The Ultimate Guide to Buying a Cyclocross Bike

Across multiple markets, cyclocross is arguably the fastest growing competitive cycling discipline. However, outside of Europe and to a lesser extent the road bikes cycle United States, awareness of the sport is still limited which can make choosing a bike and knowing what you should be looking for potentially difficult. To make things easier, and help cut through all the terminology, we’ve put together this buyer’s guide to explain the different aspects of cyclocross bikes, the versatile type of riding you can do with them, and just how to choose the right one for you.

What is Cyclocross?
Cyclocross is a short, intense form of bike racing that was created to allow riders to continue racing over cold European winters. Cyclocross is commonly referred to as ‘CX’ and is raced in all weather conditions no matter how bad. It’s common to see races conducted over snow, dirt and sand, as well as a myriad of obstacles including jumps, stairs, rocks and incredibly steep hills. Cyclocross circuits are short, typically no longer than 4km in length and races are conducted over a set number of laps (depending on the length of the circuit), usually lasting between 45min – an hour.

The courses require riders to possess a unique set of skills to overcome the obstacles and manage the technical layout. It also requires a unique bike to handle rough conditions, tight circuits and fast racing. A cyclocross bike looks similar to a road bike at a glance but has specific features that separate it from its tarmac orientated cousin and that make it a rather versatile bike choice. So versatile, many riders happily use their cyclocross bikes for racing, commuting and even riding in road groups. We’ll run you through what makes a cyclocross bike different below.

CX Geometry
The Ultimate Guide to Buying a Cyclocross Bike BikeExchange 2017 5
To start with, two main design aspects of the geometry are different; the headtube angle and bottom bracket height.

The slacker headtube angle provides riders with greater control descending and at lower speeds than a steep angle would. Due to cyclocross circuits being short, full of obstacles and technical, it’s rare that speed will be comparable to road racing so control at low speed is crucial as is lower gear ratios (which we’ll go into detail later).

A second design change is a raised bottom bracket area to better manage obstacles. As well as clearing obstacles easier, the higher bottom bracket area allows riders to pedal through corners. This does, however, raise a rider’s centre of gravity, potentially making handling the bike more difficult. For this reason, many riders will lower their seat height by 1cm or so to counter the change.

For more on geometry and how it affects a bike, check out our guide to geometry charts and what they mean.

Frame materials
The frame materials used for cyclocross bikes are the same as road and mountain bikes, commonly made from either carbon fibre, aluminium, titanium, steel or a combination of these materials.

Each material has different characteristics and will affect the cost, comfort, weight, stiffness, strength, durability and general ‘feel’ of the bike. It’s worth noting that it’s often how the chosen material is used by the engineers and manufacturers that matters most, and this is something that each brand will typically play with.

For a more in-depth look at differences of common frames materials read our Bike Materials Explained guide.

Weight
Aiming to keep weight down in cycling is universal regardless of the discipline and cyclocross is no different. The lighter the bike the easier it will be to clear obstacles, pick up and carry if you’ve had to dismount and negotiate and accelerate out of tight corners.

Frame material choice will play a large part, however, your budget will be the true deciding factor in how light the bike will be.

Flat tube shapes
Part of cyclocross is dismounting and carrying your bike to clear large obstacles. Standard tube shapes can make this awkward and uncomfortable so cyclocross bikes are often made with the underside of the top tube flatter than a road bike to sit better on your shoulder when carrying. This riding skill is known as shouldering and depending on the course could be required every lap. Having a flatter underside of the top tube will give you greater control over the bike as well as making it more comfortable.