I'm planning my new bike build. I'm replacing my present road bike with a lightweight, disc brake, Ti cyclocross bike for all year round asphalt road use mainly (and the odd dirt road ride).

When looking at frame geometry there are some differences between cyclocross and road frames e.g. the cx has longer wheel base, less BB drop and a less steep fork angle. What does these properties do on riding characteristics on a road set-up? Or am I splitting hairs here?

~K

Yep you're pretty much splitting hairs. The head angle will probably be a degree shallower on the CX which will increase Trail a touch and slow the steering, depending on what rake the fork is given. I doubt you'll really notice it. On modern CX frames there's little or no difference in BB drop anymore.

The steering is kind of slow and sluggish, while your riding position is a bit higher and perhaps feels topheavy. the long chainstays allow a bit of flex when you stand up to sprint.

I don't mind riding a cross bike on the road, but i wouldn't make an effort to do it on a regular basis if I had a road bike to use.

It will be fine if its all you have, the disk brakes are fun.

There are no reliable generalizations to be made about the riding characteristics of road frames vs. cross frames. They vary too widely within their own categories.

Too many frames, materials, geometries and set-ups to get into generalizations. Maybe if you get into specific frames.

Too many variables to make sweeping generalizations. That said, I am currently running a 2008 Jake the Snake as my only road bike (53/39 crank, slick 23's, 11-28 cassette) I am very pleased with the way it behaves on the road. I don't feel like I am compromising anything. It's about a pound lighter than my previous steel road bike to boot.

Thanks people for your answers!
I'm leaning towards the Everti Odyssey frame http://www.evertibikes.com/odyssey.htm or the Swedish TiArrow Cross frame (since I live in Sweden). http://tiarrow.se/cross-c.php (http://tiarrow.se/bilder/ritningar/CROSS%20FRAME%20560MM(07-6-21).pdf vs http://tiarrow.se/bilder/ritningar/road%20frame%2056cm(07-3-20).pdf)

~K

If I were in your shoes, I'd get a custom build cross bike with the geometry of a normal road bike, low bottom bracket, slightly shorter stays, etc. It will ride fine for your uses off road and will be much nicer on the road. If it were me, I'd run a disk only on the front and a regular road wheel in back, but that's just me.

I'd also get a pump peg and chain hanger to boot.

For me, the absolute perfect design would be an Eddy Merckx MX Leader road bike geometry with a little more tire and fender clearance and cantilever mounts. I'd also have the bike lugged steel like my cross bike, but titanium will be nice too.

Let us know what they come up with for you.