Crux

A little background. I live in a very bike friendly environment, Northern Virginia. It offers alot of options from both a weather and a terrain perspective. 99% of the time its possible to ride a bike. Rarely does the weather prevent it. However, 25% of the time, neither a mountain bike or a road bike are ideal. I'm too much of a bike riding enthusiast to not ride 25% of the time. I need to be outdoors pedaling, for fitness, fun, and to release some testosterone.

I already own a road bike and mountain bike. Plus, I've owned multiple variations of each them during the past 10 years. Something in between those two was missing. I needed something that was appropriate for a variety of purposes and weather conditions. After thinking about it for some time it finally dawned on me that a cyclocross bike would be perfect. It's got an aggresive road geometry but bundled with off-road components. Perfect! This is what I need when the mtb trails are too muddy or the pavement is too slick for skinny tires.

I shopped around, did some research, and then made a decision. I'm now the proud owner of a 2011 Specialized Crux Comp cyclocross bike. I've ridden a few times and I'm liking it. It's got the spunkiness and acceleration of a road bike. I can stand and hammer up my favorite paved hills and it flies. Because it has beefier, mtb-like components, for example, wider tires, v-brakes, etc., its capable of going off-road and won't break. I've already taken it on gravel and singletrack and it gets the job done. So, I now have a bike for every weather condition.

I never thought I'd buy a cyclo-cross bike. When I used to be a dedicated roadie, I always thought they were lame, being part road bike & part mtb. After I started mtb'ing full-time, I still thought they were lame, kinda like an mtb wanna-be. In hindsight, it turns out that I didn't know I needed one. Live and learn. Now I wished I had bought one sooner. Ride on.