cyclocross bikes in $1000-$2000 range?

I find it to be one of the most fun yet physically demanding form of
bicycling. If I had to choose one bike to own, it would be a cross bike
because of it's versatility. I run a single 39T front ring and 12-28 8
speed rear cluster. I have an XTR rear der. so that I can accommodate
mountain bike cassettes. 700x35 file tread tires have worked almost
flawlessly on and off the road.
This is an old Redline Conquest Pro, and is the lightest bike own so
shouldering the bike for run-ups or hurdling barriers/logs is not a problem.
What a great sport!

Mike

"Rick Osborn" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

thinking on getting into it for urban excersions. does anyone have
experience in the sport?

Rick Osborn said:

thinking on getting into it for urban excersions. does anyone have
experience in the sport?

No direct experience, but I've ridden a few bikes and have friends who are
into it.
If you're looking to go new, the Surly Crosscheck looks like a great value.
It's not flashy or anything, but is a strong, light enough steel frame that
you can build up however you like. I think specialized also has a
budget-minded cross bike in your price range that people seem to like.
Good luck!

Matt

On 2004-11-16, MattB penned:

Quoted message said:

Rick Osborn said:

thinking on getting into it for urban excersions. does anyone have
experience in the sport?

No direct experience, but I've ridden a few bikes and have friends who are
into it. If you're looking to go new, the Surly Crosscheck looks like a
great value. It's not flashy or anything, but is a strong, light enough
steel frame that you can build up however you like. I think specialized also
has a budget-minded cross bike in your price range that people seem to like.
Good luck!

I have a question about cyclocross bikes (not that I can afford one right
now):

It seems like they're a lot less common than either mountain or road bikes.
For that reason, I'm wondering if it's even worth it to own one unless you're
willing to do all/most of the maintenance yourself, and know a good bit about
what parts play nice with what other parts?

--
monique

"Get a bicycle. You will not regret it, if you live."
-- Mark Twain

Rick Osborn said:

thinking on getting into it for urban excersions. does anyone have
experience in the sport?

US Dollars I guess you're talking?

Cross bikes are awesome fun, take them anywhere, then once you race them you get hooked also, I've done about 4 winters of racing and LOVE it more than any other form of cycle racing.

So bikes....

Look at the Kona Jake or Jake the Snake, very nice set-up right out of the box.
Surly are good, heavier, steel and cheap. Jamis also makes a cheap steel cross bike, the Nova.
Redline also makes the Conquest which is at a good price. The Pro is probably out of that price range.
There are many more but a lot of them are probably over the $2,000 mark and are more like a high end race bike and less of an every day kinda cross bike.

for Monique, cross bikes are more about the frame than anything else. All the parts are serviceable by any bike shop, they use the same components and wheels as almost any standard road bike. They are just built to accept wider tyres and be useable off-road and on-road.

Rick Osborn said:

thinking on getting into it for urban excersions. does anyone have
experience in the sport?

i think the 'cross bike is the single most versatile bike you could own.
i have a steel bianchi that is my main race bike, and a steel surly
cross-check that i use as a backup bike in the pits, and as a commuting
bike. i ride my cross bikes a lot more than my road or mtn bikes.

the cross bike does great commuting, going around the city, and on
ralatively smooth off-road stuff. swapping to smooth tires, and the CX
bike is very able as a road machine.

STI shifters are pretty much the norm- bar ends are a classic
alternative and are cheaper and less fragile.

gearing on most stock cross bikes is not "race ready", which may be fine
depending on what you want. typical race rearing is a 12-25 or 12-27
rear cluster and fairly small chainrings up front: e.g. 48/38, 46/38 or
42 single, 39 single. i run 46/36

a lot of stock bikes throw on either road gearing- but a 53 tooth ring
is pretty much useless most of the time. the pros usually don't go above
48 and often just use the 42 single.

the other extreme a lot of stock bikes have is the triple, which is more
cumbersome and also uselss for 'cross racing. the logic being that if
you are creeping up in a 22x 25 gear you should be running!

that being said- if you want to do some hilly off-roading or loaded
touring, you might really apreciate the low gears.

$1- $2k is a wide range. there are a lot of choices in the range.
drivetrain parts are usually just road part, mtn bike parts if your
gearing is wide. brakes are typically canti-levers. disc brakes on some
bikes, but they are banned in international competition and that rule is
trickling into the states.

examples around $1k:

surly cross check - i have the base model, but if they had had the 105
level i would have gotten that. the frame is heavy, but it's a
versatile, strong frame. real cross gearing. economical

jamis nova- jamis seems to spec bike really good for the money. has a
triple chainring

redline conquest- a popular choice in a entry level race bike

bianchi axis- i owed an older version of this bike. very nice parts
spec, but now has a triple chainring setup.

bikes i am not as familiar with in the same price range: cannondale ,
kona jake the snake, trek xo1, lemond poprad

for $2000 you would get a very nice bike. parts take a beating in
'cross, so people don't usually try to get too fancy. but there are
some fancy frames out there in carbon, scandium and aluminum, but these
woudl put the biek well over $2k. bikes under $2k will be aluminum or steel.

good luck!

marc

"Monique Y. Mudama" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

On 2004-11-16, MattB penned:

Quoted message said:

Rick Osborn said:

thinking on getting into it for urban excersions. does anyone have
experience in the sport?

No direct experience, but I've ridden a few bikes and have friends who are
into it. If you're looking to go new, the Surly Crosscheck looks like a
great value. It's not flashy or anything, but is a strong, light enough
steel frame that you can build up however you like. I think specialized also
has a budget-minded cross bike in your price range that people seem to like.
Good luck!

I have a question about cyclocross bikes (not that I can afford one right
now):

It seems like they're a lot less common than either mountain or road bikes.
For that reason, I'm wondering if it's even worth it to own one unless you're
willing to do all/most of the maintenance yourself, and know a good bit about
what parts play nice with what other parts?

Generally speaking, the bikes are beefed-up road bikes. The angles may
be tweaked to be more stable and the gearing is easier, but it's
basically 90% road bike, 10% mtb (which is on the rise as xcross frame
builders add disc tabs and other mtb-associated doodads).
Shimano stuff is largely interchangeable. A 9sp rear XT shifter, for
example, will work fine with a 9sp Ultegra road derrailleur. And since
the whole industry has to play nice with Shimano, there's not a lot of
compatibility worries. Other than the frame and a couple bits, there's
not a lot of cyclocross-specific stuff on the market as far as hubs
and drivetrain goes.
/s