Cross season is here and it makes us think of a few of our favorite CX bikes over the years. The interesting thing is, many of those bikes aren't considered "Cyclocross" bikes anymore. Well, at least not advertised as such. Rewind 10 years ago and your main option for a drop bar bike with wider tire clearance was a 'cross bike. If you weren't in much of a hurry you could also pick a touring bike. Murmurs around a new niche "gravel" category were surfacing, but few brands had launched much of an offering. Over the next few years, though, the market would become flooded with gravel bikes. With it, a broadening of capability for drop bar bikes. Below, we highlight a couple of our favorites that began life as a cyclocross superstar and are now known primary for crushing gravel....
But First, What Makes a Cyclocross Bike a Cyclocross Bike?
Tire Clearance:
For the competitive-natured riders who cared, UCI regulations limit tire width to 33mm. So, naturally, that's what brands built CX bikes around. Usually, they'd offer 2-3mm of clearance on either side for mud and debris, so, 36-38mm tires were possible to squeeze in, if you really wanted to. However, still not up-to-snuff compared to modern gravel bikes. Over the past half a decade, you're even likely to be able to put wider tires in endurance road bikes. Models like the Trek Domane and Specialized Roubaix boast 40mm+.
For comparison, most modern gravel bikes will fit 45mm tires on the modest side with some allowing 50mm or more.
Geometry:
Cyclocross race courses feature tight turns, punchy climbs, & aggressive accelerating. Quite unique demands. To deliver a bike capable of conquering these conquests, most CX bike geometry will have a shorter wheelbase and chainstay for the tight turns, higher bottom bracket to clear obstacles, and steep/short head tubes for nimble handling. Additionally, the bikes often feature a "flat" top tube for comfort when shouldering the bike running over obstacles, up stairs, or slick muddy climbs.
This geometry gives you an advantage racing between the tape and taking bacon handoffs, but when applied to longer gravel rides can make for a twitchy, compact ride. Modern gravel bikes usually offer a slacker and slightly longer head tube, a slightly longer wheelbase, and a lower bottom bracket. These geometry changes make for a smoother, more stable ride.
If you're a dedicated cyclocross ripper - a true cyclocross bike is worth it. For many riders, however, a gravel bike still allows you to get after it during the occasional cross race, but slap some wider tires on and go explore longer when not racing.
Gearing:
Easily customizable to fit your needs, but to save weight and cater to the very specific use-case, CX bikes often came with quite a narrow gear range. You'll often see slightly smaller 1x chainrings up front with a rear cassette that, on the generous side, might offer a 38t climbing gear. Again, easily swapped later.
How Things Have Evolved:
Whether it was the popularity boom of gravel or the small window of use for dedicated cyclocross bikes, many brands have slimmed down their cyclocross offerings in recent years or merged their cross lineup with gravel to simply options for customers and offer a bike capable of more.
Three extremely popular bikes come to mind when we think of bikes that began their lives as dedicated Cyclocross Superstars and have (very successfully) transformed into Gravel GOATS.
Now, On to the Bikes:
No. 1: Specialized Crux
Whether going with Specialized's top of the line S-Works frame (12r carbon) or their standard frame (10r carbon) it's really hard to top the performance of the Crux.
From 2010-2021 the Specialized Crux was a purebred CX machine. As hints of gravel began surfacing, Specialized launched the Diverge in 2014 to cater to that scene and there was a clear line: CX - Crux // Gravel - Diverge.
Both bikes still exist and both bikes still have significantly different use cases, but both primarily target the gravel crowd: Gravel Race - Crux // Gravel Explore - Diverge.
The Crux continues to set trends and was pushing tire clearance capability for race gravel bikes pretty early on. Generation 1 of "Gravel Crux" had clear Aethos design incorporated, while the latest 2nd Gen of "Gravel Crux" (launched May 2026) clearly pulled inspiration from the Tarmac and boasts heavy aerodynamic advantages for an incredible gravel race pedigree.
Crux Timeline:
2011-2013: The Launch. The first gen of the Crux checked all the right boxes for what a great cyclocross bike should be in the early 2010's. Nimble handling, lightweight, and canti brakes.
2014-2017: Crux Goes Disc. The second gen of the Crux brought more modern tech like disc brakes and thru-axles. Specialized also started introducing S-Works options during this time as well as wider tire clearance options they'd call the "EVO" (somewhat teasing at gravel capability. Smart.)
2018-2021: Crux Becomes One of the Lightest Cyclocross Bikes on the Market. You could say gen 3 is when the Crux really began standing out in a crowd and showing off.
2022-2025: The Aethos Influence - Lightweight Gravel Super Bike. Gen 4 marked the sharp turn towards embracing gravel. While it is still widely used as a Cyclocross super-bike, this version of the Crux bumped tire clearance significantly wider to cater to big gravel tires. The geometry of the bike also adjusted to become more stable for longer races. One of the highlights of this generation Crux is it used no proprietary components or complicated integration. Specialized took simplicity and knocked it out of the park.
2026 - Present: The Tarmac Influence. It seemed only a matter of time. The legendary Crux took notes from the Tarmac, but with big tire clearance. We've yet had a chance to ride this incredible looking gravel machine, but we're excited to, hopefully soon. Gravel keeps getting faster and faster. Note: this is technically a 2027 model.
*Photo courtesy of Specialized Bikes, as we have not had the pleasure of having one of these beauties in stock, yet.
[button]Shop Specialized Crux Gravel Bikes[/button]
No. 2: Canyon Grail
Canyon launched the Grail in 2018 right around the time they began selling bikes in the US. The buzz around this new direct to consumer brand with hard to beat pricing set the Grail up for great success at all the local CX scenes. For a bike you only use a few months a year, the price of a Grail for the performance it delivered was too tempting. You might say "hey, what about the Inflite?" You'd make a great point that the Canyon Inflite, Canyon's true, dedicated, Cyclocross racer was a popular model, but I'd argue between 2018-2021 you probably saw close to as many Grail's on the CX course as Inflite's. And, for the point of this blog, the Inflite only ever lived as a cyclocross bike until the day it was retired.
While the first generation of the Grail was very popular, it deterred some customers with it's extremely polarizing "double-decker" handlebar. Seen Here:
Did you have thoughts on this bar? Like it or hate it? Few riders were indifferent.
Grail Timeline:
2018-2022: The first generation of the Grail was a bit of a shapeshifter - certainly a great CX racer, but catered slightly more toward gravel than either of the other two bikes we're comparing. What drew a ton of attention to this bike was it's bold "double-decker / Hoverbar" handlebar. This design was meant to add additional hand positions and compliance. Aesthetically, very polarizing.
2023 - Present: Canyon ditches the "hoverbar" and goes all in on "race gravel". Creating a clear delineation between the Grail and the Grizl (more targeting adventure gravel). Integrated cockpits, CFR (Canyon Factory Racing) carbon layup options, and top-tier build kits brought the current generation forward as one of the best bang-for-your-buck gravel race bikes on the market.
[button]Shop Canyon Gravel Bikes[/button]
No. 3: Santa Cruz Stigmata
Santa Cruz has a cult following and has been a dominant force in the mountain bike world, but for being a mountain bike brand, they make a hell of a cyclocross and gravel bike. Many dirt dedicated brands have produced an offroad drop-bar rig to tap into the popularity of the gravel scene - in our opinion, Santa Cruz has been the most successful. Maybe it's because they didn't try to build a "gravel bike for mountain bikers" with wildly slack geometry and tremendous tire clearance. Maybe it's because they were one of the earlier "MTB brands" to add a CX/Gravel rig to their fleet. Whatever the reason is, we commend them.
Stigmata Timeline:
2007-2011: Santa Cruz first launched the Stigmata in 2007 and it quickly established itself as one of the most sought after cyclocross bikes on the market. The first generation had an aluminum frame and cantilever brakes.
2012 - 2014: Santa Cruz pauses the Stigmata - CX riders are sad.
2015 - 2018: The Stigmata re-emerges as a carbon cyclocross dominator. These bikes were everywhere and Santa Cruz was at their peak of using bright colors to make these bikes impossible to miss.
2019-2022: The Stigmata goes gravel. With a more relaxed geometry, wider tire clearance, and a new ability to run either 700c or 650b wheels this Stigmata was ready for gravel. However, for most riders, the bike will still happily crank on a cross course. Dominant gravel (and XC MTB) rider Keegan Swenson helped put this high performance gravel bike on the map by dominating almost every North American gravel race on the circuit year-after-year.
2023 - Present: The latest Stigmata got longer, slacker, more tire clearance (up to 700x50mm), UDH rear derailleur compatible, and features a suspension corrected geometry to be able to add up to a 40mm suspension fork. Keegan rode this version of the Stigmata briefly before Santa Cruz retired their gravel program. Keegan's next gravel bike of choice? The latest generation of the Specialized Crux mentioned above.
[button]Shop Santa Cruz Stigmata Gravel Bikes[/button]
This is certainly not an exhaustive list. Brands like Focus, Kona, Trek, Giant, Blue and more we're (and some still are) cranking out incredible cyclocross bikes. However, many of those brands launched entirely new models for gravel or retired the bikes all together. And, of course, there are other models that made the transformation from CX to Gravel, but these three make their way through The Pro's Closet the most frequently and usually fly off the hooks.
Grab your cowbell and head to a race.
Cyclocross season is here. If you've never raced or attended a cyclocross event, I'd encourage it. It's wildly entertaining to watch with plenty of obstacles to challenge riders, courses are compact, so cheering is easy, there's bacon handoff, sometimes fireball, and riders pushing themselves to the absolute limit for roughly an hour. Who knows, this quirky little corner of cycling might just be your jam!
