SSCX Only!

Huh, they changed it again, look like it's 531 after all, odd choice of tubing considering the TIG construction, you'd think they would use 631.

I bought one recently as new winter bike. Heavier than my Big Block but v comfortable and preferred the ride over the Cd Fer.

Would recommend

Genesis Day One? (2015).

£150 over your budget though, and it's a singlespeed freehubs rather than a freewheel;

What's the cose of a BB30 carbon frame from China these days? Surely someone like Dolan could put some canti mounts on a FXE and up the clearance a bit and sell it as a £300 frameset?

A fair point, the FXE does make a great CX frame once you set it right at the end of the drop out.

long reach calipers not gonna work in a CX environment I gather? (I'm thinking Tektro R559)

FGCX only like that though, which is a whole other niche.

What's the the aversion to steel? Cheap alu is likely to have worse clearance and won't ride any better.

Thought about a caadx frame set? I think they're bb30.

What's the the aversion to steel? Cheap alu is likely to have worse clearance and won't ride any better.

Mainly because it's likely to be a lots lighter to carry? I recall @Howard saying this a while ago.

Thought about a caadx frame set? I think they're bb30.

They are, but can't get them as frameset as far as I'm aware of.

I don't like steel bikes, heavier and less stiff. It's probably irrational, but I'm sure there's other people out there who are put off the fact that all cheap SSCX options are steel, for there to be a market for an alu SSCX.

I've found this for ghettos eccentric in a PF30 46mm shell (clarified after publishing):
http://www.bikerumor.com/2011/02/23/problem-solvers-bb30-eccentric-bottom-bracket-adapter/

Does someone make an eccentric for BB30(non-Pressfit) 42mm shells?

A Pompino frame weighs ~ 200g more than a Dolan Multithing.

@edscoble . You can buy a new complete caadx with 9sp sora for about £600 so used prices are dirt cheap. Sell the mech and buy a BB, job done :-)

^^ As I see it the problem is that currently all the Alu SSCX options out there are so expensive you be better of buying chinese in terms of performance. Alu doesn't have "followers" like steel and so if often becomes a performance question but since you can save both weight and money by going carbon the place for it in the already nieche marked is slim.

Go to mielec and tell them to use good/light tubing?

They make 29ers so strength and disc/canti mounts isn't a problem, and they're now able to use 1.5inch headtubes. Plus you can make custom geo, and it probably won't go north of £300

Goes single speed then worries about the performance impact of an additional 300g?

And it no longer go into OTP territory, which is the main problem of acquiring an alu SSCX.

It's the flex that bothers me more than the weight. Like I said, probably irrational, but when I had a Pompino I never really enjoyed riding it cos it always felt really twangy under power.

Exactly - horisontal dropouts on SSCX is so last year.

n00b question - but if you want a alu SS frame, why not just use any old alu CX frame and a SS converter thing? You'll get better choice of wheels etc then too..

Ugly and I find tensioners have a tendency to slip under high power.

looks ok to me:

Cyclocross is hella bumpy so you want to stay away from spring tensioners. Not being able to drop the chain is one of the mayor pluses of a proper sscx bike so you want to enforce that.

Tensioner no but beer components BB or eccentric hub would be good.

But tensioners work fine for SS mtb conversions ... I've used one before myself, and given it a pretty hard time - never dropped the chain.

Mine occasionally slips when really giving it the beans going up steep bits. Once it slips on a ride it'll keep doing it until I retighten it, which isn't really feasible in a cross race.

I find tensioners have a tendency to slip under high power.

So did I, until I took one link off the chain.