The engine is more important than the bike. I passed a guy in IMWI on a cross bike and he seemed to be having a fine day. The nice thing about a tri bike is that you get skeletal support for upper body and arms and this helps fight fatigue. On the other hand, tour riders are on the hoods or drops for the same time and do fine, so no reason you can't either.

However, what I would do in similar circumstances is keep your current bike for commuting and general training, and buy a used tri bike already equipped the way you want it. There are some great deals out there right now with season winding down for some people.

Why are you thinking of a CX bike, rather than another road bike? I know the CAADX is a decent enough CX bike, but unless you're riding CX then in my opinion you'd be better off with a better road bike with clip ons etc etc if you like. The extra frame clearances, beefier construction and cantilever brakes are all an unnecessary compromise.

I would suggest getting an average Tri bike and using your existing road bike for the other stuff vs. CX bike and trying to make it do everything. If you are going to do HIM's and IM's you will be better off using a bike built to do that.

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Member of the Litespeed Factory Team
www.litespeed.com

I was thinking CX as I like the idea of being able to put on fatter tires (gravel commute portion, trails with family, etc) and the disc brakes. The more it plays in my mind the more the answer is to get a CX bike for general cruising with the ability to put on smaller tires and have a passable roadie for century rides or training and then a TT bike for its designed use...wife not going to likey.

I don't have a cross bike but have a number of friends who do. A CX bike can do 95% of what a road bike can do and add in a 2nd set of narrow road wheels/tires and you're up to 99%. A tri bike will obviously be faster in a time trial setting but I doubt a CX bike with the right tires and clipons will be any slower than a similarly set up road bike in a triathlon.

I think it depends on how much gravel riding you will be doing and how rough those roads are. If the gravel you do is not too bad and your road bike can fit wider wheels/tires, you can continue to use your road bike and get a tri bike. If you really need a cross bike for your gravel rides, or, your road bike really sucks and the CAADX will be a decent upgrade, then go that route.

as far as plan goes, what ever will get you on the road the most is your best option. if the cross bike get you out in the winter to commute and put more miles, it become rather easy with good fitness to put on slick race tire or race wheels, a pair of clip on and race on it. The engine is a lot more important that the bike.

Your second option of a cheap winter bike and a entry level tri bike is really good also. Do what ever will get you on the road the most....

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Jonathan Caron / Professional Coach / ironman champions / age group world champions
Jonnyo Coaching
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You'd be amazed what you can ride a road bike on, even with 23mm slicks.

My road bike is currently running with 28 tire at the back and 25 at the front with no problems (other than probably breaking some cycling etiquette about running different tire sizes). I commute on some pretty bad roads and in some pretty bad conditions with no problems. I don't think you need disc brakes unless you're going off-road.

If it was me I'd keep the road bike and add a second-hand or sale TT bike. At HIM and IM distance, the comfort and skeletal support of a proper TT position really does pay big dividends over a road position. You can get that position pretty cheaply on an entry-level TT bike.

I'd also say that if possible get 2 bikes where wheels can be easily interchanged (i.e. both running compatible gear sets). Even if you just have 2 basic sets of wheels and no fancy race wheels, it's handy to be able to switch out wheels and tires easily if you have one bike serving multiple purposes. I.e. have one set with wider commuter tires on during the week and then be able to switch to something a little slicker when you go out for a weekend ride.

I rode my heavy aluminum cross bike with road tires for a training loop for Savageman a month ago. Average speed was 14.4 on 163 watts average power. Did the course on race day with a light carbon road bike, latex tubes, more aero clothing, and 808 front wheel. Average speed 14.8 on 162 watts. .4 mph difference over 3.5 hours is 1.4 mile, or about 5 minutes difference. (I can't compare exact times because where we parked and started/ended on race day was not exactly the same as the race--we were a little shorter on training day.)

And before you laugh at my average speeds, which admittedly aren't great, realize that this was with 6000 feet of climbing. Normalized power was 209.

yes, your plan is a good one. You may want to fiddle with gearing, or better yet have the shop make changes before you take delivery, depending on your fitness and terrain. The disc brakes are very nice and you should be able to mount full fenders and run fat tires if you wish, trail ride or do just fine on the road. There is no reason a strong rider could not win the olympic road race on a cross bike with proper tires and gearing, it's just no big deal

If you plan to use aero bars, your position will not be the greatest due to the seat tube angle and inability to drop the bars enough. A shorter bar like a Profil Jammer might work best. Running a zero setback post and adjustable stem for the longer events might be worth the time

I ride my cross bike way more than my TT bike, that's for sure

Thx for all the input, I keep going around and around.

I saw the upcoming CAAD10's will have disc brakes, sort of thought it might be a better option vs. cantilevers long term (not sure if that causes huge hassle in wheel swaps). Currently have 28's on my road bike which is maxed out on a low end craigslisted Trek 2.1, so almost anything would be an upgrade. I like the idea of two wheelsets on it to help make it versatile/easy to swap out.

My biggest concern is that I wouldnt ride the TT bike much other than racing (and on the trainer), whereas I would use the CX bike nearly daily in some fashion. For anyone who has done IMWI maybe you can comment on prevalence of road bikes vs tri bikes? Thats really the 2+yr plan at this point.

Have you ever used your current brakes and gone "dang - these brakes don't work - I need more stopping power"?

Yes having disc brakes does cause a huge hassle in swapping out wheels. Cantilver brakes allow you to use anything.

I would say tri bikes greatly outnumbered road bikes. I did not see any mountain bikes or hybrids. I did see one cross bike ridden by a friendly fellow with a long beard. Nice guy - seemed to be having fun.

You plan for a cross bike would work fine. You'd need different tires, and to make it easier probably at least two sets of wheels. With a "fast forward" seatpost and some clip ons, you'll be good to go for triathlon mode.

Don't get disc brakes. Not necessary at all and just makes things more expensive and complicated for you (the post below about resale value is a good point, but not worth worrying about in my opinion).

Be prepared to do some hands-on work when you need to switch the bike from one set up to another, but this kind of work is actually fun and satisfying.

If I owned just one bike, I'd do what you're planning to do.

Disc brakes will make you CX bike more marketable if you ever want to sell it. Discs are becoming the way to go in actual cross racing which, by the way, is really starting to take off with the road bike masses. Every fall there a lots of roadies looking around for a used cross bike to give it a try. One with discs will be a little easier to sell and bring you more money if you decide to change direction on your bike plan.

The downside to discs if that if you invest in a second set of wheels, they will be disc wheels and not usable if you change your mind and decide you want a road or tri bike. (But, that used market will be available to you to unload them).