12 of the best cyclocross bikes — drop-bar dirt bikes for racing and playing in the mud

Which cyclocross bike should I buy? That's a very good question - one we hear a lot - and there's plenty of choice, from race-ready options to bikes that come with rack and mudguard mounts for a bit more versatility.

The cyclocross bikes on this page offer just a selection of the available choice. We've tried to pick bikes that will cater for all tastes, from those specifically looking to buy a bike with a view to getting into racing, to those that are interested in the versatility and ruggedness for a winter training and commuting bike.

For a while it looked like cyclocross bikes would be the last redoubt of cantilever brakes, with their sticky-out arms and straddle cables, but you'll have to get it custom-made if you want a cyclocross bike with cantilever brakes now. Discs have taken over, a development many die-hard cross enthusiasts said would never happen when the UCI changed its rules to allow them in elite races in 2010.

>>Read more: Beginner's Guide to cyclocross essentials

12 of the best cyclocross bikes

• Merida Mission CX Force Edition — £4,200
• Cannondale SuperX GRX — £2,500
• Ribble CGR AL Shimano 105 — £1,399
• Boardman CXR 8.9 — £1,000
• Vitus Energie Evo CR 2021 — £1,999.99
• Canyon Inflite CF SLX 9 Team 2021 — £4,899
• Giant TCX SLR 2 2020 — £1,699
• Merida Cyclo Cross 100 — £900
• Canyon Inflite 5 2021 — £1,749
• Specialized Crux — £4,000
• Kinesis CX Race — £765.00 (frame & fork)
• Bianchi Zolder Pro — £3,365

Merida Mission CX Force Edition — £4,200

Merida's Mission CX Force Edition is a top-quality cyclo-cross bike that's ready to race straight out of the box. It'll turn its hand to fast gravel riding and winter riding too, if you're looking for something more than just a dedicated race bike.

The Mission CX is designed as a cyclo-cross race bike and as such it's not going to mollycoddle you over rough ground: this is a bike for attacking stuff on. It's at its best when you're sprinting up a steep, loose gravel climb or you're finding a fast line through a swoopy bit of singletrack. It's a direct, responsive bike that goes where you point it.

Steering response is very good: the bike isn't twitchy, but neither does it have the relaxed feel of more gravel/distance-orientated bikes. With a head tube angle of 72 degrees and a seat tube angle of 74 degrees, that's not really surprising.

Read our review of the Merida Mission CX Force Edition

Cannondale SuperX GRX — £2,500

The SuperX's excellent frame makes it worth a look even if we had a few misgivings about the details when we reviewed it a few years ago.

One of the main assets of the Cannondale frame is the smoothness of the ride. Even on the road with the tyres pumped up hard, the frame soaks up vibrations and remains planted over rough ground. That's not to say it's at all spongy; the huge tubes provide plenty of stiffness for hard sprints.

We'd have preferred a 1X gear system and that's what you get here, with a Cannondale crankset and 40-tooth ring driving a Shimano 11-34 cassette for an eminently raceable and straightforward set of ratios.

Read our review of the Cannondale SuperX
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Ribble CGR AL Shimano 105 — £1,399

Ribble's CGR AL Shimano 105 is a hugely versatile and superb value bike for everything from gravel bashing to cyclocross and road commuting. The aluminium frame isn't overly compliant and the kit needs a few tweaks if you intend to mostly stick to dirt, but that's easy enough to custom spec it to your heart's content when you order.

The CGR bit of the name stands for Cyclocross, gravel and road, which tells you pretty much everything you need to know about where this bike is pitched, namely as a do-it-all drop bar bike. The impressive thing is that it actually delivers on this promise, having taken in everything from gravel rides, road Audaxes and tow-path bashing commutes.

Read our review of the Ribble CGR AL Shimano 105

Boardman CXR 8.9 — £1,000

With race-orientated handling, a single chainring for simplicity and hydraulic brakes for control, the Boardman CXR 8.9 is a bargain entry to the world of drop-bar dirt bikes.

Find a Boardman dealer

Vitus Energie Evo CR 2021 — £1,999.99

Chain Reaction house brand Vitus has a track record of making excellent cross bikes, so we're excited about their latest Energie models, which boast a revised geometry with longer top tube and shorter stem for better handling and, Vitus says, a new carebon layup that's lighter and stiffer than before.

It comes configured for racing with tubeless-ready 33mm tyres, but it's versatile: there's a seatstay bridge for mudguards in the package so you can configure it for winter road riding, and mud clearance you could fly a light aircraft through.

Read our review of the previous Vitus Energie CRX

Canyon Inflite CF SLX 9 Team 2021 — £4,899

Canyon's DNA is pure racing, and the Inflite CF SLX frame is a clear statement of intent: a frame that builds into bikes fit for the toughest and most demanding cyclocross racers and budding amateurs alike. It's light – 940g for a frame – disc brake-only and 1x and 2x compatible, and features the most distinctive top tube we've ever seen.

The Inflite CF SLX might not be the prettiest cyclocross bike ever produced, but there's nowt ugly about its performance, which is nothing short of stellar. Over a couple of months, tester David Arthur rode it in loads of local races to really get its measure. The Canyon immediately impressed. It brings sheer speed and easy handling to the Sunday morning mud party, with a delightful nimbleness that makes it easy to steer the bike around often awkward and fiddly cyclocross courses.

Not quite ready to drop 4 big ones on a cross bike? Read our review of the Canyon Inflite CF SL 8

Read our review of the Canyon Inflite CF SLX 8.0 Pro Race, which shares the same frame

Giant TCX SLR 2 2020 — £1,699

We liked 2016's Giant TCX SLR 1, and this is the 2020 equivalent. It gets a brake upgrade to SRAM hydraulics, but retains the fast and nimble aluminium frame as the 2016 bike. Wheel and tyres and both tubeless-compatible and with Giant's D-Fuse composite seatpost helps take the sting out of bumps.

Read our review of the 2016 Giant TCX SLR 1
Find a Giant dealer

Merida Cyclo Cross 100 — £900

The latest version of the Merida Cyclo Cross 100 has a lot in common with the 2015 Merida Cyclo Cross 500, which we really liked when we reviewed it. It's a very good all-rounder. It's light and responsive enough to chuck round a race, and versatile enough for more general purpose riding. It's fun to ride and easy to recommend

The Merida Cyclo Cross platform serves up good off-road handling. The bike has a generous wheelbase and the steering is predictable, if a bit slower than a fully-fledged race bike. The fork is excellent: the thru-axle stiffens up the front end noticeably, and tracking over rough ground is really good, with very little noticeable dive under heavy braking.

Read our review of the Merida Cyclo Cross 500

Canyon Inflite 5 2021 — £1,749

The first cyclocross bike from German company Canyon impressed hugely when we reviewed it, with great handling and a very good parts package for the money. It boasts the sort of versatility that will ensure it appeals to those wanting a bike for more than just racing, but has all the credentials for taking to the start line.

Read our review of the Canyon Inflite AL SLX 6.0 Race

Specialized Crux Comp — £4,000

Specialized's Crux is a popular choice among amateur cyclocross racers. All the bikes in the current UK range  have 1X transmissions, and the £4,000 Crux Comp above has SRAM's hydraulics and 1 x 11 transmission.

The spec includes DT Swiss R470 rims on Specialized's own hubs with 33mm Tracer Pro tyres. The 2021 range starts at £2,750 for the cheapest Crux. Specialized no longer lists an aluminium-framed Crux, perhaps reasoning that riders who want a cheaper cyclocross bike will go for the versatility of the Diverge E5 family instead.

Read our review of the Specialized Crux Elite
Read our review of the Specialized Crux Elite X1
Find a Specialized dealer

Kinesis CX Race — £765.00 (frame & fork)

The Kinesis CX Race frame builds up into your typical racing cyclocross bike. For many a Kinesis was probably their first cyclocross bike, bought as a frame and cobbled together from spare parts. The CX Race is the successor to Kinesis' perennially popular Crosslight Pro6 and now gets a Columbus Futura Cross fork to lead out its Super Plastic Formed Scandium alloy frame.

Read our review of the Kinesis Crosslight Pro6
Find a Kinesis dealer

Bianchi Zolder Pro — £3,365.00

This is the bike that propelled Wout Van Aert to a trio of Cyclocross World Championship victories, and takes its name from the Belgian province where he triumphed in 2016. The full carbon frame is disc brake-only, and can be set up for 1x or 2x drivetrains. It can take up to 40mm tyres if you want thicker rubber for when you're not racing, and the geometry is classic CX with a raised bottom bracket and plenty of reach. A neat addition requested by Van Aert himself is the positioning of the seat tube bottle cage bolts lower down, for greater comfort when shouldering the bike. 

Find a Bianchi dealer

Want more cyclocross bike options? See the full road.cc archive of cyclocross bike reviews.