I just bought a 2013 CAADX ultegrac disc. I am not going to do any cross racing, only going to be using it on the road and rails to trails. So far love it, bit suprised not to see much talk of this bike on any of the forums. I got it for 1600.00, which seems to me to be a great deal for an ultegra equipped bike.
I put 700x28 conti 4 seasons tires on it and it feels smooth and snappy. Loving it, and loving being back on the road.
Do any of you use a cross bike as your road bike?
99% of the time I ride solo.
So I guess I am looking for others to chime in that have a caadx. And others that use a cross bike as their road bike.

I ride my CAAD10 on the road. CAADX is fine I guess, but why not just get a CAAD10 if your'e going to do primarily road riding?

I don't do road/trails but whatever floats your boat

I also have a cross bike that I only use on road/commuting, it's my only bike so I'm kinda curious about its differences with a true road bike. So for those that own both worlds, can you really feel the geometry difference?
I tend to choose steel frame, and my Masi cross bike has an oversized tubing, does it make it more stiffer than a steel road bike with a regular tubing?

If you're fitted properly, you're not going to notice much of a difference. One big advantage that CX frames have for riders who follow Rule 9 is that they're significantly easier to clean after the ride than a road frame.

As a confirmed C'Dale addict I'd say that they would make good road or gravel grinder bicycle. As I understand their geometry they are fairly close to the road lines, if not the same. At that price and considering it is Ultegra equipped it is a real steal. Disks aren't my cup of tea but they are more and more popular so this is a plus for many of you, at that price they are almost a freebee(sp). Just a change of tires for each riders preferences seems to be all the CAADX needs, to me. One of the canti brake equipped models would be my choice.

Bill

I have a Bianchi cross bike that is my everything bike atm. I use it primarily for commuting but also does service as a road bike and if I'm in the mood I'll even go and surprise all the mountain bikers at the local course with it. It's smooth enough there that I can smile to myself as I keep up with a 5 inch travel yeti whilst I'm cruising along in the drops.

I've been trying out various road bikes recently because the cross bike is quite an old lumbering thing which weighs I think about 14kg with what it has on it atm and isn't the stiffest of bikes around. I can definitely feel the quicker steering on the road bikes I'm trying . Looking forward to getting a second bike so I can change the cross bike to a 1x9/10 and have it as a proper winter commuter/cross bike.

Yes, a CAAD 9X. It's my commuter. Love those smooth, fat tires. The only drawback is on very steep climbs out of the saddle, you can feel the extra trail. But not much.

false.

CX bikes are super slow. Ride one and ride a road bike and you'll see what I'm talking about.

I rode the CX bike for a few months, horrible.

I split my riding time 50/50 between my CX and and road bike. The roadie definitely Feels faster, but in actuality my Strava #s indicate that, most things being equal, they both get me to my destination in about the same time. Biggest difference as far as I'm concerned is that I have racks and can carry a ton of camping stuff or groceries on the CX. If I had to pick just one, I'd keep the CX... it really is a do-anything bike.



Post #2000

That's because you forgot to put on road tires and inflate them to more than 20 lbs.

Thanks for all the responses.
I went with the caadx over the caad10 because they gave me such a good deal on a 2013.
Also I liked the ability to be able to put on fatter tires for rail trail rides. I am hoping to ride the greater allegeney passage from pittsburgh to dc on this bike.
MegaTom, what you said about feeling faster on the road bike, but the numbers saying you are about the same was what I was suspecting.

Same bike and use mine mainly for commuting and urban type riding. I have taken it on my regular road routes as well. It's not quite as fun for those types of rides but mine is still fully stock including the wheels and tires. I might look into a lighter set of road wheels with slicks someday but for now it serves its purpose as is (and I just spent all my money on a new bike).

"Super slow"? Pure horse pucky. With similar wheels and tires I can't see a CX being much slower than a regular road bike. Maybe a bit on hills as they tend to be heavier, but as was beat to death in another thread recently bike weight has a very small impact on overall speed and having a similar road geometry means they are not going to be significantly less aero either. I haven't ridden mine on regular road routes the way I ride on my road bike (e.g. recovery rides) but even still I'm only a couple mph slower overall and that's with wide, heavy tires. I suspect if I rode as hard as on my road bike I'd be pretty close.

I have a Ridley X-Fire as my road bike; I got a deal on it, it mounts wider tyres for comfort (6'7, 190lbs), it came with Ultegra 6700, and I like the colors. Also, I liked the shop the most in my shopping.

Would I be faster on a dedicated road bike? Maybe, fractionally. I test rode several (Roubaix, Tarmac, others) and the Ridley felt great. It's not as twitchy as the Tarmac (aka 'responsive') and my proportions meant I'd have to do odd things to the Roubaix for fit because of the longer head tube.

Plus I've seen one other Ridley out and about, also a CX bike. Kinda like that.

To me a couple mph's of avg speed is super slow. I have high standards

no, I rode one with road 25 conti's. Power was identical for the ride but my avg speed was 1.5 mph slower.

Sorry that your Do-Everything bike isn't as good as a road bike.

I've got two steel bikes, a Seven Axiom with Ultegra 9sp and a Salsa Vaya, somewhat of an all purpose with bar ends set up with rack, fenders panniers. The Vaya is about 8 lbs heavier but super comfy and the fit is just a bit more compact than my Seven which is also a frame size bigger. With a different stem and seat I could make both fit close to the same. The Seven is a ton of fun and very comfortable on road surfaces. I do feel slower, 1.5-2 mph slower, on the Salsa but as was mentioned before I don't seem to want to push as hard as I do on my dedicated roadie. The 700-37m tires on the Salsa don't help but I don't care when I'm on it, I'm happy to go slower and enjoy the ride. When I get onto a gravel or dirt road then the Salsa really shines as well as easily hauling my groceries and even some tools if I have a small repair job(construction related). I'd say my do everything bike is as good as my roadie, just has a different purpose.

You were supposed to be road-fitted; CX bikes often have a higher position.

If power was identical, what are you attributing the loss of speed to? Weight alone would only account for a small amount. In another thread, Merlin showed a .1 - .2 mph difference from an 8 lb difference or .4 mph on a 6% grade. Biggest difference would likely be position. Get your CX setup the same as your road bike and you would be much closer. Also, 1.5 mph difference isn't "super slow". Cruiser bikes are super slow.

I have a few sets of wheels with different tires on them I can swap out, including my road bike's wheels. I can do this because my CX has versatile rim brakes, not unnecessarily heavy and incompatible disc brakes.

Oh, you were being serious earlier. Why do you think you were 1.5mph slower? Do you have a more upright position on your CX bike?

It's horses for courses - a CX bike does a lot of things well, perhaps slightly not as well as dedicated bike types, but enough to warrant choosing a CX for someone who does a lot of commuting / bike paths / gravel, etc, etc.

Blokes around my parts have a ball on their CX bikes on the gravel/dirt roads - places where I would never take my road bike, but which do not warrant a heavy MTB.

cheers

You probably needed to go down a size or two from your road bike. Due to the higher clearance on the front forks the effective head tube length is longer. Other than slightly wider front forks there's very little on a cross bike that could account for any speed difference other than your position. You were probably riding the Cross bike on the tops. If you bend over and keep a flat back you should be just as fast on the CX bike.

Most people underestimate the importance of aero effects and overestimate the impact of weight when comparing bikes.

I own 3 Cannondales, a '13 CAADX Disc, '11 SuperSix, and a '07 System Six, and I love them all. I was surprised how much a like to ride the CAADX and it is only a little slower than my SuperSix on the same routes. If I had to have just one bike, the CAADX would be the winner hands down. I run 32 mm fairly smooth tires and they are great on road and just OK off road. Like you with solo, but I am 99.99% solo.....

You made a good choice and at a great price. I did replace the brakes with BB7 Road S, but otherwise stock.

haha, my CX bike is actually lighter then my road bike when weighed with the same wheelset and tires (full tapered carbon fork with carbon dropouts versus carbon w/ aluminum steerer and dropouts accounts for this). It probably feels slower because the bars are setup higher and 2 centimeters wider. I would use it for road races, but the feel of the cantilever brakes are underwhelming and the gearing is too low.