So I was 40 in May and needed to do/try something different and always liked the idea of a cross bike. I could have posted the in the road section but it's not a road bike and I don't intend to use it on the road much so anyway 2 weeks ago one of the big on line bike shops sorted me out with a Merida cross 4, disc brakes, carbon forks and shimano 105 so it ticked all the boxes and not a bad price. So the frame isn't exactly state of the art but at least I can fix or replace the headset and bottom bracket, both external.
Here it is out the box.
Here it is out the box.