Road Bike or CX?

[Ken81]

Hiya,

Recently I have been thinking of building a hybrid MTB into a roadbike and then I decided it is best to stick to road bike in the end for my first ever bike.

Now I have found the CX bike to be quite what I had in mind initially, albeit without front suspension but I feel it won't matter much as I plan to stay on the road for 90% of the time.

In any case, I found out these low cost beginner bike and I can't make up my mind whether to focus on road bike or go CX style. I ride solo most of the time and reason I cycle is for fitness and some social activities with fellow cyclist.

Below are what I am considering since these 2 brands are prominent at where I live.

http://polygonbikes.com/index.php?pgid=d_bike&bikeid=528&par=11

http://polygonbikes.com/index.php?pgid=d_bike&bikeid=482&par=390

http://www.merida-bikes.com/en_int/bike/2013/204/Cross_Cyclo+Cross/Cyclo+Cross+4

http://www.merida-bikes.com/en_int/bike/2013/205/Cross_Cyclo+Cross/Cyclo+Cross+3

I am leaning heavily on the CX bikes as I felt that I can sometimes ride with those MTB pals on light trails. Would the CX be a good choice? And should I go for the one with Tiagra components?

 

[daveryanwyoming]

Cyclocross bikes are a great way to go. IMO, they're the most versatile bike you can buy for on road and not too technical off road riding. They're quick, light, mount them up with road tires and they're plenty fast on pavement, mount knobbies and they handle trails that aren't crazy technical just fine. The normal tradeoff for road use when mounted with road tires is the braking performance of cantilever brakes which don't have the finesse of good road calipers. But the bikes you're looking at have disc brakes which will likely outperform many road brakesets especially in wet weather.

Really hard to go wrong with a cross bike for an all arounder. I ride mine a lot on roads, commute on it, slap fenders on it in the wet weather (easy to do with huge tire clearances), have mounted studded winter ice tires on it (can't fit those on my road bike), have ridden century rides on it, have ridden single track and of course cross races on it and have even slapped my race wheels on it and raced on the road when my race bike was in the shop and out of commission. If I could only have one bike it would be the cross bike hands down.

-Dave

 

[Ken81]

Hi Dave,

Thanks for the input. Now I know which bike I am going after!

Though, should I splurge a bit more on the slightly higher end version that comes with 105 and a hollow bottom bracket?

Or I should keep it cheaper and go with Tiagra and use the extra bit to get myself a good pedal or helmet?


Last but not least, to start cycling, any extras I should get? Besides a helmet, a set of good pedals, a pair of cycling shoes?

Thanks, this forum is awesome!