Lightweight carbon XC or carbon Cyclocross?

[Hugo Stiglitz]

Basically Im 99% on a drop bar carbon cyclocross but I have fond memories of a scandium XC mtb.

Watching Leadville 100 and most of my riding on the bike would be similar to XC (60:40 pavement:rough). I could even cross over to my usual mtb rides on singletrack.

Any similar dilemmas? What did you do?

I dont have room for one of each!

[OutInTheShed]

I have an ex-cyclocross bike with wide ratio gears that I love for longer rides like the Dartmoor way, lanes etc.
I have an MTB with decent front forks.

As I'm not racing, or even trying hard to keep up with mates, I could do the Dartmoor Way very happily on the MTB with suitable tyres.
So what if I cover a few less miles? Or take an extra day?
I'd not want to try using the drop bar bike around the woods where the MTB comes into its own, so if I had to have just one bike, it would be some kind of MTB.
It would be different if I had reason to focus on particular rides, or if I was trying to be competitive.
People have to work out their own priorities.

The other thing is, as with boats, it can be good to focus on one aspect for a year or three, then shift to a different flavour.
That may mean selling last year's toy, or leaving it in a shed somewhere.

[DaveyBoyWonder]

I'd go more gravel than pure cyclocross. Best of both worlds..

[OutInTheShed]

DaveyBoyWonder said:

I'd go more gravel than pure cyclocross. Best of both worlds..

'Pure cyclocross' means picking up the bike and running when it gets tough.
So no wide ratio gears.
Aside from the gears, I don't know how the frame geometry would differ from gravel these days?

My drop bar ex CX bike was a cheap fun project, it took some effort to get wide ratio gears working nicely with the Dura-ace 2x10 shifters.
I can now go fast enough to worry myself on the flat and grunt my way up 1-in-7 hills.
It's a good compromise for covering distance with a few bumpy bits.

[Smitters]

Is that 60/40 time or distance. If it's time, probably CX. If it's distance, then by time terms, you'll probably be offroad more than on, and therefore spend more time being bounced about. I raced on a fully rigid mountain bike last year, because reasons. Up to 90 minutes is fine, albeit very tiring. Anything over that was a real battering. I now have an Orbea Oiz, which has 120mm travel at each end and is almost as fast with lockout up the hills, but supremely comfortable everywhere else. I'd go XC mtb.

[Benson11]

OutInTheShed said:

'Pure cyclocross' means picking up the bike and running when it gets tough.
So no wide ratio gears.
Aside from the gears, I don't know how the frame geometry would differ from gravel these days?

My drop bar ex CX bike was a cheap fun project, it took some effort to get wide ratio gears working nicely with the Dura-ace 2x10 shifters.
I can now go fast enough to worry myself on the flat and grunt my way up 1-in-7 hills.
It's a good compromise for covering distance with a few bumpy bits.

CX bike will be 33mm tyres, grav bike can be anything 35-50mm. Gravel bike will also be less racy and more comfortable geo.

[IroningMan]

I use an old CX disc brake bike for ‘gravel’ (Planet X XLS) and lack of tyre clearance has turned a couple of rides into real chores.

[OutInTheShed]

I was on Dartmoor today.
Most of the ride would have been faster on the drop bar bike, I was pleased to be on an old mountain bike. One fun little detour would not have been done on the other bike. No doubt people with more skills/fitness/madness would draw different lines, I'm only doing this for fun.

Choose the bike for the ride and/or choose the ride to suit the bike.

Even having chosen the bike, I've then got a choice of tyres on two sets of wheels...


I don't think I'd be splurging on a carbon bike without being clear what I wanted from it.

[oddman]

I'd take a realistic look at your routes or plans for riding.

If it's light trail and a lot of road between trails then Gravel Bike. A really good gravel bike can replace a road bike leaving space for an MTB

If the routes are 80% plus off road, technical and the surface is more challenging then a carbon hardtail.

I'm fortunate enough to have an Epic Pro and a Crux Pro (which is a CX derived Gravel bike) Both are fantastic but I never have a doubt about which to take out. When pushed which to take for a week away I take the Crux because it is just so versatile