Cyclocross all-arounder or N+1 with road bike?

[ebubar]

@hozn 57382 wrote:

Yeah, that is a great deal. These (Motobecane) are good bikes. Check out the reviews. And bikesdirect is a food vendor, nothing to be scared of — unless you are concerned with fit, etc. Though I have seen some atrocious “sizing” done by bike stores to push inventory, so can’t say that you aren’t better of figuring that out on your own anyway.

That’s what i’ve wrestled with. I’ve had good bike shops that want to fit me, but I won’t waste their time with a precise fit unless i’m sure i’m going to buy. I’ve had more shops who just put me on something and say it fits, when it obviously doesn’t. I’ve been dialing in my fit on the hybrid trying to convince myself I could do the same with a road bike. I’m drawn to the Gravity Liberty 3 since its the same geometry as the Defy which I know I like. Might have to give BikesDirect some more serious thought…With help from the local bike coop I could get a once over on it for a nice donation and have a great new bike for a screaming good deal…

[jopamora]

@DismalScientist 57371 wrote:

For $1K just go nuts on a full carbon/Tiagra/105 bike: http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/motobecane/sprint_xiv.htm

I really didn’t need to look a Bikes Direct. Oooo, they have a new steel road bike! And then looking for reviews I learned they stopped selling the Gran Premio Pro Ok, I can wait for that to happen again. It will right?!?!

[KLizotte]

When I was looking for a bike way back when, I was told by the Cyclelife folks in DC that they will do a full fitting and provide you with your ideal specs along with a listing of bikes that would fit you even if they don’t carry the brand. Finding your ideal geometry would help you find an ideal bike online.

[dasgeh]

@KLizotte 57411 wrote:

When I was looking for a bike way back when, I was told by the Cyclelife folks in DC that they will do a full fitting and provide you with your ideal specs along with a listing of bikes that would fit you even if they don’t carry the brand. Finding your ideal geometry would help you find an ideal bike online.

Back in 2009, I did this with CycleLife. Plus, if you buy a bike from them, they take off the cost of the fit. I ended up getting a Felt from them and LOVE it.

[DismalScientist]

@jopamora 57395 wrote:

I really didn’t need to look a Bikes Direct. Oooo, they have a new steel road bike!

Yow!

Back to the original topic…
I think you should pick your bike based on your idea of fun riding. A racy, light bike may be good for shorter rides (<70 miles), but I found as the rides got longer, I would prefer my touring bike as it has a more forgiving ride. This is particularly important if roads are bumpy. My touring bike suggestions would be the Windsor Tourist or Motobecane Grand Turismo from BikesDirect or the Nashbar Steel Touring bike (which I own).

As far as setting up an internet-bought bike, I wouldn’t pay a bike shop to do it. All you typically need to do is put on the handlebars and pedals and connect the front brake. I would then adjust the brake and derailleur cables and true the wheels if necessary. I would also check that both hubs have adequate grease.

You could probably get a forum member to help you for a sixpack.:rolleyes:

[consularrider]

@DismalScientist 57498 wrote:

…You could probably get a forum member to help you for a sixpack.:rolleyes:

Be careful what you wish for!

[americancyclo]

Nashbar aluminum frame with carbon fork and sram rival for $899
http://www.nashbar.com/bikes/Product_10053_10052_533298_-1___204204

[sethpo]

I’m narrowing in on my N+1 CX bike. While I’ve not test rode any, all the LBS seem to have nice options in the $1500 range but I found this Nashbar Steel bike with 105 components for less than half that cost.

And while I would REALLY love to support a good local LBS, $800 difference is a lot for me.

Does anyone have experience with Nashbar bikes? The reviews on this one are great. I’m not too worried about fit just looking at the geometry. I’m normally proportioned and haven’t really had any special issues in the past.

I anticipate using this as a near daily commuter, gravel and light off-road, and maybe some entry level CX racing for giggles. I’m sure I can find a lighter bike but I’m not a small guy and saving a few pounds on the bike doesn’t seem to be worth it when I am still pushing myself up those hills anyway. This one feels like a bike I can beat up and not worry about.

Thoughts?

[DismalScientist]

I have a Nashbar Steel Touring bike with 105s. The difference between the two bikes seems mostly to be the frames and the CX bike has a compact crank. I’m happy with the Nashbar, although the quality control might be better at Bikes Direct. Expect to do minor adjustments–cable length, limit screwsa and wheel truing–if you buy off the internet.

If I remember right,the hubs on the Nashbar could have used more grease when I first got it. The original quick release skewers were plastic pieces of crap that wouldn’t keep the rear wheel from rubbing against the stays after encountering my massive quads.:rolleyes: I was amazed how the bike received bad reviews on the website because of the bad skewers, yet the company apparently did nothing to respec the skewer. If I remember right, you are tall, and I would recommend using a fork mounted cable housing stop for the front cantilever brake lest you encounter poor braking performance.

You are welcome to test ride my bike any time that might be convenient.

[hozn]

@sethpo 78132 wrote:

And while I would REALLY love to support a good local LBS, $800 difference is a lot for me.

I know there’s this sense of obligation to support local bike shops. I’m gonna take an unpopular stand and suggest that the reason to support any retailer should not be driven by sense of oblication, but should be based on the value that retailer provides. If you don’t think that buying from a physical location is worth 2x the cost of an equivalent bike online, don’t pay it. I know I wouldn’t (and don’t). For some people the difference is worth it — e.g. if you plan to bring your bike to the shop to get fixed, etc. (the otherwise-free tuneups could definitely add up if you were going to pay for those). Some people would definitely rather pay the shop to do work. Heck, I saw that Green Lizzard will wash your bike and re-oil your chain for you (“while you wait”) for $20. Twenty dollars. To wash your bike.

@sethpo 78132 wrote:

Does anyone have experience with Nashbar bikes? The reviews on this one are great. I’m not too worried about fit just looking at the geometry. I’m normally proportioned and haven’t really had any special issues in the past.

I think Dismal might? I know second-hand folks that have bought from Nashbar and have been very happy. I wouldn’t hesitate to buy from them — or bikesdirect.com (I have bought a frame from them and know several people who have bought complete bikes, all very happy with purchase).

Personally, I would recommend disc brakes, but it does add some cost. You could also do something like this: http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/motobecane/fantom_cross_team_al_xiv.htm which comes with canti brakes but the frame is disc-ready. Anyway, it’s also more expensive, but just to throw out another option.

[hozn]

One other thing: that bike, like my CX bike, has top-routed cables. I love the cables up there, but it does introduce one issue: the front derailleur has to go down to a little pulley so that the coming-from-the-top cable can activate a bottom-pull FD. The pulley is ok in principle, but in practice I found that any off-road riding would just get that pulley packed with dirt and mud and things would stop shifting. I tried the Umlenker solution, but it snapped the stop off of my FD (and others have had this happen too apparently). Eventually I bought a Shimano CX70 top-pull front derailleur — works perfectly. Just a consideration that you may opt to swap the FD if you do want to ride this off-road (e.g. mountain bike trails).

[sethpo]

@DismalScientist 78135 wrote:

You are welcome to test ride my bike any time that might be convenient.

Thanks! What size is your bike? I’m 5’10” and ride a 56 road bike and probably a 54 CX depending.

How do you find the steel performs and feels compared to a lighter aluminum? I’m honestly not that picky about “comfort” but the durability of steel is appealing.

@hozn 78136 wrote:

Personally, I would recommend disc brakes, but it does add some cost. You could also do something like this: http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/motobecane/fantom_cross_team_al_xiv.htm which comes with canti brakes but the frame is disc-ready. Anyway, it’s also more expensive, but just to throw out another option.

That’s a nice set up w/ Ultegra and that wheel set looks much better…although judging wheels is beyond me. I started out wanting disc brakes but am willing to give them up. My rim brakes on my road and hybrid work fine 90% of the time w/ the exceptions being snow and ice and I’d guess mud. I would imagine riding in those conditions involve lower speeds anyway so I decided it wasn’t a requirement.

I have a decent basement set up and do my own maintenance and cleaning and am not afraid to watch a video and try something I’ve never done before. Wheel truing is outside my capacity but wouldn’t be too expensive to outsource. The rest of the set up should be doable and frankly, I’m not sure how the LBS get away charging what they do for a “tune up” but I guess that’s no different than what you’d pay for changing points, filter, plugs, cap and wires on my old Ford.

Oh, and my desire to support the LBS is more about wanting to help locally owned businesses but there’s a point where that isn’t viable. 10 or 20% difference maybe..

[vvill]

It looks fine for your intended purposes, 105 is a solid group.

If you’re open to used bikes, you can also check this FB group. I’ve seen some good value stuff posted there:
http://www.facebook.com/groups/dcusedicyclemarketplace/

I agree with hozn that if you do a lot of riding off-road or in bad conditions, it’s better to have a top-pull FD. My CX bike has cables routed underneath the BB, and the FD hasn’t been working properly for quite a while, since I rode in snow, etc last winter I think – pretty sure I need a new shifter cable actually. (I shelled out for a CX70 as well but it’s not top pull, which I think would alleviate a lot of my issues with it.)

I found that for CX, a lighter bike makes a bigger difference than with say a crit race, because you actually have to run with or shoulder the bike regularly, and you often have to do climbs with very little momentum to begin with. (And of course there’s not much drafting.) My CX bike is light aluminum but still probably 22-26lbs, and is the one bike I have I would want to really weight-weenie (I’d need a new frame for that). A 4130 steel frame CX bike is probably going to be at least as heavy. (But on the other hand, if you like the ride of steel it’ll probably be more comfortable than what I have.)

Disclaimer: Since I always want more/nicer bikes I would rather save a bit more to get closer to what I want instead of using up one of my valuable bike allowance spaces on something I bought because it’s more affordable. Not to mention the pleasure of every ride is often enhanced by the quality of your bike/gear (this varies by person of course!). I have a few such regrets on my CX bike, although overall it’s still a great bike for the price point and covers the same bases you mention (“commuter, gravel and light off-road, and maybe some entry level CX racing for giggles”). If I could keep only one bike, it’d be a CX bike.

@hozn 78136 wrote:

You could also do something like this: http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/motobecane/fantom_cross_team_al_xiv.htm which comes with canti brakes but the frame is disc-ready. Anyway, it’s also more expensive, but just to throw out another option.

130mm rear spacing

I’m firmly in the “disc brakes are handy” camp – but if you want interchangeable wheelsets between your existing bikes that use rim brakes, it may not be worth it.

[hozn]

@sethpo 78145 wrote:

That’s a nice set up w/ Ultegra and that wheel set looks much better…although judging wheels is beyond me. I started out wanting disc brakes but am willing to give them up. My rim brakes on my road and hybrid work fine 90% of the time w/ the exceptions being snow and ice and I’d guess mud. I would imagine riding in those conditions involve lower speeds anyway so I decided it wasn’t a requirement.

Yeah, not sure. On the whole, I’m sure the BD bike is a great deal — Ultegra! — but I do notice on further review that it’s a 130mm rear spacing, which is non-standard for road disc brakes. So while the wheels (and frame + fork) are all ready to have calipers/rotors slapped on (~$160 total for BB7s or TRP Spyres), you would be limited in your wheel options. Novatec makes some 130mm disc hubs and I’m sure there are a few other folks, but everything has settled on 135mm rear spacing for road/cx disc at this point. (So future wheelsets may have to be custom built, at best.)

I agree that discs aren’t critical. I did hate my cantis, but I bought mini-V brakes and thought those did a good job (and much quieter than cantis — or discs in wet). I like discs a lot for singletrack riding — single-finger stopping power and the modulation discs provide is very reassuring. Not to mention dealing better with riding through streams or snow. So I think it’s worth it, but it’s not like you’re not gonna dislike the bike if it doesn’t have them.

Maybe consider tire clearance? (I don’t know about either of those options.) I was so happy to learn this past weekend that I can fit a 700×42 comfortably in my frame (and easily in the fork). I am trashing my wheels riding 700×32 tires in Lake Fairfax.

[sethpo]

@vvill 78149 wrote:

Disclaimer: Since I always want more/nicer bikes I would rather save a bit more to get closer to what I want instead of using up one of my valuable bike allowance spaces on something I bought because it’s more affordable. Not to mention the pleasure of every ride is often enhanced by the quality of your bike/gear (this varies by person of course!).

This is the issue, isn’t it. You can easily start talking yourself into the next upgrade and before you know it….

The problem really is (for me anyway) judging the marginal increase in pleasure value for each gear/price upgrade. That’s what seems to make these decisions so tough.

It sounds like the issue w/ the 130mm spacing is limited options for replacement wheels. But these wheels look pretty solid, no? Aside from the convenience of different tires for different uses, how many wheels does one need? /ducks

[Author]

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