CrossRip or Domane?

abdul · Nov 19, 2013

Hello,

I am going to buy a new Road bike and I am looking at 2 different types of road bikes the CrossRip and Domane.

I live in a coastal city and wil be riding my bike on roads and large sidewalks made of stones (like the one you see in many European cities). My goal is to take the bike on daily short joy rides and occasionally take it on long road trips.

Which bike would you recommend CrossRip or Domane and why? Also the Domane comes in two varieties: aluminum and carbon fiber, which do you recommend?

Thanks!

Randy99CL · Nov 19, 2013

What size are the stones the roads are paved with?
If they're big the wider tires of the CrossRip wouldn't be deflected as much and would take some of the harshness from the bumps.

I bought the CrossRip and an extra road wheelset (with 25s) and switch them as needed.

mpre53 · Nov 19, 2013

Where and how long are those "long road trips"? Similar type pavement, or smoother roads?

IMO, you can ride a brick with wheels for a short joy ride, but for the longer rides you're going to want a smoother riding bike, if they're going to be over decent roads. Of course, you can always switch wheels/tires on the Cross Rip and get a smoother ride.

abdul · Nov 20, 2013

Randy99CL said:
What size are the stones the roads are paved with?
If they're big the wider tires of the CrossRip wouldn't be deflected as much and would take some of the harshness from the bumps.

I think they are big stones but they are flat and the cement between them comes up pretty much to the top, here are samples:

Randy99CL said:
I bought the CrossRip and an extra road wheelset (with 25s) and switch them as needed.

With that solution don't you need an extra back gear disk set?

abdul · Nov 20, 2013

mpre53 said:
Where and how long are those "long road trips"? Similar type pavement, or smoother roads?

IMO, you can ride a brick with wheels for a short joy ride, but for the longer rides you're going to want a smoother riding bike, if they're going to be over decent roads. Of course, you can always switch wheels/tires on the Cross Rip and get a smoother ride.

The long road trips are going to be on normal asphalt roads made for cars to drive on. The short joy rides will be in the parks by the sea side. There the surface is mixed between roads made of asphalt and sidewalks made of tiles or stones as illustrated in the pictures.

SBard1985 · Nov 20, 2013

abdul said:
With that solution don't you need an extra back gear disk set?

Yes, you're going to want a wheel set that is compatible with your brakes and have the same cassette, Although I have 12-27 on my cross bike and I sometimes throw my road wheel set that has an 11-25 and it seems to work just fine. You could swap tires every time, but that gets real old, real quick. Not a bad option at first if funds are tight.

Cross bike with a cross and road wheel set is like having two bikes, almost, it's great. You compromise a little bit in some aspects, but if your goal is just to have fun, some of those can be ignored. I went on vacation to Santa Fe, NM last week and brought my cross bike, with my two wheel sets. Went on a nice road ride then rode some single track the next day. Sure it would have have been nice to bring my road and mountain bike, but it was way easier to travel with just one bike, plus my g/f's bike, light luggage, the dog, and her kennel.

But get the bike you want, if you like the feel of the Domane more than the CrossRip, obviously get that. I ride rough dirt roads on my road bike all the time, I love it.

Randy99CL · Nov 20, 2013

abdul said:
I think they are big stones but they are flat and the cement between them comes up pretty much to the top, here are samples:

With that solution don't you need an extra back gear disk set?

It looks like those stone paths might create lot of vibration through the bars even with 100psi 25mm tires. Do you have a bike that you can ride there to get a feel for what it's like?
My CrossRip came with 80psi 32s that do a lot to smooth out the ride and they're not terribly inefficient on good roads either.

Getting an extra wheelset for the CrossRip is easy as it will handle any 135mm rear hub 29er wheels. I bought a set of Easton EA90XCs from Nashbar for less than half of retail.
The rotor sizes (160f, 140r) have to match and it is best to shim the rotors so you don't have to adjust the calipers when you switch wheels.
The cassettes don't have to exactly match as long as they are fairly close. I use a 12-28 on the cross wheels and 12-25 on the road set and don't have to mess with the chain.

abdul · Nov 21, 2013

Randy99CL said:
It looks like those stone paths might create lot of vibration through the bars even with 100psi 25mm tires. Do you have a bike that you can ride there to get a feel for what it's like?
My CrossRip came with 80psi 32s that do a lot to smooth out the ride and they're not terribly inefficient on good roads either.

I dont have access to any bikes, even the models I am looking at buying are not available at the local Trek dealer. That's why I try to research online as much as possible before placing my order.

So the Crossrip is like most other aluminum road bikes, it's just the thicker/wider tires slow it down, right?

I used to have a Trek full suspension mountain bike back when I was in the states. It was really fun but I felt it was a bit slow on paved trails. I am guessing that the Crossrip will be significantly faster on paved trails because it should be lighter and the tires are thinner. How much thicker/wider are mountain bike tires compared to crossrip's 700x32 tires?

Randy99CL said:
Getting an extra wheelset for the CrossRip is easy as it will handle any 135mm rear hub 29er wheels. I bought a set of Easton EA90XCs from Nashbar for less than half of retail.
The rotor sizes (160f, 140r) have to match and it is best to shim the rotors so you don't have to adjust the calipers when you switch wheels.
The cassettes don't have to exactly match as long as they are fairly close. I use a 12-28 on the cross wheels and 12-25 on the road set and don't have to mess with the chain.

Sorry I am a bit confused by all the terms and parts, could you please post a link of what I have to buy to get the second set of wheels you recommend?

Soaring Vulture · Nov 22, 2013

From the photos, the stones don't look terrible. I'd expect a carbon-framed Domane with 25's to handle them pretty well.

Srode · Nov 22, 2013

From the looks of my Domane frame, you should be able to fit 28mm tires on it fairly easily. The Domane will be noticeably lighter than the cross rip and if you get a carbon version should do pretty well with damping the vibration. The Cross Rip's bigger tires will help as well. If it's mostly flat where you ride the weight penalty of the Cross Rip won't be very important - but if there's many hills it will be. The carbon Domane is noticeably smoother than the aluminum version.

Vitamin G · Nov 24, 2013

It sounds like you are cycling more for "pleasure" rather than "distance/speed". You said daily short joy rides... I think the CrossRip fits that use case more than the Domane. The Domane is intended more for centuries, gran fondos, racing on rough road surfaces, etc.

Or maybe I don't understand the meaning of "joy ride"

davidka · Nov 24, 2013

I own one of each. I think the Crossrip is the better choice for what you describe. The Domane is unquestionably the faster, more efficient bike but it lacks the Crossrip's versatility- no rack mounts and more limited tire/fender clearance.

With a wheel upgrade the Crossrip becomes decently lightweight.

abdul · Nov 27, 2013

Srode said:
From the looks of my Domane frame, you should be able to fit 28mm tires on it fairly easily. The Domane will be noticeably lighter than the cross rip and if you get a carbon version should do pretty well with damping the vibration. The Cross Rip's bigger tires will help as well. If it's mostly flat where you ride the weight penalty of the Cross Rip won't be very important - but if there's many hills it will be. The carbon Domane is noticeably smoother than the aluminum version.

Is the difference between 25mm and 28mm tires big in comfort?

abdul · Nov 27, 2013

Thank you all for your help.

I was interested in ordering the CrossRip, but sadly it was never available for the entire duration of last week. So I went ahead with the Domane and ordered the 4.5:

Domane 4.5 - Trek Bicycle

davidka · Nov 28, 2013

abdul said:
Is the difference between 25mm and 28mm tires big in comfort?

Not really but there also isn't yet a great number of choices in high quality tires bigger than 25c (but they're coming).

You will enjoy that Domane, it's a super comfortable bike.

expatbrit · Nov 28, 2013

davidka said:
I own one of each. I think the Crossrip is the better choice for what you describe. The Domane is unquestionably the faster, more efficient bike but it lacks the Crossrip's versatility- no rack mounts and more limited tire/fender clearance.

With a wheel upgrade the Crossrip becomes decently lightweight.

Actually, the lower end Domane (4) has rack mounts, at least. I was looking at one, and they pointed them out to me. Fenders need a seat post collar, as I recall.

tihsepa · Nov 28, 2013

expatbrit said:
Actually, the lower end Domane (4) has rack mounts, at least. I was looking at one, and they pointed them out to me. Fenders need a seat post collar, as I recall.

The other way around. The Domane has the option to install fender mounts. For a rack you need the seatpost collar with mounts.

expatbrit · Nov 28, 2013

Ah, ok. I wasn't paying enough attention to the guy. Thanks for the correction.

CrossRip or Domane?

abdul

Randy99CL

mpre53

abdul

abdul

SBard1985

Randy99CL

abdul

Soaring Vulture

Srode

Vitamin G

davidka

abdul

abdul

davidka

expatbrit

tihsepa

expatbrit

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