component swap from road bike?

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Permalink Reply by Kenneth Zukin on January 3, 2011 at 9:00am

Off the top of my head, your plan sounds really time-consuming.  If it were me, I'd just buy some used components and slap them on my 'cross frame.  Cyclocross is hard-duty anyway;  it doesn't matter much if the components are worn.  You could look at a used 105 group -- or maybe an older 9 speed Ultegra or DA.  Same for wheels -- just pick up a used set for $100 -- Craigslist is your friend.

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Permalink Reply by DStudley on January 3, 2011 at 10:27am

Most of the year my cyclocross bike does the duty of base mile bike/rain bike.  I swap to a bigger chain ring for road and obviously change tires, and put on fenders.  Using the whole bike vs. having a complete separate frame seems easier to me. 

The entire drivetrain of a cross bike is from the road bike aside from cross bikes generally are geared down for the large chainring, but the seat tube may have a different diameter so you may need a separate seatpost and front derailluer clamp.  Just seems like a lot of work with out much gain when a cross bike with road tires works fine for road training.

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Permalink Reply by Jason Lombard on January 3, 2011 at 3:19pm

I was in your position earlier this year. I opted to move over the parts that I could and make my 'cross bike my primary road/training bike. I just went to a 50T large chainring and left everything else the same. If you race on the road (I don't) then this may not work for you. But if you need a budget approach to a "do it all" machine, I'd leave the cross bike built as your primary training rig.

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