CX racing is my offseason therapy! I can give you some suggestions for what I have found work the best for me. Right now, I am riding a Trek Boone (carbon) with a SRAM Force 1 crank and a Force 1RD with a rival 10-42 cassette with a 48 tooth chainring. I do want to get a 50tooth ring since it seems like I am always in the bottom end of my cassette but have stuck with the 48 for now. For the road/gravel, I run Hutchinson Sector 28’s and for CX racing, I run Specialized Terra Pro 33’s. I also have a pair of the Specialized Pro tracers in 33 for when it is super dry and flat but I mostly race in the Terra’s. I am not a fan of the SRAM stuff but that was the best option at the time I built this two years ago. I really want to go Shimano XTR DI2 1x on it but hate that shimano won’t release a brake lever only for the left side. Let me know if you have any other questions.

How much do you want to spend and how far do you want to go in cross? There's a reason the P12 lines up with carbon, disc, and tubs...

46/36 - 11/32 will take care of literally anything, even most road group rides if you build up an all purpose rig.

I ride carbon. It's amazing. I started on an alu bike.

Buy the max allowed width of 33c for CX. Clement MXP tubeless are an outstanding all rounder.

I love my Di2 on the road, but I ride Force 1x for CX. Dual chainring is useless for CX racing. If you have the money, an XTR di2 rear derailleur 1x setup is pretty sweet too.
For some reason I like the feel of cable actuated shifting in CX.

42x11-32. Suitable for most CX racing. Go with 11-36 if have extremely hilly courses.

Hydraulic disc is a game changer. I recommend.

I went down this path a few years back - although perhaps with more MTB background than you mention. That has it's consequences ;-)

I got a consumer direct carbon bike ( Fezzari ) and I've been mostly very happy with it with 2x SRAM Rival Hydro, Thru-axles and a set of Stan's Grail aluminum wheels set up tubeless. This bike feels great! I love having something that can handle dirt roads and trails, as well as spin along on roads very nicely. I race CX a few times a year, and rode the bike through the winter in Colorado - where we often had plenty of sun, but patches of black-ice in the shadows and gullies that made a CX bike much more confidence inspiring than a roadie.

The frustration I had was with the wheels. I wasn't very shy about taking the bike on singletrack, and the aluminum rims and small tires ( compared to a MTB ) meant the rims took a beating. I stripped down the wheels and hammered the bead straight once or twice and finally bought some carbon wheels and have been much happier. ( For the record I set up ENVY 29r MTB rims with the 700C knobbies and they seated nice as you please - 700C and 29 are the same size ). I considered tubular - but lack of experience and a good deal on the ENVY's made up my mind.

I think the AL rims are fine if you are going to stay on CX courses or farrn roads, but if you are looking for a burlier setup for backroad exploring or gravel grinding budget some extra for wheels that will hold up to it... or maybe just dodge more stuff than I did.

---

" I take my gear out of my car and put my bike together. Tourists and locals are watching from sidewalk cafes. Non-racers. The emptiness of of their lives shocks me. "
(opening lines from Tim Krabbe's The Rider , 1978

ha!

I literally am building up my CX bike with almost exactly what you have recommended. Very happy that my selection gets a seal of approval!

I’m riding this completely stock this year:

https://www.giant-bicycles.com/...ed-pro-1--2017--2016

So far I love it. Came from Al, cantis, Carbon tubulars. Couldn’t be happier w the change. I have some Schwalbe X-One Bites that I’ll mount up for the 3 or 4 mud races I’ll do this year ;) (Texas). You don’t need to start on tubulars. That’s ridiculous. Tubeless is convenient and low cost. My teammate won multiple regional P12 races last year on tubeless. I have another buddy who (like me) is about halfway to a cat 1 upgrade- he rides a Singlespeed w clinchers at 40psi. It’s about the rider. Learn to handle your bike and suffer like a dog. Welcome to the fray. It’s the best!

Probably the wrong time of year to find a used CX bike on the local market, but I'd suggest going that route. Rival/105 is sufficient for cross, you'll beat up the components. No sense putting an expensive derailleur on only to shred it a few weeks later. Find a cheap option then figure out if you like the sport first. Not all roadies like the constant threshold effort.

If you do end up liking it, then you can lay down some money later. I went the used route and am running a pretty heavy aluminium frame with 105's, stock clincher wheels, and mechanical disk brakes. I've got no problems hanging at the front of races. The skill of the rider is much more a premium than the bike he/she is riding. Honestly, the thing holding me back in cross is much more about me as a rider than the bike I'm on.

Standard chain ring sizes are 46/36. But a lot of folks will single ring up front with a 41 or so and go with a bigger 32 cassette in back. Get a couple sets of tires, some file tread and an all purpose tread will do. Really, any cross bike. . . and just get out there. It's a blast.

A few quick suggestions. Firstly, as a bit of background i am a cat 2 cross/road cyclist racing in the midwest on varied terrain. I spent a lot of time training on gravel roads. A lot of suggests will be colored by personal preference, ability level, and experience, so take everything i say with a grain of salt.

The ideal setup will have disc brakes with thru axles, plenty of clearance for 40+mm tires, and ideally a tubeless gravel wheelset and a tubular cross wheelset. This is your must have list. Frame material will not matter, sure saving 300 grams is nice but that is not costing you a race. If it comes down to a carbon frame or a second wheelset, get the aluminum frame with a second wheelset. I personally use 1x for cross gravel but i do change gearing out between races fairly often. My go to gearing is 44 x 11-36 for cyclocross and 46 x 11-36 for gravel races. I do have a bail out front ring for really muddy/hilly races that is a 40 tooth. If i was running 2x it would be a 46/36 up front and 11-32 or 11-36 in the rear. The 2x system is ideal if you want a do it all gear combo with no hassle changing out rings. If you are an absolute monster you can run the EURO-PRO setup with a 46/39 up front and 11-36 in the rear. In contrast many newer cyclists find something more simple such as a 46/34 to provide a better range.

For groupsets it really comes down to what you are willing to spend. If 2x i would go with ultegra DI2, if 1x then sram force cx1 with the clutch RD is exceptional (keeps proper tension on the chain). Both are great options, i think the Shimano brake system is more robust but DI2 is more expensive. You can also rig a DI2 1x with a XT/XTR DI2 RD but i personally don't see the point in electronic 1x. I personally ride CX1 for my cross/gravel bike with no issues at all (DI2 on my road and TT bike).

Wheel choice is next, dont worry about the nice carbon rims. You want a reliable and robust tubeless wheelset with a great all around gravel tire such as the cannonball teravail (bomb proof). This is your go to gravel wheelset that can also be used for some grassy dry cross races. The second wheelset is a tubular wheelset for more technical, wet, muddy cross races. The tubular tire allows you to run much lower pressure with no worries about pinch flats or burped tires. There is a reason 99% of professional cyclocross riders use tubular tires. To keep it simple i would get a a pair of wheels built from somebody such as prowheelbuilder.com or wheelbuilder.com. Nothing fancy, a simply set of HED belgium tubular rims with DT Swiss 350 hubs and Sapim cx ray spokes. Next you will need a pair of tubular tires.

Tubular tire choice can end up looking like a Trump vs Hillary discussion, but there are one or two very simple options. Clement MXP front and rear. These are very easy to mount, no sealing required on the outside, and the tread is the best all around tread. The lifespan is very good and you can use use stans in them if you want. If you tend to have wet/muddy races then i would suggest the Clement PDX front and rear. If you are interested in a more "Euro" option i would suggest the Challenge Baby Limus Team Edition front and rear, cant go wrong with this combo ( i am using these now). You will need to apply aquaseal on the sides as the casing is cotton and it can degrade over time. The gluing process is very simply and will take around an hour, lots of good youtube videos on the process. I promise you the tubular tire investment is worth your time!! Next tire pressure.

Tire pressure is a critical aspect to racing cross and riding gravel. A lot will depend on your bodyweight, conditions, rim width, and tire width. In general at 150lbs i will race gravel around 45-55psi. For a really smooth gravel ride i will ride them at 60psi, for the really chunky gravel i will go down to 40psi. Just play around with different options until you find what you like. Cross tire pressure more important as you don't want to bottom the tire out but you want maximal tire grip during corners. At 145-150lbs i tend to race around 25-27psi in the front and 28-30 in the rear. For really open cross races that are fast with dry dirt and grass i will ride at 28-30 front and 32-34 rear. The lowest pressure i have run is 20 front and 25 rear on a super muddy race but the rim was starting to bottom out.

XTR pedals, they are the best. They last forever and never fail.

As far as bike fit i replicate my road position, nothing different. Same width handlebars, same fit coordinates. Some like to bring the bars in around 10mm and up 5-10mm, that is fine, just personal choice. For really long gravel rides bringing things closer in and up will help if you get low back tightness.

As far as specific bikes most will be fine, here are four options that are 100% rock solid choices:

1. Canyon Inflite SLX 9 (4100)
2. Open U.P. Ultegra DI2 (this bike is pricey, but really well designed) (5900)
3. Specialized Elite X1 (3200)
4. Trek Boone 7 Disc (4000)

And if you really want to go all out the 2018 Specialized S-Works Crux at 7500 is my number 1 choice if money is no option.

Anyways sorry for the rambling post but i hope this sparks some thoughts and helps guide you in the right direction. I have found that gravel road are far safer and more enjoyable and cyclocross is never dull!!