Ridley

X-Ride Disc - 2015

If your cyclocross habit is more about staying fit and having fun than finding a way to pay the bills, spending a year's income on a 'cross bike probably doesn't make sense. You can still ride a killer bike, though, if you saddle up the Ridley X-Ride Disc Cyclocross frame before you hit your local circuit or head out for some all-terrain riding.

The X-Ride has virtually the same geometry as the carbon-fiber X-Fire, but it's made from 7005 triple-butted aluminum, which is thicker at the junctures for added strength and thinner in the middle to reduce weight. Ridley also designed key sections of tubing with a "pinched" profile, which keeps the bike stiff without making it heavy, so you can pound over gravel, through mud, and across chattery trails without breaking into a cold sweat worrying that your frame is about to crack. A high bottom bracket gives you lots of clearance, and the reasonably relaxed head tube angle gives you a stable wheelbase without making the X-Ride cruise-liner sluggish.

Up front, Ridley poked its 4ZA Oryx Cyclocross fork through the steerer tube. Made from 24-ton carbon fiber, the Oryx is designed to handle to torque generated by disc brakes, which far exceeds that of traditional rim brakes. They offer far better modulation and all-weather stopping power, though, so they're better suited for the oft-muddy conditions you find on 'cross courses. Carbon is stiffer than aluminum, too, so the fork will track straight through obstacles that would deflect traditional metal setups.