Can't make my mind up!

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by Graybeard [IMG]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[/IMG]

I'm new to the sport of cycling. I have been a runner for most of my life. But, I'm wanting to try cycling now. I'm wanting to do road biking and cyclocross. But, I don't want to have to buy two bikes. Is it possible to buy a cyclocross bike and use it for road training with road wheels/tires? I'm not wanting to do crits or anything like that. Just training rides. And will use it in the fall and winter for CX races here in our area. I know that this question has probably been asked a million times, sorry. Thanks for the advice in advance!

In short... the answer is yes. You could use a CX bike for road training rides. There are quite a few people who do this. Most of them just have two sets of wheels (so they don't have to change tires all the time) For road training rides you would definately want to get a set of nice fairly light (lighter than CX) wheels and put slick tires on them. Other than that you would pretty much be set. A CX frame is just going to have a bit more "relaxed" geometry than a road bike, A little longer wheel base and a bit more clearance for the bigger tires (there's also a little more room to allow for mud to pack in the frame around the tires). The brakes will be different as well.... CX brakes look a lot like Mountain bike brakes.

Back when I used to race (a long time ago) there was a guy that used to ride his CX bike on most of his training rides. He was a hell of a strong rider and he was actually a good racer too (actually he was a Cat 1 which is basically a Pro)... I don't know why he would always ride that CX but it really sucks when you're on a road race bike bearly hanging on to a dude pushing the pace on a CX bike on a Road training ride. LOL