Touring with a cyclo-cross
 

I've been thinking about saving up to buy a cyclo-cross bike for touring. When touring I'd only be out for a few days up to a week, and I don't carry a heavy load (just a small backpack). My riding is on rails-to-trails and through the city and always in nice weather. I'm wondering if this would be a good idea and if I would be able to be a little rough on the bike (like riding off the edge of a sidewalk without having to worry).

I have a touring bike and a Cyclocross bike.

What model CX do you considering? What wheels & tires? How much do you weigh? Most Cyclocross bikes are strong enough for trails and bad pavement.

Many CX bikes can be used for touring. It helps if the bike has a steel fork and attachment points for racks. Common CX bike gearing (46 & 36t crankset) might work, if your route is gentle and if you are fit. Add a triple if longer hills are expected.

My CX bike is a fun century and 200k bike, and can handle about 30 lbs of load.

Lots of commuter bikes are sort of like cyclocross bikes,
and from the posters in the Cross forum , they are most buyers.

a competition cyclocross bike has a higher BB, by maybe .75" at most.

Lots to be said for getting a disc braked 700-35 tire cross-looking commuter bike.
Some 'Hybrid' as they use a mountain style straight bar,rather than drop bars.

Drop by your LBS, and have a chat ..

rough on bike means more frequent service is applied.

I took a 550 mile tour last September across Wisconsin from the Illinois state line to Lake Superior. I carried about 30 pounds of gear in rear panniers and rack trunk, and also camera equipment in a handlebar bag. I used my Specialized Tricross and rode mostly paved township roads(some in good condition, some pretty rough) but 125 miles of rail trail and some gravel. The bike worked very well-it was comfortable, stable and handled everything we came across. I am 6'4" and 215# and was very happy with the bike and will tour on it again. I had Continental Top Contact tires - 32mm on front and 37mm rear and had no flats or issues. I also love this bike for day rides and exploration of back roads.

it is a good idea

I toured for several years with a Jamis Nova. Everything from overnighters to several weeks fully self supported. Had front and rear racks and 4 panniers. Never had any problems until my last tour when I broke a rear spoke. I weight about 185 lbs and usually had a load of 40 to 50 lbs on the longer trips. Combination of paved and dirt roads. Can't comment on dropping off of curbs, I guess it depends on how heavy you are. Hope this helps. I would say go for it and have fun.
Cheers

I'm 5'9 and weigh 150, most weight I would ever carry is probably around 20lbs. I travel very light!

Yep. Make sure you post about your adventures!

perfectly fine idea. But as mentioned, there are many cross bikes out there with various gearing, frame geometry, all kinds of wheelsets, some without rack mount spots, etc, etc, etc.

20-30lbs is nothing on a rear rack, especially at your weight, on a more relaxed cross bike such as a Tricross. Might not want to jump off curbs, but then that goes for any road bike, and is entirely avoidable.

A cyclocross bike makes a pretty decent touring bike. This Bianchi Volpe is set up for "fully loaded" touring. It works well. This bike has over 5,000 miles on it in this configuration. The only trouble I had was after riding straight off a high curb fully loaded. Three spokes in my front wheel broke during the next week. I also think there was some problems with the way my LBS trued the wheels prior to that trip. The spokes were breaking in the nipples, which is notl where spokes normally break. It was not the bikes fault.

djb, It was raining, my glasses were covered with water and I thought I was going down a driveway. That's my story and I'm sticking to it:)

It also make a good do-it-all bike. I take it on club rides when I need fenders or to haul the grocery trailer.

P.S. siggy 2XC, I weigh weigh about the same as you and generally carry 35 lbs not including water. Also use 28mm @100psi when most of the riding is on pavement. I think that is why it feels a little livelier than other touring bikes I have ridden.

http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/y...dBianchi-1.jpg


http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/y...ianchi-1-3.jpg

ya right, next thing we know you'll be claiming a partially blocked snorkel and a fogged up facemask were the real reason....

You could do without panniers and use a small front rack with gear spread between both racks. Cyclo Cross aren't really designed to carry a lot of weight sitting on the rear wheel, not from a durability standpoint but handling. If you're thinking of heavier loads look to move more of it onto low rider front racks/panniers. With 150lbs you can hop off of curbs on any bike, it's all a matter how you land. Once you put dead weight on the bike you aren't hopping much.

Check out Revelate frame bags. If you have a 54cm frame the small will fit, if you've got a 56cm the medium fits. Those bags hold as much as I used to put in a tube shaped handlebar bag.

Regarding choice of wheels you can pretty much put on anything except very light wheels and have them last

I have a CX bike that is a bone stock '07 Kona Jake the Snake. We used it for multi-day touring with 32c CX tires, a rear rack and panniers on the Allegeny Passage, C&O Canal, the Katy Trail and others, it was perfect for those Rail-trails. Have also put on 25c road tires, removed the rack, and have done multiple century rides with it all over Ca. I've also had it on more than a few rough dirt fire roads here in the Sierra. To date it has been flawless. This CX bike is not my best road bike, it probably isn't the perfect tourer, and it certainly is not an all purpose mountain bike....HOWEVER..it is my absolute favorite bike ever! It is superior at nothing but does everything very well and will go most anywhere in any conditions, with just a change of tires. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that a proper CX bike will certainly meet your needs. Good luck and enjoy your touring.
Bill J.

Yup, a CX bike can do about anything! This is one thing that specbill forgot to include in his great summary of CX bikes' capabilities-- logging:)

http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/y...IMG_6474-2.jpg

so Mr Siggy, what models have you looked at? I love my 2010 Tricross Sport for all the reasons Mr Bill here loves his JTS--Im a big fan of these bikes for someone who doesnt want to have a whole bunch of bikes yet can have a real fun time with diff types of riding.

Doug, you are amassing a rather good collection of goofy Bianchi photos there!
I like.

ps, cheap Xmas trees-$7.00! We pay about 20 here in Mtl.

David

David, The owner of our LBS rides a Tricross, even for centuries. He could probably ride just about any bike he wants, but chose the Tricross. That tells me something.


That one was really supposed to be serious( at least a little). That is how we hauled our tree home. Besides being cheap, paying for the tree was on the honor system.

when looking for a new bike a few years ago, it appealed because of the gearing (long cage LX rd, 11-32) and all that stuff that made it touring-ish (front rack holes in fork, 3 water bottle holders). My friends that I ride with have similar bikes, none have really light roadbikes, so while its not in the same league as a pure road bike, its still reasonably nice to ride fastish (for me) and to top it off, it fits me really well so is quite comfy for all day riding. The Sport model is pretty middle of the road for components and weight, but thats ok with me.

I did see the "pay here" box. Nice that an honesty setup is still used in some places.

Yes, cyclocross-bike is all fine for touring. Here's a picture of me and my bike in Jotunheimen, Norway.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-u...0/IMG_8426.JPG

The gearing I used was 42-28 front and 11-32 rear.

If I was designing a cyclocross bike, I design it with lightweight tubing (particularly across the top of the frame diamond, which is very lightly loaded) and components since part of cyclocross is picking the bike up and carrying it. The wheelbase/chainstays would be relatively short. It would have a relatively narrow range of gears, since cranking out high speeds is not required on the local cyclocross courses. It would have a high bottom bracket for clearance over obstacles, and the gears would be achieved with relatively small chainrings and a relatively short derailleur cage. I wouldn't care so much about saddle comfort, and I wouldn't need saddle bag loops or fender or rack braze-ons. I'd accept higher maintenance as a trade off for lighter weight (thinking especially of the wheel here), since the bike would seldom be ridden for more than 2 hours without being taken home where it could be inspected/prep'ed. I'd fit light nobby/aggressive tread tires.

If I was designing a touring bike, I'd design it with heavy tubing (particularly across the top of the frame diamond) to resist frame twisting from the pannier/rack loads on both ends of the frame. The wheelbase/chainstays would be relatively long. The frame would have a full complement of braze-ons for fenders, racks, multiple bottles, lights, brakes and pump. The components would be chosen for robustness and minimal maintenance needs. I would want very wide range gearing. I'd want a relatively low bottom bracket for a variety of reasons, but that's personal preference. The saddle would have to be supremely comfortable, and I'd want the wheels to be able to go 1000s of (your national distance measurement here) without giving trouble. I'd fit smooth rolling, supple riding tires.

tcs, bit of a clue how poorly the touring segment is being met when CX bikes are the only drop bar bikes a person can get that will take larger than 28mm tires. I agree with your observation about design criteria being totally different but it does illuminate how well built some CX bikes are but I wonder if aluminum CX bikes provide some of that torsional rigidity with their larger top tubes? My take on it is that CX geometry is suited to shifting weight far back on descents which has nothing to do with carrying weight far aft of the rear axle.

just remember Lee, there are all kinds of cross bikes geometry wise, some are pure hard core cx racers, while some like my Tricross is much closer to a tourer/randonneur type bike. My 2010 Tricross has the same chainstay lengths as my old touring bike, and it rides quite well with an aft load. Specialized specifically brought in a more aggressive cx bike in '11 (Crux I think) that is really more of a pure racer. The Tricross is still around and is very much an inbetween bike that is well suited for people like me who use it more of an all around bike.

Reif, did you have any problems with your 20 spoke wheels? Your double crank gearing with gear inches from 23.4 to 102 is a nice, nice setup that must have been great with the amount of gear you had on your bike (which is probably fairly light to begin with)

cheers

No, none. The Aksiums are suprisingly sturdy and so far I have toured over 4000 km with them without any broken spokes or need for truing. I weigh around 75kg and my full gear is usually around 10kg. Bike weighs about 7.5kg if I remember right.

that is quite impressive. Shall keep that in mind.