Road riding on a cyclo-cross bike

Hi,

I have an old road bike which doesn't see much use these days. I'm not as fit or young as I was and some of the Peak District hills seem a bit intimidating. I also have a hybrid for commuting, trail rides with the kids and general getting about in Sheffield. I'm thinking at some point of getting a cyclo-cross bike to combine two bikes into one. What are they like on the road? Are they much slower and need more effort than road bikes, and how much lower is the gearing? I know this will partly depend on the bike but trying to get a general idea. The other, much cheaper option is to get a new cassette for the road bike - does anyone know if it's possible to get a standard road cassette but with a big first ring to get you up most hills?

Thanks

Hi,

 

I have an old road bike which doesn't see much use these days. I'm not as fit or young as I was and some of the Peak District hills seem a bit intimidating. I also have a hybrid for commuting, trail rides with the kids and general getting about in Sheffield. I'm thinking at some point of getting a cyclo-cross bike to combine two bikes into one. What are they like on the road? Are they much slower and need more effort than road bikes, and how much lower is the gearing? I know this will partly depend on the bike but trying to get a general idea. The other, much cheaper option is to get a new cassette for the road bike - does anyone know if it's possible to get a standard road cassette but with a big first ring to get you up most hills?

 

Thanks

I can't comment much on cyclo-cross bikes other than to point out the tyres will have higher rolling resistance than those on a road bike.

A new cassette should be easy enough to find, maybe with a more evenly spaced set of gears rather than several small ones and a single large one, but you may need a long cage derailleur to work with it. See this article for more information.

I have a Boardman CX team (2014 model) which is fine on the road. I completed the 2016 Prudential Ride London 100 mile ride on it with no problems at all. For long rides on the road the only changes I make are to swap the Schwalbe cyclo-cross tyres to continental road tyres for better rolling resistance. On the 'Ride London' the gearing made it fairly easy to climb Box hill and Leith hill but still fast enough to not spin out on the flat or down hill. I also find it a little bit less 'twitchy' than previous road bike I've ridden. I wouldn't go back to a road bike now.

Both really helpful replies, thanks. My cassette is 11 - 23 so there is plenty of room for lowering the gearing on that if I don't mind getting a new derailleur cage and chain. Hair Island (great username btw) - what is the cassette on your cyclo-cross?

I'll have to look tomorrow but I believe the cassette is 11-32. User name was either going to be Hair island or Rodney plonker- both from Bob Mortimer's impression of Steve McLaren.

Thanks

don't forget you can also go very small on the front chainring.

My off road / on road bike is a Cotic X. I think the marketing people would call it a gravel bike these days but it's actually mostly a new incarnation of a 14-year-old cycle cross rebuilt on a new frame

I used to have the compact front chainset 50 - 34 but Spa cycles sell a triple chainset with the outer ring replaced by a bash guard. I'm now riding a 42 / 24 up front which still shifts with a normal road mech. Outback I have a 13 - 34 with a standard long arm mech. I have plenty of climbing gears and I don't miss the really high gears that you hardly ever use

I swapped some much fatter tyres from WTB onto it with a centre ridge and nobbles. Having drop bars I can easily outpace my MTB mates on the tarmac. They outdo me on the technical offroad downhill stuff where I sometimes have to dismount to avoid a spill over the bars. On the climbs, we are pretty much matched. For me, its the ideal do anything bike and if this summer last long enough they'll be a few days bike packing up the Pennine Bridleway

That said I used to know an old bloke from the rough stuff fellowship who rode every mountain pass and route in Scotland on a 1970s Holdsworth touring bike. If you can't ride it just get off and walk it was his line. Hed been doing it long before Tom Richey started building MTBs

Bob Actor,

I have a mountain bike and the anti-roll of the tyres is horrendous. I'm going to trade it in for a skinny bike with skinny tyres. Anything that rolls easier over the road surface.