Hi all! New biker here, looking to make a smart first-time purchase.

I’m leaning towards either a road bike with relaxed geometry, or a cylocross. $700-$1,100. I’ve Google’d to heck and back “cyclocross vs road bike” and feel I’m yet to find a solid answer. I’m posting this in the road bike forum because I feel like I’ve heard replies from commuters and CX’ers but not from you guys. The details:

Daily: commute within San Francisco. ~3 miles to and from work on bustly city streets.
Weekly: city errands (bike locked outside), bike to a friend’s house, etc
Monthly: 20 to 50 mile rides across the Golden Gate Bridge, up the headlands, maybe climb a mountain.

• How much better at doing the San Francisco urban-shred commute will the CX be over the RB - in reality for a novice?

• How much better at climbing headlands and mountains will the RB be over the CX - in reality for a novice? (stock tires and/or swapped to road tires)? And which facts attribute to this? (weight, geometry, tires, etc)

• As a novice would you rather have to commute in downtown SF on a roadbike so you get the better choice for a once-in-a-while weekend ride? Or would you rather commute in downtown SF on a CX but know that you’d have to use it for an every-so-often weekend ride?

• Should I just get a CX (if someone proves that it’s actually better for commuting) and then to simply rent a road bike for weekend trips (if someone proves it’s actually much better for challenging rides)?

Some options I’m eyeing:
RB: Felt Z95, Specialized Secteur, etc
CX: Specialized Tricross/Crux, Trek CrossRip, Kona Jake, etc

That's alot of bullets; sure you're not from Oakland?

To me, an important factor would be your commute. Can you get by with only a courier bag, or will you need a rack and panniers? If the latter, I'd look at CX, touring, or hybrids, before RBs.

Hah good one. And my boss always tells me to tighten up my emails...

Good point - I think I'll be fine with a backpack. GF takes care of weekly shopping.

The truth is a road and cross bike aren't all that different. The road bike will generally handle a little bit better and be a small amount faster; the cross bike can mount wider tires, and is likely to be set up so you can mount more stuff on the frame. Most people would be fine doing most riding on either.

I had a CX bike for years, and did 50+ mile weekend rides on it. The particular road bike I'm riding now is lighter, handles better, climbs better, etc. But it's a kick ass road bike and was a mediocre cross bike.

I don't think a CX bike is necessarily better for commuting. Honestly I prefer commuting on a road bike, it's a little quicker and less effort. But I don't carry much stuff with me. And on that note, lots of road bikes can have racks mounted to them, it's mostly just the race bikes that can't.

I used to ride over the Golden Gate Bridge and into the Headlands, but I stayed on the roads when I did it. If I needed a bike and didn't plan to leave the pavement, I'd probably get a road bike.

A road bike should be fine for the commute. I've commuted on one for years. A cyclocross bike really won't offer anything that a road bike doesn't offer. You can find both with plenty of clearance for fenders and with good brakes. The main difference between the two is cable routing and tire tread. You don't need all your cables routed on your top tube for a commute and you would probably be better served with smooth tires to give you better grip on city streets, so a road bike makes more sense in those respects.

Do you have any super steep descents (I.e. 20%+) on your commute? If so, you might appreciate disc brakes, which are a little easier to find on a CX bike.

Overall, I would recommend a road bike since you'll appreciate it more on the long weekend rides, and it has no downsides for your commute as long as you stay on paved terrain.

Frankly, I don't see anything in your intended usage that says CX.

Great advice on all accounts, much appreciated.

Yeah I don't really foresee leaving the roads.

I bought a CX bike last year for my commuting, along similar thinking to yours, and after a while I realized I was never going to leave the road, and if I did, I would want to buy a mountain bike. Now the only bike I own is a road bike.

I second patrick's suggestion. If you're going to need rack and panniers, your choices may be quite different... I know I do (laptop, u-lock, some spare parts, change of clothes), so I got something closer to a touring with braze-ons.

CX bikes tend to have higher bottom brackets / crank for better ground clearance; they run the cables on top of the top tube, for shouldering the bike for running up hills; they use v-pull breaks to avoid mud build up...

If you aren't riding across baseball fields, parks and children's sandboxes, you're buying the wrong tool.

You also tend to "get less per dollar" on a CX bike purchase since it is a niche market design.

A cross bike will generally allow you to install full coverage fenders because of increased clearance around the seat stay and fork. You can install fenders on a road bike but if you want full coverage you typically have to kludge something up because of the reduced clearance around the stay/fork/brakes. Important if you intend to do a lot of rain riding.

If you want disc brakes (for said rain riding), a cross bike is more likely to come setup to accept discs.

Otherwise it's personal preference.

I'd suggest two bikes... a decent road bike for your weekend adventures and a beater for commuting. You did say "lock up outside." There is NO WAY I would lock anything expensive outside.

Good eye! Yeah I threw that in there just in case. I read up on how to properly lock bikes, but that said just how dangerous is locking a $1k bike up while grocery shopping in SF?

Don't forget there are touring road bikes that can mount racks and fenders and whatnot.

Touring bikes are great for commuting in the city.

The only reason to get a CX bike from what you said is the city streets for commuting. Road tires (23 and 25) aren't good for potholes and rough surfaces. CX are wider (32 or so) and run with a little less air, which helps with bumps and rough surfaces.

I've been doing similar shopping. My commute has a short gravel road stretch and some sidewalk sections, and I've done it on treaded 32's no problem. Not sure about 25's or whatever comes on a road bike, but no need for the 38's on a cross bike either. There's less rain here in Sac and I still have a truck so need for fenders is rare. I think either style is pretty racy and doesn't look great with a rack. But I really want brifters, and touring bikes all have barcons. Touring bikes also all seem to be really long and low. But touring bikes have a lot of chrome and look good with racks.

Yeah, I was thinking a nice touring bike with cross lever brakes would be exactly what the doctor odered.

Touring bikes do hills very well and are just perfect for commuting San Francisco. Just checkout the SF REI at 840 Brannan St.

I think you'll just love cycling the Four Corners of the world:
www.rei.com/product/855383/marin-four-corners-bike-2012-overstock

* Touring bikes can be outfitted with wider tires for country trails too!

If your height is right, it's all yours!

if i were in your shoes, i'd go with a road bike with 28mm tires.

I have a road bike, an MTB bike, and a CX bike. The CX is, by far, the most versatile of the 3. There's a big network of dirt (and some gravel) trails behind my work that are perfect for the CX bike. When I want to ride it on the road, I swap in another set of wheels with road tires on it and it works great on the road. I've also put more aggressive treaded tires on it for trail riding.

Bob

+1

Since a CX bike is kinda like overkill for San Francisco, either a touring bike or a standard road bike should be just fine. If you should prefer a road bike, then the GT Corsa 1.0 should not escape your attention below:

www.gtbicycles.com/2013/bikes/road/performance/corsa-1-0

Just get some cross lever brakes and relax on the hoods...

You're right, this is probably why I'm most interested. The road bikes I've demo'd (Felt Z95, Cannondale Synapse 7, Raleigh Revenio 2) have all been very bumpy on the road. Super stiff, too much feedback for a morning commute. However I appreciate the road-style geometry of the bike, so I figured a road bike with bigger tires is the way to go. But I thought those bikes don't have proper clearance and thus have been eyeing entry-level CX.

On that note, what size tires are going to show a noticeable difference while in ride comfort over the 700x25 that I've been test riding? 28? Or would I need to jump to 32mm to make a difference?

In general, most San Francisco streets are in pretty good condition, when compared to other major cities. Thus, there's little use for wider tires. Narrow tires with a CF fork should work just fine for you.

OTOH, I've found that comfort is usually associated with wider tires, at the expense of speed and efficiency. Of course, you could have the best of both worlds with a Touring bike that can be outfitted with wider tires just like the CX bike.

Usually chromoly steel frames and forks come with Tourers. A tourer with size 32mm or greater tire should be just perfect!

Most bike shops are going to inflate the tires to 100psi+ a test ride IME. At 180lbs. I run the 25's on my road bike at 85-90psi and the ride is pretty decent. Going up to 28's with 75-80psi would make a noticeable difference but don't expect miracles. I have 32's on my hybrid and run them around 55-60psi and the ride is pretty smooth compared to the road bike. If you're new to skinny tires you will adapt to the stiffer ride and won't really notice it as much after a few hundred miles.

This is the bike I'm looking to buy to replace my hybrid for running errands. It's basically a comfort geometry road bike that takes wide tires and a rack. I was looking at CX bikes but the cantilever brakes gave some pause (I heard they aren't great.) Braking is one area I'm not willing to compromise (had some close calls on the hybrid.) Even the cheap Tektro caliper brakes on my last road bike worked very well with good pads installed.

https://www.bikesdirect.com/products/...quila_xiii.htm

+1

Excellent recommendation!

If this fits, it's the perfect solution


Get Cross Lever Brakes for Riding the Hoods...