I want to do a cyclocross race next weekend, but currently only have my P2 and a caad 8 road bike. Can I put wider, treaded tires on the caad8 (I think 28 mm is the biggest that will fit…) and ride this? Will bottom bracket clearance be an issue?
I just helped a friend try to do this and the widest we could get was 28 mm commuter tires on it. Not cross tires, and there’s a big difference. So she has a gravel bike now, not a full cross bike and could not race cross in it.
Without cantilever brakes and more clearance, you can’t fit the 32+ mm tires you need. It’s not a good idea.
You will be miserable; it will be dangerous to you; and you’ll likely endanger others. (I know that sounds serious but it’s true).
I recommend that you try to borrow a cross bike. A cross bike can be comfortably made into a road bike, bike not the other way around.
Wow, I’m going to completely disagree with the previous poster. Put on the knobbest tires you can find that fit and go have fun. Will it be ideal? no, but if you’ve never raced cross before it won’t be your biggest barrier (the barriers will be). Go out and have fun! The bottom bracket height might result in a few more pedal strikes, but again not a huge issue.
Wow, I’m going to completely disagree with the previous poster. Put on the knobbest tires you can find that fit and go have fun. Will it be ideal? no, but if you’ve never raced cross before it won’t be your biggest barrier (the barriers will be). Go out and have fun! The bottom bracket height might result in a few more pedal strikes, but again not a huge issue.
Yeah, you can try that. But finding the “knobbiest tires” is harder than you think because they won’t fit between regular road bike brakes. When helping my friend, I couldn’t even fit Michelin Jets on the bike due to the brakes, and those are a pretty narrow, low-profile tread. Forget anything with actual knobs or grip.
Without knobby tires, you risk slipping and hurting yourself or other people. If you are riding alone without others around you, that’s your choice and it could be a lot of fun for sure. Try to just borrow a bike or see if they’ll let you use a cheap mountain bike.
If you have cantilever brakes, it’s not an issue and you’ll be fine.
Yeah, the more I’m reading, the more it seems like tire clearance issues are going to be pretty unavoidable. That’s too bad. I wish I could justify a cyclocross bike purchase, but I was planning on a road bike upgrade for the spring!
If no CX bikes are available for rent, look to rent a hardtail mtb from a local shop.
Agree, try to find an MTB if you can’t find a real CX bike, it will serve you as well if not better and be easier to find.
Back in the 60’s when men were still in high school cycle cross was the end of the road racing season sport. We just raced our road bikes and spent the winter cleaning them up.
I still have the '66 Paramount that I rode back then. It was with standard equipment for road racing, stripped for track racing, and just plain a mess after cross season.
Go have fun
I did exactly that I’m first cross season (18 years ago). I put a Ritchy 28 cx tire on a schwinn paramount. I raced that thing for two seasons. Rough ride with that narrow tire but it got the job done.
Back in the 60’s when men were still in high school cycle cross was the end of the road racing season sport. We just raced our road bikes and spent the winter cleaning them up.
I still have the '66 Paramount that I rode back then. It was with standard equipment for road racing, stripped for track racing, and just plain a mess after cross season.
Go have fun
You want to sell the Paramount by chance?
I think you should do the cross race on your P2, in full aero tuck.
I don’t think I have ridden the Paramount for 20 years. It sits under my custom built steel bike and my Look road and time trial bikes. I see it everyday as I prepare to get on my commuter bike and pedal off to work, and then again when I come home at night. It would need some work to be ridden again, but there is some uncertainty if it would be as good as I remembered it to be. It was my magic carpet to adventure in high school, and then hung in my closet in college where I continued to race it. It has survived my poor attempt at a paint job decades ago. Post college it was raced and then morphed into a long distance, pannier carrying traveling bike. When I worked in Washington DC I would put it in the back of my airplane and fly off somewhere to tour for the day. Now it just regally sits there as the patron saint of my other bikes and is there to remind me of some pretty good times. Funny about such things.
Yeah, the more I’m reading, the more it seems like tire clearance issues are going to be pretty unavoidable. That’s too bad. I wish I could justify a cyclocross bike purchase, but I was planning on a road bike upgrade for the spring!
Planet X’s Uncle John frame is on sale right now for $250. Build it up with spare components.
i got some 28 clincher cross tires and put them on my eddy merckx and ride in the mud sometimes, but the clearance is lousy. when it’s muddy a plug of grass builds up along the chainstays until the wheel stops
I started racing cross this year. I built up a cross bike earlier in the year to commute on.
The local races around here have cross bikes you can rent. A mountain bike is another good option.
I wouldnt want to race on my road bike. Its hard enough keeping the rubber side down on a cross bike it would be even harder with narrower tires. And the biggger tires allow you to run lower pressure which helps alot on a bumpy course.
So if I was to try and do the race on my bike, how about shoes/pedals? I only have spd-sl pedals and road shoes. I imagine these wont last long before getting caked with mud and not functioning.
no, they would be useless. Get a pair of “test ride pedals” from the shop for free and race in your running shoes or borrow some mtb shoes and pedals from a friend
If no CX bikes are available for rent, look to rent a hardtail mtb from a local shop.
I don’t have a CX bike, but there is a local cross race coming up that I wanted to try. How handicapped would I be by riding a hardtail MTB against dedicated CX bikes?
If no CX bikes are available for rent, look to rent a hardtail mtb from a local shop.
I don’t have a CX bike, but there is a local cross race coming up that I wanted to try. How handicapped would I be by riding a hardtail MTB against dedicated CX bikes?
not much at all, especially if you have some nice rolling tires. You can win on a mtb in fact
If no CX bikes are available for rent, look to rent a hardtail mtb from a local shop.
I don’t have a CX bike, but there is a local cross race coming up that I wanted to try. How handicapped would I be by riding a hardtail MTB against dedicated CX bikes?
not much at all, especially if you have some nice rolling tires. You can win on a mtb in fact
So the hierarchy would be CX bike >= Hardtail MTB >>>> road bike converted to cross?