thoughts on the genesis croix de fer

[boomforeal]

i've been looking for a production frame to build up this winter as a gravel/off-road bike, and the genesis croix de fer seems to meet all of my criteria:

- balance of comfortable and lively
- not-too-heavy
- no weird geometry
- (chainstay mounted) disc tabs
- qr dropouts
- threaded bb
- 70mm+ bb drop
- abundant but not excessive braze-ons

i don't know anyone who has ridden one, nor have i ever seen one in the flesh, er, steel. wondering if anyone has any experience or thoughts that they'd be willing to share before i lay my money down. mostly interested in how it rides but comment on build quality, finish, etc. would be welcome too. if you can tell me how much tire clearance it has with 650b wheels i'll give you a cookie

thanks

[efixler]

Hi. My CdF is the bike I ride the most; I'm pretty sentimental about it because it's the bike that really got me back into riding and got me into riding more than I ever did before.

I've had it set up a few different ways, running tires from 25mm - 38mm. It's kind of settled now into a setup with dynamo/fenders/rear rack and it's my commuters/bad weather/anything bike and I ride a fair bit of gravel on it (although lately I'm riding a 1986 Trek converted to 650b for gravel more)

The bike is kind of a tank, with the good and bad sides of that. It's stable and feels nicest when it's carrying weight. It is pretty heavy, but it can carry speed.

The front-end is pretty vibration-ey, and I used to get a lot of hand numbness when riding it. I think the steel fork is overbuilt to handle the disc brake, and this isn't great for the ride. I swapped out to carbon bars, which felt like a really weird choice for this bike, but it 90% solved the hand numbness problem. Downhill at high speeds is still pretty rough tho.

It _is_ one of the few bikes you see now with QR and discs, although I think the never ones are thru-axle. I found that the front disc was getting pulled out of alignment sometimes; replacing the stock skewers with with DT Swiss RWS fixed that. If there's a carbon fork option you might go for it.

What I do love about this bike is that you can really ride it anywhere, and I've done lots of challenging road and gravel rides on it. It feels punish-able. I don't think you'll go wrong with this bike, but, that said, if you're not planning on carrying loads with it, you might enjoy something similar that's a little leaner.

Happy to answer any other questions.

[boomforeal]

Happy to answer any other questions.

thanks efixler

primary question for you is whether your bike is a Croix de Fer or a CdF? as i understand it, the main difference between the two frames is the steel used: the CdF uses reynolds 520 while the Croix de Fer uses reynolds 725 tubing in order to make the frames lighter and more compliant. it's all relative of course (they could both still be tanks) but knowing which one you have would help me put your experience into perspective

[efixler]

CdF is just an abbreviation of Croix de Fer. Genesis have another bike called the CdA, which is essentially an aluminum CdF.

My bike is Reynolds 725.

[boomforeal]

My bike is Reynolds 725.

great, thanks!

[unterhausen]

they have an 853 version which should be lighter. Of course, it's TA and flat mount. Their website is a pain, I wasn't motivated to drag through it long enough to figure out if it was 2OS tubing or not. I think if you want lively and not too heavy, 2OS isn't the way to go.

[efixler]

Yeah, it looks like Genesis has really screwed up their website. It used to be pretty slick, now it's terrible. They also used to post weights, but it looks like they don't anymore.

The current range looks like:

CdF10: Cro-Mo/QR/Spyre
CdF20: 725/TA/PostMount/HyRd
CdF30 or FS: 831/TA/FlatMount/(Hydraulic)

Considering the quantities they probably sell, the variations are quite mind-boggling.

[boomforeal]

I think if you want lively and not too heavy, 2OS isn't the way to go.

2OS = double oversized? i feel like that would make for a stiff and light frame, but uncomfortable/unforgiving for longer, rougher rides

edit: oh wait you said isn't

it's really frustrating how little information is available about the tubing used in production steel frames

[unterhausen]

I have a 2OS lug set and the tubes I got with it are .8/.5/.8, and they are really heavy. This is for my steel adventure bike. In steel 2OS, you can go a little lighter, but not much. In retrospect, I should have gone with OS Spirit for Lugs or similar, which is significantly lighter and reasonably lively. I'm not particularly sensitive to tubing compliance.

[efixler]

Regardless, to be clear I love the bike despite its flaws, and you'll probably enjoy the hell out of it if you get it.

That said, if I was buying a [British] steel bike along the lines you seem to be looking today, I might also take a close look at the Fairlight Strael or the Mason Resolution.

[brownhound]

PSA for a used one. No idea if it's a good deal.

https://stlouis.craigslist.org/bik/d/genesis-uk-croix-de-fer/6704929360.html

[efixler]

I'm not sure about the price either, but I think it's a pretty nice build if the size is right. I have those same fenders myself, and 1x could make a lot of sense on this bike, although it might make a bit more sense with a 1:1 or lower granny gear (although it's very close).

You can pick up the 725 FS for $540 shipped from CRC (but the L is out of stock); I think I'd start with a used value of $350-400 for the frameset and work out the price from there.

[boomforeal]

That said, if I was buying a [British] steel bike along the lines you seem to be looking today, I might also take a close look at the Fairlight Strael or the Mason Resolution.

those are nice, but this build is happening on a beer budget. i'd pretty much settled on a rove st frame - they're meant to be super comfortable, and we end up riding some pretty technical stuff on gravel rides - but was drawn to the CdF because of the qr dropouts (i've got an older set of 240s that i'd like to use). between your description of the ride being a bit harsh and crc being sold out of large green framesets (the new one is teal - blegh) i think the rove is going to be the call. thanks again!

[efixler]

Cool. Good luck!

[Plum Hill]

I saw one while on vacation. Looking back, I wish I would have taken it for a spin to see if the sizing works (long legs/short torso).
The CL listing is close to me. I may have to take a look at it, though a large is too long.
Totally unfamiliar with disc brake road bikes, I wonder if my old Blackburn lowrider rack would work with disc brakes or if the rack would interfere with the caliper.

[efixler]

The angles at the front tend to be a bit more challenging with discs than they are at the back. You might need standoffs.

As the winter progresses I’m reminded more of how much I enjoy this bike.


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