Cross started out as a winter time sport to keep road cyclist in shape during the off months, so they could be in race shape in the spring. That was 80 years ago, now it’s a whole entity unto itself with growing numbers of participants each year.  Felt and Redline offer great cross bikes for the person looking to try this facet of cycling out as a way to get in shape or start racing the cross circuit.  Family's owner John Brown usually has the lightest bikes at the local races as well as the nationals and would be happy to pull out the scale and build a custom one for you.