After a lot of good input I have expanded my search from SS to geared bikes and have found a promising bike on Craigslist. I have found a real nice 2012 Jake the Snake right in my price range and wanted to know folks impressions of the brand/bike. Also, it is a 56 cm and looking at the geometry it seems it should be a fairly good fit for me (5’11" with 32" inseam) - does that sound right? Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks
they will all be pretty heavy, I think Surly makes one too in a singlespeed and maybe the Felt Breed but I think that’s discontinued.
A lot of people dislike the eccentric bottom bracket, any frame with a horizontal track dropout would be a better option. Maybe that Cinelli Mash? It has a narrower track spaced rear wheel though. Redline made a nice on for a while also
You can use a MTB also, i set my regular cross bike up as SS last season using a white industris ENO hub, which worked fine, this year I’m going to try using my surly 1x1 26 inchwheel frame with 700c disc wheels and normal cross tires, they appear to be about the same height. I used a SS mtb in the pit but raced it sometimes instead and seemed to do fine on it, the one SS race I won was on the MTB, go figure.
Frankly, SS cross is OK but no thrill. Are you sure it’s what you want to do? I just did it because of the time of day the races start, I was able to race after my daughter in the junior category. You are in the wrong gear about 98% of the time, though it’s nice in really foul weather
These are really good points. One of my concerns going with a geared bike initially is that I expect to fall (and fall often). I was concerned with having the derailleurs getting damaged. So, the simplicity of the single speed appealed to me. As I gain experience, I figured I could either convert the bike or pick up a geared cross bike. Am I over thinking this?
These are really good points. One of my concerns going with a geared bike initially is that I expect to fall (and fall often). I was concerned with having the derailleurs getting damaged. So, the simplicity of the single speed appealed to me. As I gain experience, I figured I could either convert the bike or pick up a geared cross bike. Am I over thinking this?
I think you may be overthinking…cross is pretty rough on components but I don’t think it’s that rough. Unless you are racing SS only races (of which there are a bunch) or are really strong, you are probably going to get crushed riding SS vs. geared. If it is the draw of single speed racing, as opposed to mechanical simplicity/cost, you can always get a geared bike and do the ‘zip tie single speed.’ If you are not familiar, it’s exactly what it sounds like: you take zip ties and tie your shifter to your brake lever so you can’t shift. A lot a folks, myself included will do that as a 2nd race of the day, as the SS is frequently later in the day then the main category races. Going this route for SS give you the obvious advantage of having a geared bike for a regular race. Also, it is very easy to change the gear ratio you pick as you don’t have to do any wrenching to change the cogs you choose.
Hope this is helpful
A SS cross racing bike in an incredible specific beast that I unless its exactly what you need its not what you want. The risk of component damage during a CX crash isn’t that big. Keep in mind these are low speed crashes on grass and mud and almost always occur around corners or up steep hill where you can predict a problem might occur and are in a body position to handle it.
Finally if you want to save a bit of $ don’t buy a bike with discs especially not an SS with discs. For all weather training on gravel, muddy and/or poorly maintained roads discs are great. For true CX racing they are unnecessary which is why many of the pros still haven’t made the transitions. The reality of CX racing is that you rarely need much in the way of braking power. Combine big tires at low pressures with a lot of mud and sand and a CX bike will naturally decelerate much quicker than a road bike.
i agree with others who suggest just getting a normal geared rim brake bike hopefully used to learn on. The courses are not that rough and you fall at walking speed, it’s no big deal. If you already own a MTB just use that instead.
I like an aluminum frame with a press in headset and older style screw in bottom bracket. 9 speed is fine, clincher tires with plain old 32 spoke wheels are all you need, many people just run a single chainring with some sort of guard in the front and maybe 12-27 in the back
I’d avoid singlespeed, it’s not a good way to learn to race. If there is a practice in your area or clinics, go and learn how to do the skills
Thanks. Seems that considering I’m a beginner, the consensus is that the geared route is more appropriate. I guess I run the risk of giving up the sport too quickly if I make it too hard initially (going the single-speed route). Guess it’s back to the drawing board trying to find a good entry level bike. But it sounds like a good cost savings is going with cantilever brakes as opposed to disk. I appreciate the guidance.
I know you have spent a bit of time on the forums asking and you want to go single speed. I’m not going to try and talk you out of that. I am going to try talking you out of buying a single-speed bike though.
Going from a single speed bike to a gear biked is a mega pain. You need new shifters (the bikes you listed don’t have shifters in them, those are only brake levers), derailleurs, cables, cassette and a chain at the minimum. Only one of your options above looks like it could possibly handle 2 rings up front due to the SS specific crank. It’s almost a guarantee that if you went 1x9 or 10 or 11 up front, your shifters wouldn’t match and probably not even fit the same. It’s not that looks matter, but your hands could be in two different spots. Your brakes might feel different from each other too if there is much variation between cable pulls. It might not be enough to matter either. It’s also not a guarantee that all those wheelsets could even accept a cassette. Wheelsets specific for single speed don’t have room for a cassette. I can’t tell by the descriptions above, but you would have to make sure the rear hubs could accept a cassette if you think you *might *go geared at some point. By the time you get all the necessary stuff to cobble together a geared bike, you are probably better off buying another bike.
Buy a geared bike and turn it into a single speed.
CX magazine has a great write-up from a few years ago about how to convert to single speed and all the information is still good. Read it here. I basically did the same thing on my own.
You don’t need an eccentric bottom bracket and probably don’t want one. A chain tensioner that acts like a non shifting derailleur is a good choice. It bolts where the rear derailleur would and puts enough tension on the chain to keep it from flying off. Take off your cassette and put on the cog of your choosing. The bikes you showed had gearing all over the place. Some seemed more appropriate for road and some for off-road. The right gear for a CX race will have you spinning 110+rpm on the road. The right gear for the road would be too tough to pedal off road. Others have pointed out that you’re rarely in the ‘right’ gear for SS, but there’s usually a ‘best’ gear for each circumstance. Luckily, cogs are cheap and easy to swap out. Having a chain tensioner will allow for that instead of having to fiddle around with an eccentric bottom bracket and your seat height every time you want to switch cogs. Use the Sheldon Brown Gear Calculator (here’s the link) to figure out ideal gearing.
A 2015 Redline Conquest Comp (among many others) seems to be in your price range and would be a great candidate to convert to SS. I would swap out for knobby tires, but the rest is race ready. My experience says that you want fairly knobby tires on a SS for all but the driest conditions. Go with larger tires too. There’s no need to fool around with a 30-32. Standing up to pedal makes it harder for the rear tire to grip.Also, you really want to be sure you can trust your tires when you’re pushing hard into corners and/or times when it doesn’t make sense to pedal. That means knobs, especially blocky ones on the shoulders if it’s anything other than bone dry hardpack.
If I were in your spot, I would buy something like that Redline Conquest. I don’t own one, but those are supposed to be great entry level bikes for cx. The front crank is a 34/50 which is an awesome range. I think that makes so much more sense than the 36/46 constantly specced on cx bikes. For off-road, a 16 tooth cog in the back would be good while a 13 or 14 for the road would make more sense. I would buy this chain tensioner (or similar quality/features) online or at an LBS. It appears similar to the one I use. Since single speed specific chains like a SRAM PC1 are a little wide, I don’t think it would play nice sitting on the small ring on a double crank. It could be wide enough to mark up the inside of the big ring and eat the shifting ramps. A 9 speed SRAM and KMC chain for $10-15 is the way to go. It will be narrow enough to play nice with a 2x and not be as expensive as a 10 or 11 speed chain. I have something like this for the cogs in back. 16 in back with a 34 up front is really good for off-road/cx. This kit will give you a few cogs so you can find what’s best for you.
For ~$50-60 bucks extra and an hour of your time, you can make a quality geared bike into a true SS bike. You also have all the parts to go back to geared (or retain your resale value).
nationals were just a couple weeks ago and many people are moving to discs, so in the 800-1000 range you should be able to find a very nice used bike. If you don’t do your own work be careful because the sport is rough on equipment and a used bike may need a lot of wear parts replaced and that gets expensive if you have to pay a shop.
You local shops may have some rim brake bikes they are dying to get rid of
Out of those options I know of a few riders on the State Thunderbird.
As it was already mentioned many times they will allow you to race single speed with zip tied shifters if you have a geared bike.
As far as damaging equipment form crashes its probably not going to be as bad as you think. I would recommend aluminum bars. Most of the time when I crash (fairly often while CX racing) my hoods often get knocked out of place and my stem gets knocked out of alignment with the front wheel. The only part I had to replace after 2 seasons is 1 hood cover which ripped. It had been ripped for a long time.
I’ve had to replace more big shorts than bike parts. A hole ripped in 1 pair a few weeks ago when someone crashed into me. Another pair I ripped a hole during a dismount or remount when it got caught on the nose of my saddle.
and i agree with the post above about the conquest, it’s nice because it comes in a lot of sizes and even fit ME. You shop can order just one through (I believe) quality. They may have rim brake bikes left, also Kona may be another option in a nice AL bike
Thanks for this explanation, very helpful. I was just looking at the Redline Conquest bike. Definitely falls within my price range. I am going to swing by my LBS to talk frame size. I appreciate everyone’s input. - Dave
around here we sometimes get mud and leaves mixed together and it rips off the RD, hanger and chain in one expensive swoop. That’s one the advantages of the SS I guess
i did have one little boo boo but that was operator error. I think this can be rubbed out
For true CX racing they are unnecessary which is why many of the pros still haven’t made the transitions.
I would say the opposite. Many of the pros ARE on discs.
Pretty much all the American pros are on disc brakes. Not that they do well at worlds, they’re better than Slowtwitch.
Van Der Haar, Pauwells, and Nys are also on discs.
I don’t know about van see haar but both Nys and Pauwells have raced on both disc and canti equipped bikes in World Cup CX races this year. If I remember correctly the riders had different tire pressures in disc and canti bikes allowing them to make a last second choice on what to race with based on changing conditions. I guess using the different brakes prevented them from mixing up the different bikes.
Nys has also said that his move to race on discs was driven by the bike choice Trek offered him rather than personal preference. When the manufacturers are making their best frames in disc only builds its a no brainier that’s what you ride.
Regarding disc brakes, if you’re buying a new bike, I would suggest them just for future proofness. If this is your first cx bike, buy something used and see if you like it. Cantis are more than adequate for 90% of races. I would like to have discs for hilly gravel training rides with fast/steep descents and thats about all. Outside of this years cx nats course I’ve wanted for better brakes during a race exactly 0 times. If you’re racing with any level of skill you’ll find that you hardly use them. I guess if you’re terrible discs might add some confidence, but location dependent its not a big deal.
For SS vs. gears… Well, be certain that you really want a single speed. Have you spent much time on one? Done much on a SS mtb? I love the idea of a SS, but every time I ride one I find the experience to be horrible. If you’re primarily worried about component damage just start with shimano 105. Individual derailleurs are cheap to replace (and its unlikely you’ll need to do so).
Just cruise Craigslist and any other place you can find for a decent used geared bike. I recommend the discs, get them now, they aren’t terribly expensive and you won’t have to upgrade your entire bike the next year.
I spent a month or two looking and found my 2013 Cannondale CAADX with full Ultegra 6700 and disc brakes for $800 on Craigslist. Some guy bought it, rode it 10 miles then it sat in his garage until I bought it, absolutely brand new condition. There are good deals out there on CX bikes, just take your time and find one (with disc).
Thanks. I took all the good advice I was getting and think I may have found a good used bike (Kona Jake the Snake). Can’t say I am familiar with the brand or bike, but from what I have read online it seems pretty positive. It’s a 56 cm, so now I’m wondering at 5’11" with a 32" inseam if it would be the right size.
That’ll be a good size for a 5’11" humanoid. JtS is a cool bike.
I don’t know about van see haar but both Nys and Pauwells have raced on both disc and canti equipped bikes in World Cup CX races this year. If I remember correctly the riders had different tire pressures in disc and canti bikes allowing them to make a last second choice on what to race with based on changing conditions. I guess using the different brakes prevented them from mixing up the different bikes.
Nys has also said that his move to race on discs was driven by the bike choice Trek offered him rather than personal preference. When the manufacturers are making their best frames in disc only builds its a no brainier that’s what you ride.
To me the Euros seem more reluctant than North Americans to switch to disc. I’m sure part of it is the more tradition involved in CX in Europe.
I think another thing that people overlook is that these guys have tons of wheels. I mean a lot. All the big Euro pros have multiple bikes and many different wheelsets glued up with tires for every condition. Some wheelsets may be only used once or twice a year for specific courses and conditions.
Even though sponsored, replacing all of those wheels and tires and “aging them properly” as some like to do takes awhile and may not seem worth it.
For the lower levels, swapping disc wheels on a bike is a little more problematic - they never seem to line up exactly; especially while trying to change it yourself in the middle of a race. That’s why most people have multiple bikes, if they have the budget. Then, their mechanic has to fix it in less than half a lap (about 3-5 minutes)