So I'm planning to step up my commuting, it will be about 60km/day in total. and while I have done similar on commuterized rigidized HT AM bike its neither fun, efficient, fast or comfortable.
So I'm thinking about getting something faster and more suitable. I commute all year so it has to be able to take quite beefy tires in the winter for the studs.
Is a cx bike a good choice? I'd like to get where I'm going a bit faster and a bit more comfortable and I want to save more energy while doing so.
What would be a good size for a cx bike? I'm 5ft 10inch or close to it. No parts out of proportion. I have average bendability and elasticity in my back and body.
I have been looking at the Salsa Vaya, Surly Disc trucker, Cotic Roadrat and Cotic "X".
Those are steel and they all take discs which I want and they are reasonably priced. Can't afford carbon or ti and don't like alu.
Is there anything more similar to this?
A few years ago I tried a rather crappy road bike from the early 80ies and while it sucked at almost everything I was blown away by the power and speed I could get while in the drops. My plan is to run it in the drops as much as possible, or no hands at all when resting.
I read a review about the cotic X and they said they got toe overlap, is this generally a big problem on cross bikes? Or those mentioned above? (since I assume they are not real cross bikes). I was out riding my 26er just now and while I can't hit my wheel even if I tried to I think I'm not that prone to this phenomenon, I just don't have my feet there when I turn. Should I be worried? I have size 40-41 french/euro feet.
The roadrat has a long top tube at least. 59cm but is that too long for me if I want to run a dropbar?
How important is sizing really? Could I go up one size above the "correct" one and just get a shorter stem or shorter reach bar and not notice anything else? BTW how the hell are road bikes sized anyway?? Seat tube? Top tube? Imaginary top tube?
How "fast" is a cx bike compared to top of the line roadbike if you run the same wheels on there? I only really want it to be really fast going straight ahead. Or the way I see it; get me where I'm going with the least amount of effort
Any other recommendations? I have been considering doing the lazy thing and just buying an off the shelf complete bike from one of the bigger brands like trek or spesh or whatever but I would probably not keep it for long then, they just don't appeal to me that much.
Oh before I forget. Shifters/brakelevers, whats good here? Is this 100% personal preference? I want solid feel in the brake levers at least, that I know. Is there any difference going down the ladder of the gruppos?
So I'm thinking about getting something faster and more suitable. I commute all year so it has to be able to take quite beefy tires in the winter for the studs.
Is a cx bike a good choice? I'd like to get where I'm going a bit faster and a bit more comfortable and I want to save more energy while doing so.
What would be a good size for a cx bike? I'm 5ft 10inch or close to it. No parts out of proportion. I have average bendability and elasticity in my back and body.
I have been looking at the Salsa Vaya, Surly Disc trucker, Cotic Roadrat and Cotic "X".
Those are steel and they all take discs which I want and they are reasonably priced. Can't afford carbon or ti and don't like alu.
Is there anything more similar to this?
A few years ago I tried a rather crappy road bike from the early 80ies and while it sucked at almost everything I was blown away by the power and speed I could get while in the drops. My plan is to run it in the drops as much as possible, or no hands at all when resting.
I read a review about the cotic X and they said they got toe overlap, is this generally a big problem on cross bikes? Or those mentioned above? (since I assume they are not real cross bikes). I was out riding my 26er just now and while I can't hit my wheel even if I tried to I think I'm not that prone to this phenomenon, I just don't have my feet there when I turn. Should I be worried? I have size 40-41 french/euro feet.
The roadrat has a long top tube at least. 59cm but is that too long for me if I want to run a dropbar?
How important is sizing really? Could I go up one size above the "correct" one and just get a shorter stem or shorter reach bar and not notice anything else? BTW how the hell are road bikes sized anyway?? Seat tube? Top tube? Imaginary top tube?
How "fast" is a cx bike compared to top of the line roadbike if you run the same wheels on there? I only really want it to be really fast going straight ahead. Or the way I see it; get me where I'm going with the least amount of effort
Any other recommendations? I have been considering doing the lazy thing and just buying an off the shelf complete bike from one of the bigger brands like trek or spesh or whatever but I would probably not keep it for long then, they just don't appeal to me that much.
Oh before I forget. Shifters/brakelevers, whats good here? Is this 100% personal preference? I want solid feel in the brake levers at least, that I know. Is there any difference going down the ladder of the gruppos?