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You're now subscribed to our newsletter. Already have an account with us? A cyclocross bike will also have shorter chainstays and a lower stack height, both of which combine for a more aggressive riding position and significantly more agile handling than a gravel bike.
This is intentional by design, because the confines of a cyclocross racecourse are incredibly tight, requiring racers to slow down rapidly, roll through a tight turn, and then accelerate up to speed quickly—a process which is repeated ad nauseum throughout multiple laps of a race.
Nor does this type of riding require the rider to dismount his or her bike. But it does include far more long stretches of road that will have the rider traveling at higher speeds for longer durations. As such, a gravel bike will be much more stable than a cyclocross bike, thanks to its longer wheelbase, longer chainstays, and lower bottom bracket height.
And again, because gravel bikes are generally designed for versatility and comfort over the course of an all-day riding adventure, a gravel bike will generally have a taller stack height to allow for a more upright riding position. A cyclocross race typically lasts between 30 and 90 minutes, and is ridden at very high intensity.
These include things like a flat tire repair kit, nutrition products, and superfluous hydration. So a cyclocross bike will eschew storage features that accommodate these items in the pursuit of a lighter chassis and added speed. By contrast, a gravel bike will feature plenty of storage solutions to allow its rider to carry nutrition, hydration, tools, spare tubes, and anything else the rider will need over the course of a long day in the saddle—especially if they find themselves off the beaten path.
Likewise, gravel bikes will often feature mounts for racks and fenders, in order to give it some added versatility for commuting and wet-weather riding. This ensures that during the high-intensity effort of racing, jumps between gears are kept to a minimum in order to ensure smooth and precise shifting, all while allowing the rider to keep his or her pedaling cadence and power consistent. For 1x drivetrains that is, bikes with a single chainring , expect to see a chainring with 38 to 42 teeth, along with a cassette with a spread, or something similar.
The de facto wheel size for cyclocross bikes is c, which is the same as the vast majority of road bikes. Some bike companies offer bikes with the smaller c wheel size to accommodate smaller riders, but this practice has steadily been growing out of fashion as most companies have been able to modernize the geometries of their bikes to allow all riders to utilize c wheels. In fact, most of your local events most likely will not be UCI-sanctioned, so we strongly recommend checking with your racing league to determine what their rules are when it comes to tire sizes.
These differences amount to cyclocross bikes being heavier than road bikes. Since you're going on century rides, weight will be a big factor. Carbon fiber is always great in this department, but an aluminum frame and fork is looking more realistic on your budget.
Don't buy a bike like the Surly Crosscheck, for example, as that steel frame will drag you down on those long rides. If you're looking in the 1k-2k range I would recommend that you buy a stock bike. The shop I worked at used to stock Norco , and they make some nice, reasonably-priced cross bikes. Cross bikes do have a different geometry than most modern road bikes, key word being modern. Cross bikes typically have a longer wheelbase and chainstays to accomodate larger tires, in addition they usually but not always have a slightly higher bottom bracket though I know many dudes who race cross with a 7cm bb drop and that is no higher than most road bikes.
Dont buy into the hype or complete BS claims that a cross bike will somehow feel slow or react like a battleship or slow you down. Truth is modern cross frame geometry is nearly identical to old school classic Italian road stage race geometry with longer chainstays and a longer overall wheelbase.
This type of geometry has perfectly suited many of the worlds best racers for decades. It is only in the last decade or two where an obsession has entered the road race scene to fit riders to the smallest teeniest frame possible with the shortest, twitchiest wheelbase. People often mistake twitchy for being faster, it isnt.
All twitchy does is force you to expend additional energy keeping your bike poijted straight. Read some of the writings of Andy Hampsten, a fairly good rider. He essentially laughs at the guys who think a supee short wheelbase bike with twitchy handling somehow makes you faster, particularly on a long stage type race. In fact the opposite is true and Hampsten knows his stuff far better than most amateur roadies who will willingly drink any frame Koolaide served to them.
I have now ridden about miles on the road in just over two years on this cross bike, and I absolutely love it. If I had the money, I would jump up to ultegra or athena, but have had little to complain about with my group. I would avoid bikes spec'd with anything less than , but Shimano group is better than two year old Ultegra in weight and performance. In other words, lots of bang for the buck! I run an in the back, which gives quite a bit of range for climbing and descending.
On the question of brakes, I really like the extreme amount of modulation available via cantis, and have yet to crash because I could not stop in a timely manner. I am regularly looked upon by my fellow cycle club members for heading out as others turn off their alarm clocks and get back to bed due to wet weather. Cantis have not been an issue for me in any way. Regarding tire switch for the road, go with Continental GPs!
They are super fast, super grippy, and for their race-lightness, extremely durable. Adding my voice to the chorus saying that bike weight doesn't matter too much, I have worn the King of Mountain crown against many a Pinarello riding roadie in pretty good shape.
Last, and certainly not least, for the cost of a little bit of weight, you gain an awful lot of durability. I have only one bike - a cross bike - that I ride on the road and then race during cross season. I have to take steep turns while descending a lot slower due to the brakes and geometry and the bike is a little heavier going up hill.
But I can usually keep up with all but the most fit roadies and I'm not stressing every pothole or ding because the bike was made to take a beating. If you're not trying to be ultra-competitive, you can do a C on any bike that rolls. I've seen guys do miles loaded on a Huffy. And, as I understand it, a cyclocross bike is a "more relaxed" geometry than a standard road bike closer to a touring bike , and thus possibly more apt to be comfortable on a long ride than a road bike.
Gearing might be an issue, of course -- you might want a larger gear to maintain road speeds if you're trying to be competitive. And you'd want to swap out knobby tires for something relatively smooth. Weight is probably less of an issue on the road than in cyclocross, so I wouldn't worry about that.
I've done this and it is great! I've swapped tires, but now have a spare wheelset so it is even easier to swap for a road ride versus a CX ride. I race CX from September to January around here. I use the bike as my rain bike in the spring for road rides and as my commuter year round. One thing to think about is that most CX bikes come with a compact crank set largest front chainring may be 46 or 50 teeth on compact, 'normal' road cranks will be 52 or 53 which will reduce your high end pedaling downhill you will spin out at 28 mph instead of Not a big deal because you do gain more lower gears.
I am real happy with my REI Novara Rivet, not available anymore, but you should be able to get a very nice bike in your price range. I was upgrading an existing CX bike, if I did not have a CX bike, I would purchase a built bike instead of building it up.
A friend bought a Kona Jake the Snake this August and we've ridden and raced since and he loves it. A vast majority of road riders have far bigger wallets than ability. I ride a 3 year old Genesis Vapour, it's not heavy by any means, but it's also not light compared with modern road bikes. However, I am fit, I ride a daily 30mile commute, I can climb well enough and regularly beat roadies with wallets far outweighing ability. Get fit and you will get fast whatever you are riding Just to put it in context, I did a charity ride at the weekend and there was a guy in his early 20's on a Brampton fold up bike beating me up most hills and me catching him again on the flats and downs.
You definitely can use an XC bike for road-biking purposes especially if you swap the stock XC knobby tires with slicks meant for the road. The only area you might be at a disadvantage as Glenn has already pointed out is you might run out of gears if the group you are riding with hits speeds in excess of 60 kph which can happen on downhills.
The above comments and answers are all really spot on. I just wanted to add that if you plan any group rides or get into more competitive riding, the CX bike will be noticeably slower. I rode in a good number of rides, and trained for a century on a CX.
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