Quote:
Originally Posted by itrsteve
Walk into a shop and say "I want a cross bike" (often referred to as cx)...
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This! Even as a dedicated road ride pretty much, my CX bike is maybe the most fun and useful bike I've had in awhile. I can explore, commute, run errands, do gravel, ride pavement, and within reason ride single track XC without worry too much. Yeah, there's limitations as everyone talked about above but it checks a lot of boxes.
What's a good distance for a ride? 10 miles? Or is that not enough to get a decent workout?
Just ride and see how your body takes it
Gear? I never wore a helmet as a kid, but then again, I didn't wear seat belts back then either. So I'm assuming a helmet as a minimum and maybe elbow protection. I don't fall gracefully at all. And what about shoes? Regular running shoes ok to start?
Get a decent helmet. I always suggest pedals to start right but you'll be fine in normal shoes
Technique? As with running, I assume you need to set a pace you sustain over the distance which will also burn calories. Is there a good minutes-per-mile standard I should be looking at?
Again on this one, just ride and enjoy it. You'll feel your way through this eventually
Gotchas? I'm sure I'm missing something. What else do I need to think about?
When purchasing a bike, try to think if you're really going to enjoy it, or you end up in a cycle of upgrading over and over