12/16/2006 - Shopping for a cyclocross bike (pt 1)

Since most of the training rides I do are on paved or dirt bike paths and gravel roads, its kind of overkill to ride a mountain bike like my Ibis. That being said, I think a cyclocross bike would make a perfect training bike, so this weekend I started doing a little research and even test rode a few bikes.

The first bike I looked at was the Raleigh RX 1.0 (shown above). One of the local bike shops had one in stock so I stopped in and took it for a test ride. From the short ride I did, it seems like a GREAT bike for the money... $1199. It has a very high end Easton EC90 X Carbon Cross fork and some pretty good components for this pricepoint. My main concern is that it comes with 9 speed Shimano Tiagra shifters which I wasn't too excited about. They seemed to shift OK, but you had to move the levers quite a bit to make them shift...and this was one of the complaints I had heard from people. Not a big deal if you could easily upgrade to Shimano 105 shifters, but since it comes with 9 speed, that wouldn't be too easy now that Shimano is only making 10 speed stuff in the 105 and Ultegra. So, I'd have to look around on eBay for some 9 speed 105 shifters if I ever wanted to upgrade shifters....might be a pain.


My LBS also had a Redline Conquest and Conqest Pro (shown above). I really like the Conquest Pro but only the regular Conquest had pedals, so thats the one I got to test ride. Pretty comparable to the Raleigh, although not as light and the front fork was aluminum so its a little more harsh ride. The Conquest Pro has a carbon fiber fork though, so it probably weighs less and rides better than the standard Conquest. I also really like the component spec on the Conquest Pro... it has 105 derailleurs and Ultegra Shifters...very high quality stuff. Its also decked out with Ritchey and FSA components that push the price up to about $1499.

Stopped by another LBS to look at the cyclocross offerings from Specialized and Trek, but they also had a Felt F1X (shown above) which is really sweet. It was priced at $1449 and had better components than any of the bikes I'd looked at. It had Shimano Ultegra derailleurs, 105 shifters, Mavic wheels, etc. I didn't get to test ride the bike, but read a few reviews from owners who commented that the aluminum frame was pretty stiff and had a harsh ride. It does have a carbon fiber fork, although its not an Easton like the less expensive Raleigh.

Summary:
Overall I'd have to say the Redline is the one I liked the most, followed by the Felt, and then the Raleigh. If the Raleigh had 10 speed components with 105 shifters, i think I'd put it right there with the Redline. I'm sure the 9 speed Tiagra shifters would be fine for me, but I tend to look for higher end components on my bikes so I'm a little leary of the Raleigh only because of how difficult/expensive it might be to upgrade. Its a shame really because Raleigh did a great job with this bike, especially that trick Easton front fork.

I'll be doing some more research this next week, possibly at some more high end bikes in the $2000 price range...