so i’ve decided to sell my geared cross bike. if anyone is interested, it’s a 2002 (i think) trek x01 w/ mostly DA 9 speed… anyway, so the geared race bike is going away and i’m going to race single speed this season. i’ve never ridden MTBs with gears, so i figured i might as well do cross that way as well.
i’ve narrowed my options down to the following framesets. i’m not looking for a complete bike as i have plenty of parts to sling at the new bike…
surly crosscheck
on one il pompino
bianchi roger (would love to find one… but they didn’t seem to offer just the frameset and they no longer seem to be available, either)
an older van dessel CRB (hard to find. owners tend to hang on to them)
new CRB (not available as a frameset and not interested in buying a complete bike)
any other suggestions? do any of you have experience with any of the above bikes? i know the crosschecks are hugely popular.
I love my crosscheck but it’s not a race bike. It’s nowhere near a race bike. I still race it but that’s because cross isn’t something I care all that much about. Really there is a shortage of ss cross race bikes rather than commuters. If I was you I might just keep the xo1, sell off the DA and build and eno/reflex for the back.
I love my crosscheck but it’s not a race bike. It’s nowhere near a race bike. I still race it but that’s because cross isn’t something I care all that much about. Really there is a shortage of ss cross race bikes rather than commuters. If I was you I might just keep the xo1, sell off the DA and build and eno/reflex for the back.[/quote]
That’s a great idea. It would be much lighter than those other options and I really love the feel of that bike. good call.
I haven’t raced with it yet, but I love my IRO Rob Roy. I got a great deal on it through the group buy, and I’m not sure I’d pay retail for it, but so far it’s been perfect in the few cross practices I’ve had.
^^^at $299 (i think) it’s the cheapest frame/fork option on the market right now. what was the group buy price?
p.s. this was my first order with bikeman and i’m really impressed. it turned out they didn’t have the spokes i ordered so the manager emailed me and asked if i’d like to switch the order to another brand or wait for the parts to be in stock. i realize this is no big deal, but i appreciated that i heard from them within hours of placing the order rather than having it show up incomplete or having the fulfillment delayed (which has happened with other shops).
Group buy price was $160. I only say it’s not worth the price, because for a few bucks more, you can get something that’s lighter and has better tubing. Or maybe you can’t, since as dutret pointed out, there isn’t a huge glut of SS cross bikes on the market.
Also, it’s fucking July and we’re already talking about cross season? Cross truly is the new track.
[quote=“NitroPye”]
Why is this a surprise to anyone. Cross is bikes + beer which is so appealing.[/quote]
It seems like cross involves much less beer than any other type or racing down here.
So all this talk of Cross Racing has got me thinking… But I am super broke right now… I am thinking of building up one of my current frames into a SS-Cross bike to check it out this year.
These are my options:
Bianchi Pista (will be stripping all parts when new track frame arrives)
Iro Mark V (currently built up fixed with f+r brakes)
Bianchi Vigorelli (former road bike/stripped to frame)
What would be my best frame to start this project on? Like I said… Cheap is good! I was holding on to the Vigorelli for an Xtra Cycle conversion, but I could change plans…
