SIZING AND FIT
I generally ride a 54 or 56 road bike, depending on brand, model, etc and went with the 54cm Crux for a few reasons. At 5’9.5″ I have a relatively low saddle height around 72.5cm. On road bikes this is no problem, just lower the saddle and keep the stock stem and generally I’m comfy. On my personal Crux though, fitted with a Thomson setback seatpost I’m almost at the minimum saddle height possible due to the bend in the Thomson post. I knew a 56cm model wouldn’t work for this reason, let alone the standover height, taller headtube, etc. I will be swapping over to a 110mm stem from the stock 100mm to get the proper reach. It seems to be an unwritten rule that if you’re in between sizes for your road bike you generally go down a size for the cross bike, and even if you’re happy with your road bike size sometimes you still need to drop down a size. I just wanted to make this point for any readers that might be on the fence with bike sizing.
As far as the numbers go, the Crux uses a 71.5º head angle, 73.5º seat-tube angle and 1016mm wheelbase – a welcome departure from Specialized’s previous Tricross offering – making this a true racing bike. These numbers are pretty spot on with other popular cx race bikes from Ridley, Trek, Cannondale and Stevens.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
After some quick rides around I’ve noticed the disc brakes feel very different from my Tektro cantilevers and will continue to take some getting used to. I’ve always felt that mechanical disc brakes have a sort of ‘on or off’ feel – just that you’re either stopping hard or you’re not stopping. Avid’s BB7 is certainly at the head of the pack for mechanical disc brakes. This will be a welcome trade-off for modulation of canti brakes when it comes to muddy race days or for winter time sloshing around and big gravel road loops. So far I’ve been happy with my own Crux and other than the hiccups with tire selection and front cable guide and I’m thinking the Crux disc will continue to impress.
***article written by bikerumor.com CLICK HERE
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