So a while ago I wrote about the Coal Cross race in Cumberland. Since then I haven’t really stopped thinking about cyclocross.
However, I quickly figured out that getting a new (to me) cyclocross bike just wasn’t in the cards, so I tried to find an alternative.
My solution? Throw some cross tires on my old school T**k road touring bike and call it cross.
This was the easiest upgrade I’ve done. Two new tires, some new tubes and that’s all I really needed. Instant cross bike. Before pulling the trigger, I looked all over the internet to see if there were any photos of the tire clearance on an old school steel road bike like this. A few people have put some gravel tires on bikes like these, but almost nobody took detailed photos of the clearance. I previously had 28c tires on there and did have a lot of space, so I took a chance and got some cx tires… and hey they fit fine!
I had a gift card for a local bike shop, and splurged on some new tires, but there are tons of cx tires available used.
I also wanted to get some off-road clipless action going, so I grabbed some used shoes, and used pedals from Pinkbike. I think I paid $50 in all for the pedals/shoes/cleats set up.
So for under $150 bucks I basically got myself a new cross bike.
Nothin’ wrong with that!