Cross Bike for £1000 (with discs!)

Hi everyone,

After watching my two boys ride a local summer cross series I have decided to give it a go. I can get a bike through the ride to work scheme (which is unfortunately capped at £1K).

I would ideally like a bike with discs (I have road & mtb bikes and the mtb bikes with discs are great in the mud).

The only ones I have found that fit the bill are:

Whyte Charing Cross
Boardman CX Team
Pinnacle Arkose Three
Specialized Tricross Disc

Any other suggestions/comment?

Cheers

Simon

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Permalink Reply by Alan Dorrington on August 3, 2012 at 11:29

Boardman CX are pretty well liked...but has a BB30 bottom bracket which doesn't cope so well with mud and water so needs TLC. 

Whyte is a great all rounder, but has very slack angles so less suited to tight and fast cross races.

Pinnacle looks great - BB-7 brakes which are best to have over BB5-s.

Did you know you can add your own money to the Bike to Work scheme £1k to purchase a higher cost bike?

On-One Dirty Disco are a lot of bike for a reasonable amount of money.....

http://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/CBOODDRIV/on_one_dirty_disco_cyclocross...

Permalink Reply by Simon K on August 3, 2012 at 13:12

Hi Alan,

Thanks for the reply. You are not meant to be able to top up the bike 2 work scheme but some smaller bike shops will let you (we are with Halfords so it is a no go!).

I am thinking that perhaps going for discs is making compromise elsewhere. I quite like the look of this cantilevered alternative (£999 with carbon forks)

http://www.kinesisbikes.co.uk/bikes/crosslight/five-t

Permalink Reply by Alan Dorrington on August 3, 2012 at 13:35

Yep, solid and dependable performer. If you want it mostly for cross racing then get the 46 chainring option - 50 is too big to be of use in proper cross.

Have fun1

Permalink Reply by Alan Dorrington on August 3, 2012 at 13:45

Disclaimer: I do ride for Planet X but....... :-)

If you are going down the canti route do look at the Uncle John Rival build http://www.planet-x-bikes.co.uk/i/q/CBPXUJSP/planet_x_uncle_john_sr...

Pretty high spec for that price.

I used to ride a pair of Uncle John's before hooking up with Planet X and did love them and the way they performed before ever getting my hands on a Disco.

Permalink Reply by Simon K on August 3, 2012 at 21:02

Alan, thanks for the Planet X link I quite like the look of that as well.


As an experienced cyclo cross rider would you go for discs or canti's?

I think my list is now down to:

Pinnacle Arkose

Planet X Uncle John

Kenesis Crosslight

What would be your pick of those?

Cheers

Simon

Permalink Reply by Alan Cook on August 5, 2012 at 6:50
Simon, many independent local bike shops CAN take Halfords vouchers
It does seem a little odd, but is possible. Halfords charge them a hefty fee and limit it to the purchase of the bike, so don't expect to be able to include shoes and helmet in the scheme
The Bike Factory in Chester sorted some friends of mine out via Halfords vouchers
Permalink Reply by Alan Dorrington on August 6, 2012 at 10:02

I've been evangelical about discs for a while now - so much better for cross.

I think the Uncle John is the most complete package but......... it doesn't have discs. We all survived fine with canti's before though :-)

A



Simon K said:

Alan, thanks for the Planet X link I quite like the look of that as well.


As an experienced cyclo cross rider would you go for discs or canti's?

I think my list is now down to:

Pinnacle Arkose

Planet X Uncle John

Kenesis Crosslight

What would be your pick of those?

Cheers

Simon

Permalink Reply by Simon K on August 6, 2012 at 10:21

Having done a reasonable amount of mtb racing I am a big fan of discs and appreciate how good they are in the mud. This was reinforced on one cross race I watched during the (wet) summer. I was stood on a corner at the bottom of a downhill and the amount brake grinding I heard was quite something!!

I think I am going to go for the pinnacle (I am going to call Halfords to check I can get it).

I'll keep you posted!

Permalink Reply by Simon K on August 6, 2012 at 13:11

OK, just spoke to Halfords and they cannot get the Pinnacle!! Back to the drawing board....

Permalink Reply by Simon K on August 23, 2012 at 13:13

Thought I would let you know that I eventually ended up with the Kenesis Crosslight 5T (Halfords could not supply the Pinnacle or Planet-X).

I went through the shredder trying to get it from Halfords and there was a whole list of things they did not setup correctly (long complaint sent!!).

What brake pads do people on here tend to use?

Thanks

Simon

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