Best CX bike for £1,000 or less?

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mythste

Veteran
Location
Manchester
Did you test ride your Focus in Liverpool, sir? I've just done a check on dealers local to me and see that 2 shops in Sheffield that I visited last week are listed as dealers but they def didn't have any CX Focus models in when I was there. I guess I could ask them to order one in but I doubt they'd do that unless they thought I was definately going to buy it?

That I did. If you find yourself up this way, you're welcome to have a nosey.
 
If you are able to get to Sheffield might be worth having a look in Planet X;

http://www.planetx.co.uk/stores/planet-x-sheffield

this might be suitable,not that I am biased:rolleyes:.Sram only though;

http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/CBPXXLSRIV10/planet-x-xls-sram-rival-cyclocross-bike
 

david k

Hi
Location
North West
That I did. If you find yourself up this way, you're welcome to have a nosey.
Hi,

I love in St helens and have a 1k voucher, had my heart set on boardman cx team but we have swapped to cycle scheme and cannot use it there now ! Arh!

So looking at alternatives, sat on a cannon dale and liked the frame, felt good, not a big fan of the paint job. It it's ok and don't like the external cables but these are not deal breakers, would like to here your expernce and possibly lol at what you went for if possible
 

mythste

Veteran
Location
Manchester
Hi,

I love in St helens and have a 1k voucher, had my heart set on boardman cx team but we have swapped to cycle scheme and cannot use it there now ! Arh!

So looking at alternatives, sat on a cannon dale and liked the frame, felt good, not a big fan of the paint job. It it's ok and don't like the external cables but these are not deal breakers, would like to here your expernce and possibly lol at what you went for if possible

I got mine from Picton cycles in the end, great bunch and felt no pressure asking for a test ride.

The CAADX was lighter and the shifting was crisper, I've no doubt if I was going racing it's the bike i'd choose. The Focus, however, seemed better finished and a much smoother ride. For my purposes, and because the geometry felt better, I chose the Focus. I might be out and about on sunday, I'll shoot you a message if you like so you can take a look?
 

david k

Hi
Location
North West
That would be great thanks, I have raised an issue as when I originally enquirer we could only buy from halfords and I wanted and reserved a boardman team cx, since I was caught up in the change they have agreed in principle they will look at cancelling the voucher, if it's possible I'll cancel and get my original choice, if not I'll prob go for the dale, I've been in contact with picton cycles and agree they are a great bunch

I got mine from Picton cycles in the end, great bunch and felt no pressure asking for a test ride.

The CAADX was lighter and the shifting was crisper, I've no doubt if I was going racing it's the bike i'd choose. The Focus, however, seemed better finished and a much smoother ride. For my purposes, and because the geometry felt better, I chose the Focus. I might be out and about on sunday, I'll shoot you a message if you like so you can take a look?
 
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Steezy

Regular
@vickster @Elybazza61 @Saluki
Thanks for the suggestion, I would love to support a local bike maker and buy from Planet X and I did visit the store over xmas with my brother. We got some good clothing but the bikes were all carbon frames with no mounts as mentioned above and I'm not minded to start tie-wrapping guards etc on, and certainly not a pannier rack, so as I see it that counts them out for me :sad:

@mythste - skittish I don't like the sound of, but this makes me lean more towards the CAADX than the Focus for what I'm after -
The CAADX was lighter and the shifting was crisper, I've no doubt if I was going racing it's the bike i'd choose
My brother is currently awaiting delivery of a CAADX 105 though, which is another point against getting one.
 
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Steezy

Regular
@John S - again, thanks for the suggestion. I do love the look of the Genesis range and am a bit of a sucker for the steel frame aesthetic in particular, but when I hefted the Cdf that I saw recently it felt pretty heavy and I want to get better than Sora from my £1,000. I'm not sure about the Day One...no experience of hubs so not sure what to think really - my gut tells me that the added weight and only having 8 speeds might make it not for me.
Similarly the Tdf you link to is too much of a tourer for me - I want something that can fly, but I'm really grateful to you for making me look again at their site as it made me realise that this gorgeous beast is just about in my price range -

http://www.genesisbikes.co.uk/bikes/road/road-disc/equilibrium-disc-10

I know I am kind of undermining the whole thread here given that this isn't a CX, but I am finding this seriously hard to get out of my mind right now!
As you mentioned with the Alfine though, seems they've done the same with the 2015 frame here and switched from from Reynolds 520 to Genesis Mjölnir.

Can anyone offer any insights into how much (if at all) this frame swap is a step down over the Reynolds? And also how the Eq10 geometry would compare with the likes of the CAADX?
Any feedback on this would also be massively appreciated...
I see it has a 50/34 ratio as opposed to the CAADX's 46/36 - did you find that made a big difference to the ride in anyway? Can anyone explain to me what that means exactly in practical terms? That the CAADX gives more ratios for hills and the Focus is better set up to push harder on the flat like a road bike would be my assumption but maybe I've got that wrong

Cheers all
 

vickster

Legendary Member
I'm sure px do road bikes with fatter tyres and discs that'll take a rack? The london road? My genesis eq has its rack attached with p clips, a simple solution and full guards. I have the 20, built from frame set

Have you looked at the genesis range?

Cross post :-)

Eastway have some good looking bikes too, if wanting something a bit different. Dolan have a cx option too
 
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Steezy

Regular
see that they've changed the frame from Reynolds 520 to Genesis Mjölnir

I'm sure px do road bikes with fatter tyres and discs that'll take a rack? The london road? My genesis has its rack attached with p clips, a simple solution

Have you looked at the genesis range?

Cross post :-)

Wow, you're quick!!

I know you have a Genesis @vickster so if you or anyone else you know on here could advise me about the frame and spec generally on the Eq10 Disc I'd be really grateful. I love the look of the bike but am concerned that I might get sucked in based on its looks when in fact it's a pretty poor frame and spec compared to the higher end Genesis range and the Focus/CAADX kind of bikes I'm also looking at (but finding far less visually appealing).
 
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Steezy

Regular
PS - PX didn't have any London Roads in when I visited so I couldn't look at one and they said if I wanted to order one it'd be 3 months and lime green only. So it's a no from me for that one.
 

mythste

Veteran
Location
Manchester
@mythste - skittish I don't like the sound of, but this makes me lean more towards the CAADX than the Focus for what I'm after -

My brother is currently awaiting delivery of a CAADX 105 though, which is another point against getting one.

For reference, the bike I rode was used in a season of cyclocross already (one of the staff members is in a cyclocross team) so the crisp shifting may have been down to having been "bedded in". I'm noticing the shifting on my Focus is easing up already.
 

John_S

Über Member
Hi Steezy,

I've not ridden an Equilibrium but like you I'm a big fan of the look of a steel bike. I have tried searching for a review of the 2015 Equlibrium Disc 10 to read someone else's opinion but I can't find one. Therefore I'll be really interested if anyone with one posts a reply.

Re: the frame the only thing I've been able to find following a quick search about the Mjölnir is taken from the Genesis catalogue, link below, but if the link to a pdf of their catalogue doesn't work I've copied the text.

http://www.genesisbikes.co.uk/img/uploads/files/genesis_cat2015_web.pdf

"Mjölnir
AKA ‘Thor’s Hammer’ and pronounced
‘Myol-n(ee)r‘ our new double-butted, cold-drawn, seamless, Taiwanese chromoly tubeset also goes by the aliases of 4130, Cr-Mo and Chromo. It’s a like-for-like replacement of Reynolds 520 tubing which helps keep a lid on price without sacrificing performance. And herein lies the reason for the switch – a saving can be passed onto the consumer via either a healthy price drop or a little more room for up-speccing. We think the switch makes total sense; same weight, same great ride characteristics but a heck of a lot more bang- for-your-buck, no-brainer."

The Day One Alfine 8 had the Reynolds 520 tubing and Genesis say this is a like-for-like replacement but this isn't an independent opinion so I guess you have to take their word for it. You could get a better steel frame but unfortunately as with everything it'll cost more. I don't know if you've got any LBS anywhere near you that sell Genesis bikes but if you do have something nearby and can get to it it would be worth going to have a look especially if they have Equlibrium models in stock so you can see what you think of them in the flesh.

Re: the Alfine 8 and the 520 tubing I appreciate that it wasn't the lightest bike in the world compared to todays standards. However for me I'm not racing anyone on my ride to work and a comfortable, reliable bike that will work in all conditions and fingers crossed last a while was more important to me than going down the route of the lightest quickest bike that I could find. One thing to say though is that despite riding for a long time I've never had many bikes and I've not owned any light weight racing bikes. Therefore to me I had no problems at all with the weight of a hub geared, Reynolds 520 steel bike but for someone else if they'd been used to light weight carbon racing bikes they might well feel a different way.

I'm still saving my pennies towards my next bike and I'll be interested to hear what you go for whatever it is. Also if you manage to get a test ride on an Equlibrium I'd also like to hear back on what you think.

John
 
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