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Home > Forum > Triathlon Forum > Drawbacks of using cyclocross bikes on road.

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Drawbacks of using cyclocross bikes on road.
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cdumas
Nov 16, 10 13:19
Post #1 of 9 (16566 views)
I was wondering what the drawbacks of using a cyclocross bike for road use would be?
When I refer to a cx bike I'm talking about the newer stiff lower bb bikes like the stevens and new high end ridleys.
I'll be moving into a small apt this summer so I've been downsizing my bike fleet.
I've sold the epic, the second rodie and have been thinking of just keepinga cx bike and tt bike.
Working has also cut into my riding so I'll probably down grade to cat3 this season and only do a handfull of
tts a few non techinical enduros and maybe a road race or two.

I figure with a chainring of 50-36 and a couple selection of cassettes I can do it all.
the only down side I see is the added weight which is no biggie and the lackluster braking of canti brakes.
I'm specifically looking at the ridely x-fire with force on it.
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Re: Drawbacks of using cyclocross bikes on road. [cdumas] [ In reply to ]
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nnewton123
Nov 16, 10 13:44
Post #2 of 9 (16522 views)
I think weight and the brakes are probably the two biggest. Most of the newer cx bikes have solved the front wheel shuttering during braking but i still don't think they work as well as road brakes.

Few other items to consider:
Pedal clearance in corners if you are racing crits (which you did not list)
Possibly taller headtube
Slacker HT angle (less twitchy handling)
Wheel/tire swapping... not a big deal but can get annoying if you are frequently switching between road and cx tires

Some of these you may not care about and others might be solved just by picking the right cx bike for your purposes.
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Re: Drawbacks of using cyclocross bikes on road. [cdumas] [ In reply to ]
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AndrewSaar
Nov 16, 10 13:56
Post #3 of 9 (16493 views)
I actually run my cross bike as a road bike when not in season and it used to kinda suck because of the brakes, but with the new trp cx 9s that's a moot point. It doesn't handle like a dedicated road bike, but I like it all the same.

-Andrew Saar
It is better to do the right thing and be paid poorly,
than to do the wrong thing and be rewarded richly.
Quote Reply
Re: Drawbacks of using cyclocross bikes on road. [AndrewSaar] [ In reply to ]
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cdumas
Nov 16, 10 14:03
Post #4 of 9 (16480 views)
The idea of a high bb and longer head tube are something I like.
Higher bbs help in crit corners as mentioned. A taller headtube would be great as I find
current road frames tend to have very short ht which results in about 1" of spacers.

Have you done any rr on the cx bike?
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Re: Drawbacks of using cyclocross bikes on road. [cdumas] [ In reply to ]
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AndrewSaar
Nov 16, 10 14:06
Post #5 of 9 (16471 views)
Nope, the only racing on roads that I do are tri and TTs. Everything else is offroad. I ride up in the mountains a lot though and it works great for that.

-Andrew Saar
It is better to do the right thing and be paid poorly,
than to do the wrong thing and be rewarded richly.
Quote Reply
Re: Drawbacks of using cyclocross bikes on road. [AndrewSaar] [ In reply to ]
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grumpier.mike
Nov 16, 10 18:58
Post #6 of 9 (16330 views)
A cross bike is generally higher, longer, less agile, gear limited and heavier and less aero. On the plus side is probably more comfortable and stable. If you kinda tour on your road bike now, it should be no big deal. On the other hand you might really miss a real road bike if you want to do group rides.
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Re: Drawbacks of using cyclocross bikes on road. [cdumas] [ In reply to ]
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Scott in PDX
Nov 16, 10 19:18
Post #7 of 9 (16290 views)
I've been using a Stevens Carbon Team as my primary bike for a couple of months now. I've got two wheelsets so I can quickly switch from cross to road. I love the way it handles and since most group rides this time of year are in the hills, the gearing works well. I'm running a 130 bcd crank, so I can switch out the big ring if I want something for faster paced rides.

The braking isn't phenomenal, but I like the avid ultimates with Stevens' anti-chatter hanger. I find the bike descends very well.

scott
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Re: Drawbacks of using cyclocross bikes on road. [cdumas] [ In reply to ]
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Tom Demerly
Nov 17, 10 7:27
Post #8 of 9 (16116 views)
A real cyclocross bike actually has pretty nimble handling and a high bottom bracket. They are intended for tight handling on bad surfaces at low speeds. As a result, they are a handful on good pavement at higher, road speeds.

Other than that- a 'cross bike is a good sport utility bike.
Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com
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Re: Drawbacks of using cyclocross bikes on road. [Tom Demerly] [ In reply to ]
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roady
Nov 17, 10 8:26
Post #9 of 9 (16046 views)
In Reply To:
A real cyclocross bike actually has pretty nimble handling and a high bottom bracket. They are intended for tight handling on bad surfaces at low speeds. As a result, they are a handful on good pavement at higher, road speeds.

Other than that- a 'cross bike is a good sport utility bike.

That was true a few years ago, but that's been changing. The BB's have gotten a lot lower, and trail has gotten less, so they handle more like road bikes than they did in the past. I'd ridden one of the high BB cross bikes for a winter as my rain bike, and I didn't really like it.

The higher BB thing makes no sense. I remember the guy who designed Redline's cross bikes complaining about this years ago. Cross bikes were designed with higher BBs so you didn't hit your cages from your clip and strap pedals when carrying your bike over the barriers. When's the last time you saw someone racing with clip and straps in cross? I'm pretty sure all of Redline's bikes have a 70mm drop, just like a road bike...

The Ridley in question has reasonably road-like geometry, so it would be fine as a multi-purpose bike.
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