[Padre]

The wife races semi-pro mtb singlespeeds.
Trains on the road 75%.
Commutes a few days a week to work.

Thinking of getting her a cross bike to do some of that training and to allow her to link some dirt on her trek to and from school.

On the short list are the Specy TriCross and the Kona Jake the Snake. I'm pretty sure neither of these will fit 44c Mutanos which would likely be desired for her uses.

I'm looking for a complete bike to fit largish cross tires.

Can anyone throw some suggestions out there that I might be missing?

 

[Mosovich]

Fuji..

how about a Fuji. Pretty cheap, durable component mixture.

 

[khill]

Usual recommendations for commuter cross bikes would be Surly Crosscheck or Soma DoubleCross. Either of those would fit a 700x44 tire easily.

Might be heavier than the other options but they also have all the rack and fender mounts she might want.

 

[Padre]

Yeah, my hesitance on the cross-check is purely asthetic.

Any word on the largest tire the Kona or Tri-cross can accomodate?

 

[PeanutButterBreath]

Consider a smaller tire. I think that if your wife gives something in the 38C range a shot, she will be pleasantly surprised at what they can handle. I've run everything from a 44C/2.1" combo down to 32C on my Double Cross, and the big tires slow me down much more on the road than the skinny tires do on dirt.

The Mutanos in particular are sluggish on pavement and climbs while not feeling particularly cushy on rough terrain. I had a set of 37C Conti Twister Pros for a while that I would choose over the Mutanos on any road/trail.

 

[Dan Cas]

Padre

The Kona Jake has the highest BB on the planet,which may cause problems for her during remounts if she ever does any cross racing on it.

My wife at 5'6" fit well on a 49 Poprad or a 49 Bianchi Volpe.Both are steel,ride pretty soft,and have low BB/s.

dan