Cyclocross bike for commute
- Thread starter brickisred
- Start date
Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.
wafflycat
New Member
- Location
- middle of Norfolk
My offspring has his cyclocross bike (based on a Kinesis Crosslight Pro frameset) kitted out as a tourer/commuter. Ideal for crappy, potholed, flint-strewn, muddy, broken-up Norfolk lanes.
bauldbairn
New Member
- Location
- Falkirk
Norm said:
Yeah Norm that's exactly what a Tricross is for!
My favourite bits were when I thought you looked like you were doing between 60/80mph - till I noticed the "X4."
- 
Nice commute, by the way.
And it does seem to work well.bauldbairn said:Yeah Norm that's exactly what a Tricross is for!
Doesn't everyone cycle at that speed?bauldbairn said:My favourite bits were when I thought you looked like you were doing between 60/80mph - till I noticed the "X4."
(There's one for the exaggerating CC'ers thread. ) My kids fell for that too, although they still aren't convinced that the bit where I come off the bridge (starting at about 6 minutes) was at normal speed. It's kinda fun hitting that sort of terrain at speed on a bike with drops.
If only (I'm UB40 at the moment).bauldbairn said:Nice commute, by the way.
I was delivering something to a friend just across the river. It's about 4 miles by bike, but over twice that by car so, in Thursday evening "rush hour", the bike is considerably faster.
sleekitcollie
Well-Known Member
- Location
- winchburgh west lothian
Hi I also ride a Specialized Tricross sport 2010 . Mostly on roads so far but will take it off road soon . Seems a nice bike not as comfy as my mountain bike over bumpys etc but that's to be expected and as my 1st non mountain bike it will take time to get used to . Thinking off changing the tyres for something bit more road based to see if it makes any diff in speed , although I susspect it may be my old legs that have the prob there and not the tyre type . Anybody help with alternate tyre suggestion that would fit .
I kept the suicide brake leavers on and find them very usefull alhough I can't get by barbag on with them but will keep em I think
only 1 issue with it so far is toe overlap . U have to be pretty carefull as it's quite bad and I've caught the wheel and mud gaurd a few times and came off once as well because of it . Bike is a size 52 so pretty small don't know if bigge size would make a difference here
overall I'm liking the bike and plan to tour a wee bit as well and as it can take front and rear racks it's ideal . Really ur getting 3 types of bike in 1 . Off roader . Tourer and road bike ( even if not the fastest )
I kept the suicide brake leavers on and find them very usefull alhough I can't get by barbag on with them but will keep em I think
only 1 issue with it so far is toe overlap . U have to be pretty carefull as it's quite bad and I've caught the wheel and mud gaurd a few times and came off once as well because of it . Bike is a size 52 so pretty small don't know if bigge size would make a difference here
overall I'm liking the bike and plan to tour a wee bit as well and as it can take front and rear racks it's ideal . Really ur getting 3 types of bike in 1 . Off roader . Tourer and road bike ( even if not the fastest )
biggs682
Touch it up and ride it
- Location
- Northamptonshire
i use a marin bear valley circa 92 for majority of my comuting and a good drop bared racer for sunny days
This thread might help.sleekitcollie said:
A psycho-cross bike will take a wide variety of tyres, what works for you will depend on what sort of surfaces you want the bike set for. If you are sticking on tarmac, you should find that a narrower road tyre will be faster and easier (in terms of effort) to ride although it could reduce the comfort further.
MacB
Lover of things that come in 3's
- Location
- Farnborough, Hampshire
Norm said:
very good Norm, with the sound up, your heavy breathing and the switches between speeds, this sounds a bit like a 1970's porn film soundtrack...could a new career beckon?
MacB said:very good Norm, with the sound up, your heavy breathing and the switches between speeds, this sounds a bit like a 1970's porn film soundtrack...could a new career beckon?
Last night, I got half way through voicing exactly that opinion before I realised I was talking to my kids. 
sleekitcollie
Well-Known Member
- Location
- winchburgh west lothian
thanx Norm , some good info and advice there
cheers
cheers
GrasB
Veteran
- Location
- Nr Cambridge
Norm, apologies for the post mangling but I don't think the image list needs to be seen twice.
That's all very nice but this looks nothing worse that my road fixie handles without blinking... and that's a light weight steel framed road bikeNorm said:I had a quick run to the next village this afternoon, so attached my camera to show the sort of route which a Tricross eats.
....
Excuse the quality, they are screen shots from the video.
If your run includes farm tracks
and a busy village with speed humps
with maybe the odd cattle grid
or two
but you want the speed to handle a narrow stretch of NSL rat-run road
and the strength to maybe do the odd kerb hop
and some long
long
stretches of mud and river bank
but you still want to make a small climb without an issue
then I would recommend a cyclo-cross style bike.
Possibly - but do you weigh 20 stone?GrasB said:That's all very nice but this looks nothing worse that my road fixie handles without blinking... and that's a light weight steel framed road bike
I've yet to try a fixie (I don't need no steeenking N+1
) but my steelie would probably also handle it. However, I would want to take my Secteur on that sort of run. Is that concern rational? Do I have any evidence that it wouldn't take it? The answer to both of those is probably not, but the Tricross just feels right for that sort of run. Another 6-mile trip down the river today, the mud was a little deep and a little soggy in places but it's worth doing it on the Tricross because it's far less compromised when I come home the long way on the roads.
bauldbairn
New Member
- Location
- Falkirk
Norm said:
Yeah, sorry! Since I've hit 40(1) the old memories not the same.
Didn't I just PM you about it - doh!
After looking at that vid, I think one of those Tricross/Cross Country thingies would be a useful purchase for me?
Dynamick's just bought a Revolution Traveller(thread on here) and the EBC Rev Explorer and Cross are certainly worth a look....mmm...got me thinking?
Ermm... did you? I forgot!bauldbairn said:Yeah, sorry! Since I've hit 40(1) the old memories not the same.
Didn't I just PM you about it - doh!
I'm very taken with it, and, therefore, incredibly biased and my opinion is not to be trusted. The point which GrasB makes is a good one, other bikes will handle the same sort of ride just as well. I've a 20 year old steel unsuspended MTB which has City Jet tyres and would probably work almost as well, for instance.bauldbairn said:After looking at that vid, I think one of those Tricross/Cross Country thingies would be a useful purchase for me?
Dynamick's just bought a Revolution Traveller(thread on here) and the EBC Rev Explorer and Cross are certainly worth a look....mmm...got me thinking?
But, there are times when "almost as well" isn't "good enough".
Besides, every bugger has a flat-barred bike, there were a couple of dozen bikes around the bike racks in Windsor and, other than mine, not one of them had drops.I got questioned about it twice by peds on the river bank just today. Admittedly, the first time was two ladies of a certain age, and I think they just wanted to stop me as they were checking access to the Eton Rowing Lake from the river. The second time was a group of 4 fit young lads (I'm sounding a bit Mrs Merton there!
) who were down because they were in some rowing competition and seemed well taken with this chap riding a road bike through half a dozen miles of riverside mud.As I said, I'm very taken with it. I don't hide it very well, do I?
