While the reviewed bike is the super duper high-end cross race bike, Specialized also has the same frame with different levels of components at a lower cost. This is the frame I rode last year, and until we get the Milwaukee Bicycle Company Mettle, is by far the best cross race bike I've been on. I've ridden a variety of other brands, and the carbon Crux is the lightest, stiffest, and most responsive bike.
I built it up with SRAM Force components, Avid BB7 brakes, and a Giro cockpit. I had zero issues with the bike during the season, including the disc brakes.
It rides long, in that it carves through corners rather than twitches through them. When you come into a corner, the frame is so stiff, you rocket out of the corner as soon as you stand on the pedals.
The front end is stiff, yet compliant in rough conditions. I felt completely secure in navigating steep, rutted, technical downhill sections. The bike felt perfectly balanced.
I'm keeping the Crux as my road bike. The Mettle is going to be the race bike of the future, and I can't wait to ride steel again.
For those of you who need carbon for cross, the Crux is really the only bike you need to try.
Come to Ben's to try out our line of Milwaukee Bicycle Company, Specialized, and Focus cyclocross bikes as well as tires and all the other gear you'll need for your cross season. It's never too early to get ready for cyclocross!
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