Cyclocross bike recommendations

I recently picked up a Canondale Superx Ultegra 2016 for £1.6k. I don't know much about the competition, but coming from a full suspension mountain bike I was pleased with the bit of flex I get.

Commute is 10miles each way, mostly off-road, handles everything with ease.

Mudguards where solved with Crud Roadracer Mk3.

Sadly no where to mount panniers, but rucksack once per week isn't the end of the world.

Oh and wow it's fast off-road!
 
FerretBoy said:
I recently picked up a Canondale Superx Ultegra 2016 for £1.6k. I don't know much about the competition, but coming from a full suspension mountain bike I was pleased with the bit of flex I get.

Commute is 10miles each way, mostly off-road, handles everything with ease.

Mudguards where solved with Crud Roadracer Mk3.

Sadly no where to mount panniers, but rucksack once per week isn't the end of the world.

Oh and wow it's fast off-road!
Click to expand...

Proper race bike with no given to other activities. I am looking for one come early next year amongst others but purely for racing!
 
If you're serious about a 'workhorse' and regularly commuting whatever the weather then mudguards and the comfort of 25mm+ (ideally 28mm) tyres should be fairly high up on your list on an Adventure style frame.

If you're going to pick and choose when to ride (so avoiding the winter and any rain) then go for a more racey CX style as you'll enjoy the speed aspect more, you could even get away with a rim brake 'sportive' style bike - getting more for your money and through careful reading up find one that you could squeeze 28mm tyres on to cope better with the pot holes.

Basically the tyre volume is going to matter more for your comfort levels on the rough roads than anything else, including what the frame is made of. My Specialized Diverge (Carbon gravel bike with frame & seatpost inserts for extra flex/shock absorption) feels almost as harsh as my Giant Defy (Aluminium relaxed sportive frame) with both on 25mm tyres at higher (95 PSI) pressures. Dropping down to 80/85 PSI on 28mm's makes a HUGE difference.

One of the main things about riding a 'road' geometry on the roads/lanes over a MTB/HT is the speed, not just outright but the ease at which you can maintain speed and decent progress with barely breaking a sweat. A 15+mph average is 'easy' on a road bike.
 
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