe the perfect bike for the task. Mechanical disc brakes for guaranteed stopping power and minimal maintenance, road gearing that leans to the climb-y side (50/34, 11-32), and a very even-tempered demeanour. I can make it dance if the moment calls for it, getting out of trouble with a quick burst of speed is totally doable, but it doesn't feel as twitchy as my lightweight race bike. Rack and fender mounts, with room for fairly wide tires - I'm running Clement PDX 33s under fenders, and they're about as big as will easily fit, but you'd get another few mm without the fenders. I put 200km a week into that bike, and couldn't be happier.

Not a CX bike, but an LHT meets all your requirements.

I woud say under 1k, but the more t i think about it the best option may be a conversion of the Bianchi to drop bar. swap out the wheets for a 9 speed and brifters. 200-300 might be enough. tiagra, herhaps, keep stock Alivio mechs.

ok, pardon my ignorance, but LHT is?

Surly Long Haul Trucker

Except for the "lightweight" part. That's not really a selling point for the Surly Cross-Check, either (I have previously owned both of these bikes).

Had the Sport Disc, and I felt like the brakes sucked, and I have used mechanicals before. I am glad to hear that you like yours so much. I wish mine would have worked out, would have been nice to have a geared option if needed.

I treated myself to one of these before winter set in: Save Up to 60% Off Titanium Cyclocross Bicycles | Road Bikes - Motobecane Fantom Cross Team Titanium | Cross Bikes
Takes a rack (disc version) and fenders well. Disc brakes are awesome. The bike is on a really sweet deal right now. If you can afford it and you're not opposed to a little assembly, it's a really great ride.

Fyi, don't know if you've seen this before, but while the 35mm Schwalbe Marathon Winter used to be the skinniest decent studded tire (there was the Nokian A10 to but reports weren't great on it), 45nrth now makes what sounds like a good 30c studded tire:
45NRTH Xerces Studded Tire

http://45nrth.com/files/products/Xerxes_5.jpg

http://45nrth.com/files/products/Xerxes_2.jpg

I mention it in case it might happen to fit your current drop bar bike, or it might make it a bit easier to find a used bike that it would fit on. I know a 30c tire, for example, just fits onto my older Specialized Seqouia (I know because they put one on, I didn't like the tire they choose so they took it off) - and this was one of the models where there's not really clearance for wider tires, fenders, etc.

This describes exactly why I got rid of my hybrid and replaced it with my 2006 Trek Portland. (The Portland was essentially a CX front end spliced to a light touring rear end.) The hybrid was heavy, slow, handled like an oil tanker, opened me up to the wind like a sail, and every bump went straight up my spine.

All I own now are drop bar bikes. I'm a happy man.

One thing you'll notice when riding the studs on a CX bike is that in conditions like heavy snow, brown sugar snow, and icy ruts, you'll need to consciously shift your weight back off the bars. The drop bar position shifts your weight forward, but in these conditions it causes the bike to sideslip.

That budget can get you a great used CX bike. They have become very popular in the last few years so a lot of companies are making them which is a good thing as the availability is reflected in the used market. Lots of cross riders are always upgrading. I bought my used Santa Cruz stigmata with full Dura Ace group EC90 carbon cross fork and Mavic kysrium equip wheels, brand new TRP brakes and tires for $800!!! I swapped a few parts out but I have less than $1k in this bike and like I mentioned in my earlier post it is flat out amazing. I cant imagine a better value.

I just tried the 35mm studded tires on my Giant Rapid and they are okay. There's enough clearance for it.

I was in contact with a couple of CL sellers this morning. One for this bike:

2010 KHS CX 200 - Small

Almost went for it. But the other seller was one selling part I need for the drop bar conversion of the Bianchi. Almost went for that too, but the prospect of having to do that work frankly fills me with dread right now.

So I'm postponing the inevitable. I mounted the studded tires on the Giant Rapid 2. Yes, it's still not a drop bar, but it's more aggressive position, and it's got bar ends. It's not perfect, but it's cost effective and it's something I can live with for the time being.T

The other issue might be the mudguards. I had them on the Bianchi, but this one will not take them with the 35mm tires. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.