Road bike or CX?

James07

James07

James07

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Joined
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Location
West Yorkshire
Ive been perswaded by few friends to give a road bike a chance, i recently purchased a mountain bike which is brilliant for the area i live in (lots of hills and potholes) but im kinda thinking i made the wrong decision..

What's the difference between a Road bike and a CX? Im looking at a Cannondale 2015 Synapse Tiagra and ill be looking at it in the shop when i go to get my bike serviced on Friday. I kind of want disk brakes for the stopping power as last week i came off my mountain bike and ended up in A&E after a 30mph collision. Im nervous now about riding so if im to get a road bike i think they would be on the list.

If im to get a road bike im thinking along the lines of Cannondale/Trek/Giant/Ribble.

What would be recommended? My budget is about £850 with a slight squeeze if needbe.

Thanks

James.
 
I'm sure there's differences in frame geometry, but the main differences are disc brakes and gearing. CX chainrings are usually 46/36 compared to 50/34 on most road bikes. CX bikes are likely to be a bit heavier as well. A CX bike will also have wider clearances for tyres.

I guess it depends on how much off road stuff you'll want to do on the bike, like how much you want a bike that can capably do off and on road.
 
The bike ramdrive has linked to is a very good deal. Be sure to check out what mudguards you can frankenstein on to it though.

edit: If you do want to get disc brakes then the Charge Plug 4 is on offer at the moment. You'll absolutely want to swap out the tyres to some with wet grip though (I recommend 25mm Pro4 Endurance/Service Course).

Personally I have ridden CX bikes pretty much solidly for the last ~3 years and I absolutely love disc brakes. They give me so much more stopping power and confidence, especially in the wet. Plenty of people do absolutely fine with rimjob brakes though.
 
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FrenchTart said:
The bike ramdrive has linked to is a very good deal. Be sure to check out what mudguards you can frankenstein on to it though.

edit: If you do want to get disc brakes then the Charge Plug 4 is on offer at the moment. You'll absolutely want to swap out the tyres to some with wet grip though (I recommend 25mm Pro4 Endurance/Service Course).

Personally I have ridden CX bikes pretty much solidly for the last ~3 years and I absolutely love disc brakes. They give me so much more stopping power and confidence, especially in the wet. Plenty of people do absolutely fine with rimjob brakes though.
Click to expand...

+1 on the Pro4 tyres, they are excellent.

With regards to mudguards I went with the Giant ones that are made for the Defy, do note they only fit M/L (53.5) or smaller frame sizes.

http://www.rutlandcycling.com/101002/products/giant-defy-mudguard-set-black-700c.aspx
 
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In my experience, road bikes are for roads, if your riding is pretty much all tarmac, thena road /racing bike is best.

Otherwise get a hard tail Mountain bike.

If you are a rough terrain mentalist then get an f/s bike.
 
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