[dafyddp]

I’ve been looking at jumping on the cyclocross bandwagon recently, and spent sometime trawling the usual sites comparing specs and costs. It strikes me that fundamentally, there’s very little difference in the spec between, say, a £500 hybrid and a £800+ cyclocross. The main differences seem to be the straight vs drop handlebars and the choice of brakes/gear lever that this requires. With so many mainstream companies now producing cyclocross-type bikes, I’m struggling to believe the difference is purely down to the economy of scale…

Topic

[goggy]

I have Jamis Nova Pro
I have Jamis Nova Pro cyclocross bike with Ultegra Di2. Great gearing, glides over London potholes and bumps, can deal with pavement hops to get around jams, is fast enough to get up the hills with minimal hassle, disc brakes to stop in the wet or to avoid left-turning WVM. Great commuting bike, great winter bike, and huge fun at weekends on the South Downs in the mud.

I love it and feel it’s worth the cash.

[Shades]

I’ve got a 2000 Cannondale
I’ve got a 2000 Cannondale Hybrid (upgraded with carbon forks, disc brakes) which I use for commuting/utility but started ‘lusting’ for a CX bike. I run Cyclemeter on my 17.5 mile trip back from work (once/twice a week – take the bike on the train, although sometimes bike both ways in the summer) which involves mostly tarmac cycle paths and very little traffic hold ups. The hybrid (130 logged rides) average (1hr 10m) is only 10 min slower than my steel Genesis road bike (40 logged rides) so I told myself to stop thinking that the CX bike would change my life, especially if it had mudguards, rack and D lock. Seeing the hydrid spends most of its life locked up in town or squeezed into a train’s bike compartment, it seems like the most practical solution.

[KiwiMike]

Tiagra STI road lever pair:
Tiagra STI road lever pair: list £175

Tiagra flat-bar set (shifters + levers): list £105

There’s £70 for ya right there.

[Jack Osbourne snr]

I only have retail prices to
I only have retail prices to go on where there is a shitload of a difference between brifters and separate brake/ shift levers. I was also thinking much further up the ranges than the equivalent of tourney.

I’m not totally disagreeing with you though…

[drfabulous0]

Jack Osbourne snr wrote:If

Jack Osbourne snr wrote:

If you draw a proper comparison between cx and hybrid bikes with similar spec from the same manufacturer, you’ll almost always find that the brake/shift levers on the cx account for the difference in price. Separate thumb shifters cost buttons in comparison.

That doesn’t account for very much, the cost difference between Tourney road and hybrid groups at bulk OE level is around $3 for the whole gruppo. I think the diffrence is partly in costs, due to smaller production runs as much as component choice, and partly fashion and marketing.

[Jack Osbourne snr]

If you draw a proper
If you draw a proper comparison between cx and hybrid bikes with similar spec from the same manufacturer, you’ll almost always find that the brake/shift levers on the cx account for the difference in price. Separate thumb shifters cost buttons in comparison.

I have a Boardman Hybrid for commuting, with the plan being to replace it with the new CX Team so that I have a better position for fighting into the wind. I considered converting the hybrid, but the cost of new bars, brifters and cable disc brakes came to more than half what a whole new bike would cost me through cycle 2 work scheme.

I may be in the minority but my hybrid was very definitely n+1 and bought specifically for commuting.

[glynr36]

Take into account the size of
Take into account the size of the market too.
CX bikes, likely to be bought by people already into cycling seriously as second/third/N+1 bike
Hybrids, likely to be bought by the general population as a sole bike.

[Dapper Giles]

It would be better to compare
It would be better to compare the CX Comp (£699) with Hybird Comp (£499) or the CX Team (£899) with the Hybrid Team (£749).
The is still a difference in price but it is less.
The first thing I noticed was the Hybrid Comp has a Sram X5 groupset and the CX Team has Sram Apex. So although the same brand, they aren’t the same teir and therefore not the same price.

Secondly I wouldn’t say the CX bikes are aimed directly at the hybrid market. They have increasingly become more versitile ‘do it all bikes’ and as such tend to be better spec’d and better built than straight out hybrid bikes. The increasing occurance of rack and mudguard eyelets as well as bottle bosses means that these bikes are being used as winter trainers as well as for the uses you mentioned above.

[BikeBud]

Price is partly a function of
Price is partly a function of what the market will pay.

Hybrid bikes are more utilitarian, and people will only pay so much for “a bike to go to work on”.

CX bikes have more of an emotional aspect to the purchase, so people will pay more.

Just a theory.

[dafyddp]

mrkeith119 wrote:The main

mrkeith119 wrote:

The main reason should be that cross bikes are race bikes, and the frames should be engineered for that. Where as hybrids are leisure bikes, so don’t necessarily need as hardy.

Well, you say that, but increasingly we’re seeing CX with bottle and dare I say it, rack bosses (not to mention mudguard compatibility), and with gear ratios much more suitable for commuting or even touring. These bikes have the street cred of a proper cx, but clearly designed for jogging around town and maybe diverting off road once in a while. In other words, aiming squarely at the hybrid market!

[Super Domestique]

drfabulous0 wrote:SD if you

drfabulous0 wrote:

SD if you were ever to race me then that would become obvious, my idea of resistance training is smoking and to me a training ride is one where I am too drunk to ride home and have to get the train, even my posts have now become so slow that I have been lapped.

Anyway your 29er is cool.

=)) great reply sir

[drfabulous0]

SD if you were ever to race
SD if you were ever to race me then that would become obvious, my idea of resistance training is smoking and to me a training ride is one where I am too drunk to ride home and have to get the train, even my posts have now become so slow that I have been lapped.

Anyway your 29er is cool.

[mrkeith119]

The main reason should be
The main reason should be that cross bikes are race bikes, and the frames should be engineered for that. Where as hybrids are leisure bikes, so don’t necessarily need as hardy.

[Super Domestique]

How did I answer that before
How did I answer that before you asked! 😕 8}

[drfabulous0]

Super Domestique wrote:CX

Super Domestique wrote:

CX bike = cool.

Hybrid, well, erm, not cool.

:B

A hybrid can be cool if you stick fat tyres on it and call it a 29er.

[Author]

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