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Cross Bikes on Singletrack - Post Your Photos

257K views 606 replies 266 participants last post by  BurkC 
#1 ·
Lately I've fallen in love with riding my cross bike (a more or less standard issue Cross-Check) on my local mountain bike trails, and I know there are many others on here who also take their cross rigs on singletrack adventures. So let's see your photos!

Now, it's my hope that this thread won't have too much discussion about whether or not cross bikes are better than mountain bikes for trail riding. That's been beat to death already. Let's just say that it's a different experience. Are your everyday trails getting too bland for you? Try riding them with 32mm tires, no suspension, and drop bars. Riding a cross bike on singletrack will make you a better rider, I think. You have to pay attention to line choice and ride with as much finesse as you can muster. And bros on full squish bikes give you looks like this -- :eek: -- that are just precious.

Also, let's please keep the "that's not a cross bike" banter to a minimum. I'm hoping to mainly see (relatively) skinny tires, canti brakes, drop bars, and so on, but debating the semantics of whether a particular bike is actually a cross bike or a monster cross bike or a drop bar 29er with skinny tires is boring. Anyone caught doing so will be ridiculed thusly.

Posed pics are good. Action shots will receive a hearty slap on the back.

Here are a couple to start things off:

mah beloved bike:


a lil rock ride:




a lil log:


Aight, whatchu got?
 
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#5 ·
Nice!

Sorry to hear your frame broke. Another fallen soldier... Good luck getting another one - any hope for a warranty replacement?
waiting for word from performance who is waiting for word from schwinn or whatever conglomerate owns the schwinn name nowadays...good thing i wash my bikes every once and a while or i might not have noticed!
 

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#9 ·
tg - nice bike, and that trail doesn't look too shabby either. Bet that sage smells sweet.

pointer - I think you'll like the CC. It's not the most exotic bike ever, but it's a solid, versatile workhorse of a bike. Puts a smile on my face, at any rate.

chum - way to get rad. That's a great shot. A hearty slap on the back for you, good sir!
 
#12 ·
ianick - I'm diggint that set up, man. It's a randonneur, it's a cross bike. It's a... randonnecross? Crossandonneur? It's rad.

tg - That certainly gives you some bragging rights. Glad it's treated you so well for so long. Which Ritchy tire is that? I'm digging the looks of those sideknobs.
 
#15 ·
My ass has very discriminating (and expensive!) taste.

i've considered turning my road bike into a cross bike, but can you do that?
Kinda sorta. Depends on the frame - most modern road frames (and most roadie brake calipers) don't have room for big ol' knobby tires. Most road wheels aren't going to take the abuse that off-roadin' is going to dish out either.
 
#17 ·
A thread after my own heart! Singletrack on a cyclocross bike is a blast. i like the idea of finding the limits of a given bike. Depending on the day, when i find it's limit, i either shoulder the bike and hike through a technical part, or i take a little spill!
 

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#21 ·
Two people finished the Wilderness 101 last weekend on cross bikes. One was running more of a "monster cross" bike with fat tires, and the other a Moots SS cross bike with 34c tires. Both on disk brakes. I think the SS guy ran 34x16 or something stupid high like that... and he finished in 8.5 hrs... basa$$ mofo...
 
#23 · (Edited)
Just hearing that makes my thighs ache and my calves burn. Hats off to them, for reals.

Black Bart said:
Don't have may pics of my CX on single track, but here's a "gnarcore" vid:
Videos are perfectly acceptable. That's a fun lookin' log pile. It'd be ultra-gnarcore if you crushed a can of Redbull on your head before and/or after riding the log pile. :D
 
#27 ·
I don't have any photos hanging around, but spring and fall when the Cx bike has knobbies on it (it does commuting duty in the summer, so it gets the slick treatment) I hit the MUTs and ST on my Jake. It's mostly stock other than a custom set of wheels (Mavic A719's laced to Hope Pro III hubs), upgraded brakes (Avid Shorty 6's), an 11-32 XT cassette and LX rear derailleur.

I used it for the Ride to Conquer Cancer for a couple years and road gearing wasn't doing me any favours on the big hills when I had the panniers loaded (I rode and was a medical volunteer)... and seeing as I prefer to run "my own" wheels, I took the opportunity to upgrade :)
 
#29 ·
For singletrack, I generally run about 35 lbs front and 40 lbs back. I tried going lower but got tired of patching snakebit tubes. If I'm mostly riding road on a given day, I'll go a little higher. (This is with Ritchey Speedmax tires, btw.)
 
#31 ·
One of my bike freinds took his cross bike down hemlock tunnel at carvins cove va. He said it was the hardest descent he'd ever made on a bike. He complained of his forearms burning from the v brakes. I thought it was pretty bada$$ of him to tackle such a steep trail on a cross bike.:D

I have another friend that crashed on some singletrack with a cross bike and he's telling me he's never taking the cross bike up there again.:D
 
#32 ·
My cross bike before and after powdercoat, I ride this bike the most as I can ride it from the house to the trail. Single Speed 39x18, super fast rips up single track.
Surly cross check frame size 56
King hubs/headset
Salsa delgado cross wheels
salsa woodchipper bars
panaracer firecross front 45cc
wtb allterain rear 38cc
thomson stem and post
silverado seat


 
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