Craftsmanship

[DaveInDenver]

When cross started coming back in 2000 manufacturers tried to sell Cross bikes as touring bike by having a bike with rack bosses on a cross bike

Oh, I dunno, not so much as touring bikes as much as maybe just commuters? I think that's a fair way to expand the potential market for what would be a pretty niche bike otherwise. If the average commute is anything like mine, could be pavement, bike paths, snow, a little singletrack if I feel like it. A lot of potholes and curbs... It's perfect technique training for the fall series!

 

[Christophe Noel]

Oh, I dunno, not so much as touring bikes as much as maybe just commuters? I think that's a fair way to expand the potential market for what would be a pretty niche bike otherwise. If the average commute is anything like mine, could be pavement, bike paths, snow, a little singletrack if I feel like it. A lot of potholes and curbs... It's perfect technique training for the fall series!

You have to keep in mind, the complete collapse of the stock touring bike came a few years before the reincarnation of the cyclocross bike, so there were quite a few people trying to cram panniers on cyclocross bikes. Plus, a few of those "cyclocross" bikes were not really more than short wheel base touring rigs with long top tubes. The 2000 Trek XO-1 was a great example. Why they built that bike is beyond me. It had a friggin' triple crankset!!!

If it weren't for the commuter, do-all buyers, the 'cross bike probably wouldn't have been such a hit. I still say it would make a fine touring rig if your touring took you on gravel roads and didn't require you to mount panniers.