I have a cyclocross as a commuter and after the snow last week if I was to get a new bike now I'd go with a 29er with two sets of wheels. One skinny and the other wider. Something like a Salsa steel El mariachi would be perfect.
Steel Cross Bikes with Discs?
I have a cyclocross as a commuter and after the snow last week if I was to get a new bike now I'd go with a 29er with two sets of wheels. One skinny and the other wider. Something like a Salsa steel El mariachi would be perfect.
Monstercross baby…Monstercross…:agree:
as im digging my commute more and more i am realizing Im not loving either of my commuter bikes. I have a road bike with skinny tires and a hardtail mtb with slicks but I think im evolving into getting some form of cyclocoss bike.
I have a few crazy ideas. one is build up a traitor crusade or Brodie monster with afline hub, bullhorn bars and use my spare hope sixpot brakes.
is this ridiculous? my prefered hand position is in the hoods. whats up with afline hubs?
or just get a full cyclocross bike with drops and disc brifters.
either way im going to wait untill summer so I may have dialed in what I want untill then.
What is it you don't like about your road bike for commuting?
What is it you don't like about your road bike for commuting?
1. I can only fit 23 mm tires and i find them too squirely on corners,curbs, train tracks ect. ideally id like to run 32-35 mm. my mtb bike slicks are 1.5s which might be a bit wide but they feel much more solid.
2. disc brakes, dont have em want em.
3. braking set up. not sure if i like being in the hoods on sketchy decents, but really the jury is out cant decide if i like or dislike the brake set up on road bikes, i need a bit more saddle time to figure it out.
1. I can only fit 23 mm tires and i find them too squirely on corners,curbs, train tracks ect. ideally id like to run 32-35 mm. my mtb bike slicks are 1.5s which might be a bit wide but they feel much more solid.
2. disc brakes, dont have em want em.
3. braking set up. not sure if i like being in the hoods on sketchy decents, but really the jury is out cant decide if i like or dislike the brake set up on road bikes, i need a bit more saddle time to figure it out.
sketchy descents = use the drops. counterintuitive but it works way better than being on the hoods.
Being in the drops gives you more leverage on the brake levers, and more control of the bars.
I dont have much experience commuting, but have put in a ton of miles pulling my kids in a trailer, with a hardtail mtb with slicks, and now with a cross bike with discs .The cross bike is is way better. The disc brakes are great when going downhill with 100 lb of kids and trailer behind me. Its not as fast rolling as my road bike, but prertt good.
sketchy descents = use the drops. counterintuitive but it works way better than being on the hoods.
Agree. I think one has to keep in mind bar height when you set up. If you look at photo's of guys running dirt drop type bars they tend to set them up higher then normal. Makes it easier to keep the hands in the drops when you don't feel like you will do Endo to Face Dab with all that weight on the front wheel.
One of those things one will want to experiment with a bit before cutting their steer tube to short.
not a big fan on being in the drops. in fact i never use the drops thats why i was thinking of going bull horns and regular mtb style brakes. i have a lot of stop and start stuff on my commute (central valley greenway)
I had to google image search bullhorn bars to see what they were. Most of the images I came across didnt have any brakes as they were on fixies. Why not use a regular mtb flat bar if you want to use mtb brakes? You could always throw some bar ends on thrre if you wanted.
go to OCB .
spend a bit of time to find a flat bar , bar ends , shifters and brake levers .
bet you'll spend less than 30 bux .
i'm the same as you , i barely if ever get into the drops especially while city riding , mainly because i like to have my head up to see who is trying to hit me :lol: .
i would , however , drop the coin on some ergo grips ( or similar ) so you distribute the pressure on your hands more evenly .
I have some bar ends mounted up on my mtb but the they are way to wide even after I cut the bars down a bit.
bullhorns and tape seem like a cleaner solution. I like how you have more hand positions with the roadbike taped bar set up. anyway I ordered some up off amazon for 20 bucks so ill see how it works on old specialized stumpy.
Anyone run a alfine geared hub? i like the idea of shifting when stopped at lights and cleaner chainline.
Belt-drive Alfine monstercross, anyone? Soma's new Wolverine picks up where the Brodie Monster left off:
Also note the typical Soma tall-ish head tube that puts the bars up nice and high, making the drops more accessible for the average rider.
Jesus that's a lot of stem spacer.
That bike needs a Limp Dick stem. Clockwork makes them.
John Tomac would be proud, proper gear ratios and everything…
Frame ordered on Boxing Day. Looking forward to this and seeing how it will evolve over the year.
Next to get my hands on a 29er fork.
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