Why are cyclocross bikes so much more expensive than similar hybrids?

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.

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…

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.

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.

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.

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