Do I want a cross bike for commuting? Help me decide?

Maybe you guys can help me make a decision on what kind
of bike I want?

I already have a Habanero mt bike. Love it

But Im yearning for something a bit "faster".

Most al of my riding is back/forth to work. With an
occasional weekend tour or ride

However.... Ive been secretly thinking abt a week long
tour someday. Don't know where...

Having said all that.... what's everyone opinions on a
cross bike? For commuting.... touring....and general
riding?

And..... i se some cross bikes have disk
brakes.....such as the Vanilla brand.

What's everyones opinions on disk brakes on a cross
bike?

More questions later

John

In article ,
wrote:
Maybe you guys can help me make a decision on what kind
of bike I want?

I already have a Habanero mt bike. Love it

But Im yearning for something a bit "faster".

Most al of my riding is back/forth to work. With an
occasional weekend tour or ride

However.... Ive been secretly thinking abt a week long
tour someday. Don't know where...

Having said all that.... what's everyone opinions on a
cross bike? For commuting.... touring....and general
riding?

For the type of riding you mentioned a cross bike, road bike or
touring bike would do fine, depending on how much load you want to
put on the bike.

A cross bike with smooth tires makes a fine road bike, although
some of them are rather lacking in the braze-on department (compared
to a touring bike) and personally if I was going to do any loaded
touring I would prefer a steel frame. Most of the mass-produced
cross bikes are aluminum these days.

And you also need to think about the kind of gearing you want
since cyclocross bikes have rather limited gearing compared to
touring bikes, also a factor if you want to put a lot of weight
on the bike and ride big hills. I did a 3-week tour on a cyclocross
bike in Yugoslavia with a 34-30 low gear and there were places
I wished for a triple.

My current cyclocross bike I bought as a frame and put a triple
on it and use it for dirt-road riding and doing low-intensity
workouts on big hills.

And..... i se some cross bikes have disk
brakes.....such as the Vanilla brand.

Nothing wrong with that.

What's everyones opinions on disk brakes on a cross
bike?

I can't tell you everyone's opinion but I think they're usually
unnecessary, more weight, higher price. Especially for road
riding, properly adjusted cantilevers are very effective.

--Paul

me63401 wrote:
Maybe you guys can help me make a decision on what kind of bike I want?
I already have a Habanero mt bike. Love it
But Im yearning for something a bit "faster".
Most al of my riding is back/forth to work. With an occasional weekend
tour or ride
However.... Ive been secretly thinking abt a week long tour someday.
Don't know where...
Having said all that.... what's everyone opinions on a cross bike? For
commuting.... touring....and general riding?
And..... i se some cross bikes have disk brakes.....such as the
Vanilla brand.
What's everyones opinions on disk brakes on a cross bike?
More questions later
John



I use a cross bike for commuting on paved and gravel roads. I run 35c
tires to give me some control in the gravel. I can also load my paniers
because the cx frame has rack mounts.

For general road riding, I put 23c tires. IMO, it works as nice as my
road bike for this. I don't road race so the geometry or weight isn't an
issue for me.

Haven't done any touring with it. I have never used disk brakes either.



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wrote in message
...

Maybe you guys can help me make a decision on what kind
of bike I want?

I already have a Habanero mt bike. Love it

But Im yearning for something a bit "faster".

Most al of my riding is back/forth to work. With an
occasional weekend tour or ride

However.... Ive been secretly thinking abt a week long
tour someday. Don't know where...

Having said all that.... what's everyone opinions on a
cross bike? For commuting.... touring....and general
riding?

I've been eyeing a Gunnar Crosshairs, which is like a normal road racing bike
but with slightly longer chainstays, and room for fat tires and fenders. Rack
eyelets too. Lighter than a Surly, and cheaper than a Heron or Waterford Road
Sport. It has sensible, modern, vertical dropouts too. Cantilever brakes don't
matter to me that much, but they eliminate all fender/tire clearance problems in
one fell swoop.

For me, this would be a perfect all around, go anywhere, do anything bike, the
last one I'd want for decades. It would work great for everything from road
racing to credit card touring, to rail-trail cruising, to wet weather commuting.

Most cyclocross bikes have slacker head angles, for more stable steering off
road. I prefer snappy road bike handling, especially since I'm not carrying big
loads. Plus, I have a mountain bike for real off road riding. However, if you
want to carry larger loads, you ought to look at something more stable.

And..... i se some cross bikes have disk
brakes.....such as the Vanilla brand.

What's everyones opinions on disk brakes on a cross
bike?

Rube Goldberg overkill for most people, but they might be worth it if you ride
in the rain and mud all the time. I know mountain bikers who wear out rims
every few months, so disk brakes make sense for them. I notice Vanilla is in
Portland, OR...

Matt O.

wrote ...
Having said all that.... what's everyone opinions on a
cross bike? For commuting.... touring....and general
riding?

I'm a roadie, and found I didn't like the shorter top tube on cross
bikes. But with your mtb background, it might work for you,
especially if you'll take it offroad.

And..... i se some cross bikes have disk brakes.....such as the Vanilla brand.
What's everyones opinions on disk brakes on a cross bike?

I have a standard road bike with disc brakes that I use for commuting.
I love 'em, especially when it rains. I highly recommend it.

Michael

A cross bike with smooth tires makes a fine road bike, although
some of them are rather lacking in the braze-on department (compared
to a touring bike) and personally if I was going to do any loaded
touring I would prefer a steel frame. Most of the mass-produced
cross bikes are aluminum these days.

One cross bike Ive been looking at is the one by
Habanero. I guess cause Ive had good luck with my mt
bike form them. I don't think their bike has a disk
brake option tho.

Other bikes Ive thought abt are the Bruce Gordon BLT.
Ive also read abt the Rivendells and such

Im sure any of these would be OK.... that's why Im
"confused". Haha

And you also need to think about the kind of gearing you want
since cyclocross bikes have rather limited gearing compared to
touring bikes, also a factor if you want to put a lot of weight
on the bike and ride big hills. I did a 3-week tour on a cyclocross
bike in Yugoslavia with a 34-30 low gear and there were places
I wished for a triple.

Hmm..... good point. Are all cross bikes only two front
rings and not triples?

John

Cantilever brakes don't
matter to me that much, but they eliminate all fender/tire clearance problems in
one fell swoop.

Wouldn't disk brakes eliminate this problem as well?
You'd al the clearance needed for fenders using disks.
No?

John

I notice Vanilla is in
Portland, OR...

yep

I also noticed on their web page that they tout having
a higher bottom bracket on their cross bikes.... higher
than other cross bike bottom brackets I guess

Anyone own a Vanilla out there and can confirm and give
advice on their cross bikes?

John

wrote in message . ..
Maybe you guys can help me make a decision on what kind
of bike I want?

I already have a Habanero mt bike. Love it

But Im yearning for something a bit "faster".

Most al of my riding is back/forth to work. With an
occasional weekend tour or ride

However.... Ive been secretly thinking abt a week long
tour someday. Don't know where...

Having said all that.... what's everyone opinions on a
cross bike? For commuting.... touring....and general
riding?

And..... i se some cross bikes have disk
brakes.....such as the Vanilla brand.

What's everyones opinions on disk brakes on a cross
bike?

More questions later

Since you say that you may do touring, but don't say anything about
racing cross, why not a touring bike? They make very good commuter
bikes, in my opinion, because they will take fat tires and have the
rack-mounting braze-ons that are sometimes left off of cross bikes.

I'm a roadie, and found I didn't like the shorter top tube on cross
bikes. But with your mtb background, it might work for you,
especially if you'll take it offroad.

Do you know if true touring bikes have short top tubes?
Such as the Bruce Gordon BLT?

And..... i se some cross bikes have disk brakes.....such as the Vanilla brand.
What's everyones opinions on disk brakes on a cross bike?

I have a standard road bike with disc brakes that I use for commuting.
I love 'em, especially when it rains. I highly recommend it.

Hmmm..... what to do.... what to do

John