Genesis CDA all-road bike, aka the Croix de Aluminium, delivers adventure on a budget

Written by Cory Benson Apr 27, 2020 12:18 p.m. ET

2020 Genesis CDA all road adventure bike, affordable alloy Croix de Aluminium aluminum gravel-road commuter bike

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The newest update to the alloy Genesis CdA delivers all of the versatility of the popular steel Croix de Fer at a fraction of the cost – almost half the price of even the most affordable steel all-road & adventure builds. Swapping aluminium for ferrous metals in the frame and getting a geometry update, the 2020 CDA looks like a great value to get hooked on mixed-surface gravel & all-road adventure riding, or just a killer 4-season commuter…

2020 Genesis CDA affordable alloy all-road adventure bike

Genesis call’s their Croix de Fer “The Original Adventure Bike” offering mixed surface road, gravel & trail riding capability with all the braze-ons, since 2009. It’s always been a high-value ‘go anywhere’ type of bike, with varying steel frame specs and the odd titanium option too. Now, its budget younger sibling the CdA (aka Croix de Aluminium) that has been around for around five years, finally gets a much-needed overhaul to bring it to the same level as the CdF.

For years the CdA was just an entry-level, oversized aluminum cross bike, repurposed for more versatility. But now it gets the same modern geometry & comfortably stable versatile handling as the very popular Croix de Fer, plus a comfortable steel fork and Shimano’s reliable entry compact road double drivetrains.

New CDA – Tech details

The latest CDA is built from a double-butted 6066/6061-T6 alloy tubeset featuring only moderately oversized road tubes for a more forgiving ride that what we’ve come to expect from overly shaped, ultra-stiff aluminum frames.

Plus, the chromoly steel 1 1/8″ unicrown fork is likely to soak up some bumps as well.

The frame sticks with quick release axles, a threaded BB, 27.2mm seatpost, external routing, and a straight steerer. But is does get full front & rear rack & fender mounts, a third bottle cage mount under the downtube, flat mount rear brake compatibility, and clearance for up to 700c x 42mm tires.

2020 Genesis CDA – Pricing & availability

The CDA is available in two complete build specs.

The higher of the two, the 2020 Genesis CDA 20 features a Shimano Sora 2×9 groupset (that looks much like the last generation of 105) with budget Promax mechanical disc brakes, a claimed 11.68kg weight, and a £700 pricetag.

The even cheaper 2020 Genesis CDA 10 drops back to a Shimano Claris 2×8 group, the same Promax disc brakes, a claimed 11.83kg weight, and only £600 pricetag.

Either is gravel & all-road adventure-ready with 37m WTB Riddler tires, and in five frame sizes. Or just put them to work as a daily commuter with 0% financing available from Genesis retailer Freewheel.co.uk.

GenesisBikes.co.uk

Cory Benson

4,145 articles

Cory Benson is the EU Tech Editor of Bikerumor.com.

Cory has been writing about mountain bikes, enduro, cyclocross, all-road, gravel bikes & bikepacking for over 25 years, even before the industry created some of these names. Prior to Bikerumor, Cory was a practicing Architect specializing in environmental sustainability, has designed bike shops & bike components, and worked as a bike shop mechanic.

Based in the Czech Republic for 15+ years, he is a technical mountain biker, adventurous gravel rider, and short & medium-haul bikepacker. Cory travels extensively across Europe riding bikes, meeting with key European product developers, industry experts & tastemakers for an in-depth review of what’s new, and what’s coming next.

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Peter Crees

3 years ago

Thus is so close to the perfect bike for me, except the brakes. What bike is exactly like this but with decent hydraulic disc brakes?

typevertigo

3 years ago

Reply to Peter Crees

Currently, Shimano doesn’t offer hydraulic disc brakes below the Tiagra groupset level, which is 2×10-speed. You could count the 400-series flavor of GRX there as well, as it shares Tiagra 4700’s gearing. Your best bet would be to upgrade if hydraulic braking is non-negotiable.

Not sure if Genesis offers the CDA as a bare frameset you can hang your choice of components on.

Harrison Gregoire

3 years ago

Reply to Peter Crees

If this is the sort of bike is what you want at this price range, I think you need to make peace with mechanical disc brakes. I can’t attest to these Promax models, but after years of hemming and hawing over bikes, I finally bought one in my price range with TRP Spyres, and couldn’t be happier. They feel great, and offer plenty of power. Hydro road bikes are good, but they aren’t hugely powerful like some MTB brakes. It’s really not a night and day difference. I personally find the Spyres stop nearly as well as the Rival/Force hydros I’ve ridden.

The fact is, hydro disc brakes are still a somewhat novel product. it’s not like MTBs where you can get a $800 bike with hydro brakes. The hydro brake hoods alone from Shimano or Sram cost nearly that much, so it’s going to be a long time before we see hydro bikes at this price point.

You could always go this route, if Spyres weren’t enough:

https://bikepacking.com/gear/yokozuna-ultimo-brakes-review/

typevertigo

3 years ago

The closest equivalent I can think of to this bike, also offering Sora 2×9 gearing, but with a hybrid cable-actuated hydraulic brake setup, is Giant’s Revolt 2. That might tickle your fancy. It’s supposed to cost just US$1000.