what cyclo cross bike with disc brakes under £1k

[Rob_T]

looking at getting a cyclo cross bike for commute to work which is hilly and depending on the mood i'm in i can either go cross country or all on road.

cvx bike seems to be the best option, but want one with disc brakes.

having difficulty locating one for under £1k.

can anyone offer any words of wisdom?

[anonymous-user]

custom build kinesis crosslight, budget carbon fork from wiggle et al, open pro 32h rims and a tiagra groupset... not sure on brakes but there will be some disc set up suitable. I have a mate who loves his so much i am sure it goes to bed with him...
if you have to buy a ready built bike for cyclescheme eligibility, just give www.fatbirds.co.uk a call and they will sort you out with something to budget.

you could get an off the peg bike but it wont be half as good a frame/wheelset. just turn up at a cx race and see what people are riding.

centre pull brakes work a lot better than regular road brakes btw, dont discount them straight away as it may be the difference between getting a stonking bike like hte kenesis and getting a st one albeit with discs...

[andy-r]

Boardman CX Team?

http://www.boardmanbikes.com/cx/cx_team.html

[Comfortably Dumb]

If you're not using it for CX how about one of these?

You'll get this with the racks/panniers/lights/locks/waterproofs that you'll need for a cummute with money to spare. Not so expessive that you'll be afraid to leave it locked up outside the shop.

I've got a Dew Deluxe and am very happy with the quality and ride. However in hindsight no knowing the amount of road riding I'm doing I should of gone for the Drop.

[Rob_T]

i'm liking the kona, especially at the price (425 reduce from 645), but can't seem to locate any locally for a test ride... will keep hunting but thanks for the suggestion.

any other ideas?

[JPJ]

Evans are selling the Pinnacle Arkose 2 for that price - however I've not seen one in the flesh and reviews are a bit limited. Boardman CX is another possibility.

Whyte have a new CX coming out in the autumn, maybe with slightly more MTB geometry than a classic CX bke.

[a11y_m]

Genesis do the Croix de Fer CX bike with discs but unsure if it's still under the £1k point or not.

Are you set on drop bars? I previously had a non-disc CX bike for my part road/off-road commute, but swapped to a Cotic Roadrat: 700c wheels and CX tyres, but flat bars, barends and discs. I specced mine with V-brakes but then fitted my own choice of discs (as I hated the Avid option at the time) and still came in under £1k.

[oddman]

I see why you've chosen a CX bike. Why do you want discs?

Adds weight
Don't need the braking power. I know cantis are a bit crap but should be sufficient unless you're seriously lardy
Wont be able to swap wheels between other 700c bikes
Seriously cutting down your options in a otherwise well provided segment of the market
Racers don't use them

[Clio200pat]

Hi,

I bought a CX bike for commuting for the same reasons as you are.

In the end I went for a Genesis Croix De Fer.

http://www.genesisbikes.co.uk/bikes/cross/croix-de...

Been absolutely brilliant and nice and comfortable due to the flexible steel frame. Much better than the awfully crashy ride of my old Kona. If you shop around you should be able to get one for £950!

One thing I would say is get a size smaller than their size guiding suggests. I ended up having to get a size smaller frame and selling the one that was too big on eBay. However I reckon I have the perfect commuting bike now.

[anonymous-user]

If disc brakes are not essential, I can recommend the Kona Jake which comes in at around £600 in the sales. I have used mine for over a year on mixed road/track commute. Brakes are more than adequate, pleant of space for full mudguards & a good comfortable riding position. Full Tiagra gearing which have not needed touching in that time. The bars are a good couple of inches higher than my road bike & its a lot easier on the back!. Perfect commuter in my humble opinion...

[h4muf]

oddman said:

I see why you've chosen a CX bike. Why do you want discs?

Adds weight
Don't need the braking power. I know cantis are a bit crap but should be sufficient unless you're seriously lardy
Wont be able to swap wheels between other 700c bikes
Seriously cutting down your options in a otherwise well provided segment of the market
Racers don't use them

This.

I love my PX uncle john to bits,it's my favorite bike.
Sod the discs

[Spy]

This Colnago is a lovely CX bike http://www.wiggle.co.uk/colnago-cross-world-cup-20...

Using discount code TOUR20, you will get an additional 20% off bringing the price down to £904.77, not bad for a £1,300 bike.

Only problem is it doesn't have disc brakes but that means the bike is lighter

[a11y_m]

This disc vs non-disc arguement always comes up when CX/commuter bikes are mentioned. Horses for courses really, but I wouldn't be without my discs: I've tried it and rim brakes are totally unsuitable for my purposes.

Of course not everyone has a largely-offroad commute which is often muddy, making discs highly desirable in my case. Or during winter when water freezes on the rims (common for me). Or the lack of mess from brake pad material on the wheels/tyres. Or the reduced maintenance. Or the simply better braking performance in the wet (i.e. most of time up here lol).

I think on a pure road bike that discs might be overkill, but for anything else discs are IMO better...

[Rob_T]

Thank you all for your replies and suggestions. In the end I ignored all the suggestions but investigations lead me down the genesis route (based on the croix ideas) and I ended up buying today the genesis vapour - it's the model down from the croix and without the disc brakes which I worked out were pointless for my requirements.

It's just being set up and some freebies thrown on it and I pick it up tomorrow lunchtime. That brings my steed to 3 now ( have a road and mtb in the garage).

What do I need next?

[Kermit power]

oddman said:

I see why you've chosen a CX bike. Why do you want discs?

Adds weight
Don't need the braking power.

I don't know about the OP, but I've been considering these for my next bike (which I can't get until our company cycle to work scheme's annual entry point in April), simply because I want it as an all-round 30 miles per day commuter, and my current brakes are shockingly crap in the rain.

I've just ordered some different pads in the hope that these will give me acceptable wet weather braking in London traffic, but if they don't, then disc brakes will be top of my list for the new bike sadly.

[Seight_Returns]

I used to ride a hybrid with 700c wheels and disk brakes - when I dinged a rim beyond repair, which happened 3 times in as many years whilst whilst commuting in London, I was unable to find anywhere that sells off the shelf 700c wheels with disk hubs, so had to get the wheels rebuilt with all the hassle that entails.

Also the choice of racks is very limited for a road sized frame with disk hub spacing.

I wouldn't have disk brakes on a bike with 700c wheels again for these reasons.