- [Scott] Winter can be a great opportunity to put down your normal
mountain bike and try something a little different.
- [Neil] And cyclo-crosses are getting more and more popular in recent years.
- So this is cross-country...
- Versus cyclo-cross.
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- So this is my Canyon Exceed. It's a full-carbon frame. The bike weighs in at
nine kilograms. I've got 100 millimeters of suspension up front,
29-inch wheels, knobbly tires, a 2-by drivetrain giving me 22 gears,
and let's see how that compares to the cross bike.
- So this is a Scott Addict CX. It weighs in at 7.7 kilograms,
super lightweight. It's got the dropped handlebars. What does it share with a
mountain bike? Well, it's carbon fiber. It's got bolt-through axles,
disc brakes, 1x11, and it's got knobby tires, sort of.
- So this is the start of our course. Going down this gravel section,
we'll get into the woods. It's undulating, quite flat. The ground is
really rocky. Then it starts to climb out of the forest, there's a short downhill
section after that before coming back up here, on through the grass and there's a
sprint finish. Neil, how are you feeling in that Lycra?
- Well, I thought if I'm going to look stupid, I might as well go the whole hog,
and I borrowed the kit off Tom Last, [inaudible 00:01:23].
On your marks, two, go.
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Ready, Neil?
Yes.
Go!
♪ [music] ♪
- So it's definitely on the climbs where the cross bike is really fast.
It's so light. The tires are so thin. It rolls really fast. You start to be a
little bit careful, it's actually quite rocky up here so you have to be careful of
the tires, not to puncture. On the grass, it's brilliant. Even on this short
climb, the cross bike's made a few seconds.
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- It was this section right here, these rocks leading to the berms at the bottom
there that the cross bike really started to suffer.
Those small, thin tires, lack of suspension,
you just couldn't really be aggressive with the bike,
pushing it down the hill towards the berms, and Neil is on the brakes a lot.
I was just able to let the bike flow, keep the momentum going and I came into this
section with so much speed and ultimately faster on the cross-country bike.
♪ [music] ♪
After the cross-country bike really dominating in the descent,
I've come into this grassy open meadow, and this is really where the big tires
start to get draggy.
- Yeah, this is the home of the cross bike and it just feels pretty fast along here,
so let's try and prove that with a drag race, Scott.
- Yeah, okay. When I say go, after three, two, one, that is the mark.
Three, two, one, go!
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- You're struggling, mate.
Well, mate, good race.
- Yeah. Cheers.
- That was a lot of fun, good little course.
- So hit me with the times, then.
- Well, unfortunately, it's not good news for you. You lost [inaudible 00:04:54]
- Yeah.
- Not by much, 15 seconds.
- Well, that's not too bad.
- How do you feel?
- It felt really slow on descent. You've just got to be so careful with the tires
and obviously sketchy just riding downhill on it.
And even on the flat, I'm just trying to be a bit careful.
- But come on, on that grassy section, even when we had that drag race,
just how much fast is that cross bike? It literally just accelerated away from me.
- It is rapid. I've actually raced cross for a few weeks now. I've never ridden
one before that. And in the right situation, they're an absolute weapon,
but I definitely don't think it's going to replace a cross-country mountain bike.
- Here's a question for you, though.
Could you take this cross-country bike to the cross course?
- Well, I have seen people riding them. Yes, they're fine but they're definitely
not as fast. And to be honest, although cross is totally different,
I think I might do it every winter just for a bit of variety.
- Very nice. I'm going to stick to my cross-country bike, love riding this thing
in winter, little bit of hardtail work keeps the skill work up nice and high.
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- And if you want to watch hardtail versus full-suspension cross-country bikes,
click right here.
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