Cyclocross or adventure bike?

[Kestevan]

Not sure about the XLS.
The space chicken is a slightly more off road take on the adventure bike. I believe it comes with 650b wheels and bigger tyres.... It's great fun off road, but may not be as good on.

The Bish Bash Bosh has 700c wheels with clearance for 40mm tyres, and but is also quite happy running 28mm slicks with full mud guards.

Oh and the BBB is also cheaper.....

 

[Vantage]

Surly Disc Trucker.
I haven't got one myself but I sooooooooo want one for the simple fact that they are 'can do and will do anything' bikes.
They're famous for being adaptable to any situation and damn near bomb proof.
@Heltor Chasca is the man to talk too about them.

 

[Heltor Chasca]

It's true. If I had to pare back to one bike, this would be the one for the reasons above and the fact it 'fits' so well after a few tweaks.

The other bike in a similar vein is the Surly Troll. If you want to lean more towards a steel MTB 'go far' bike. The Surly ECR is a looker.

 

[jimmi t]

had never heard of surly till this morning. they look pretty nice, although i'm not sure the trucker disc is quite what i'm looking for. do they handle off road sections ok? anyone ride one of there across mixed terrain? dont get me wrong they do look good and if i had the space in the garage i could see one looking good propped up against the wall and using it for touring but currently i dont get chance to do much touring.

 

[MacB]

Jimmi, I used a Surly Crosscheck for commuting and, including my sons, we've had 4 Karate Monkeys...all been excellent bikes. The KM was probably closest to what you were looking for but they have changed up models/designs a bit since then. The custom bike I have now borrowed heavily from the KM model but not as 'sprightly', I chose a longer more relaxed wheelbase/rearend.

 

[Venod]

One to think about no mudguard or rack mounts though, I fitted guards to mine last winter but you have to get creative as there is no hole in the fork., its the most comfortable bike I have, I run Scwalbe Marathon Racers 30mm on road and Vittoria XN pro (run tubeless but not tubeless specific) if doing a lot of off road.

https://www.planetx.co.uk/c/q/bikes/cyclocross-bikes/on-one-pickenflick

 

[Heltor Chasca]

had never heard of surly till this morning. they look pretty nice, although i'm not sure the trucker disc is quite what i'm looking for. do they handle off road sections ok? anyone ride one of there across mixed terrain? dont get me wrong they do look good and if i had the space in the garage i could see one looking good propped up against the wall and using it for touring but currently i dont get chance to do much touring.

I think you could ride this DT on anything, but I would personally prefer a sloping top tube for more technical stuff. The DT is an adventure bike in the sense that you can use and adapt it for any adventure.

If I was serious about cyclocross though, I would be looking for a lighter frameset. It's hard to tell what you are after exactly. I think you may have to go down the N+1 route.

 

[jimmi t]

One to think about no mudguard or rack mounts though, I fitted guards to mine last winter but you have to get creative as there is no hole in the fork., its the most comfortable bike I have, I run Scwalbe Marathon Racers 30mm on road and Vittoria XN pro (run tubeless but not tubeless specific) if doing a lot of off road.

https://www.planetx.co.uk/c/q/bikes/cyclocross-bikes/on-one-pickenflick

Yeah have looked at that one too but decided that as much as I'd like to have a titanium bike in the collection it's probably not what I'm after right now. I'm basically looking to replace my commuter with something that I can ride fast on the road with but that I can take off road for some lunchtime fun and to try get some good times on some bridalway segments . I think I'm swaying more and more to the xls cx bike. And then potentially later down the line get something for more touring/long adventure rides. Think the bish bash bosh, pickenflick and surly dt are looking good for that sort of bike. In fact the more I see and read about the surly I'm quite tempted to get one of those for that purpose. Although there is still that debate of frame material choice. I get that titanium and steel are durable and comfy but surely carbon is comfy and more importantly lighter! Think I'll have to ride some different materials to make my option on them proper.

 

[jimmi t]

ok so just to give this thread some sort of conclusion.... firstly many thanks to all who contributed and helped me realise that the first idea i had about getting a cx bike was the right way to go for me at this time. i currently have a lots of parts sitting in the garage ready for the frame which with any luck will be arriving tomorrow and then i can get stuck in and start building, quite excited by the prospect of getting to build it up from scratch. however this is all verywell but it seems that my small journey of bike discovery has now left me still thinking "well i'll keep my eye out for one of those surly disc truckers" i've now discovered that a shop in my town stocks them and has a beuatiful blue model in at the moment, thankfully i have no money left right now but i bet its not long before my legs take me there for a more serious look. you guys eyeing any new bikes or tech?

 

[Fincon1]

I've just bought a GT Grade Carbon. It's a 2017 model so I got a pretty reasonable discount. My commute is a mixture of road, canal towpath and cobbles. So far so good and I am extremely happy with the bike. It's fast enough on the roads that I could even see it becoming my one bike for all.