Best cyclocross bike under £1000 and other CX chat

If I find £250 down the back of the sofa for the Hope Hydro setup you can have my BB7/Goodridge cables/problem solver.

I've got a travel agent kicking around - I've just had no need to fit one. I was going to use it to run a V brake on the rear but I don't feel that I need to now.

Just your common garden shimano, it felt exactly like a cantilever brakes, originally as described earlier, it's either feel too spongy or to grabby, it's almost impossible to dial it in perfectly,

Avid reckon you need at least compressionless housing - I didn't think Shimano standard cabling was compressionless? That may explain the spongeyness.