I am in the market for a new bike. It is really my first bike, I am borrowing an old 1980's Cannondale road bike from a friend currently. I have an 8-mile daily commute (1-way, 16 total miles put on 4 or 5 days a week) and I am looking for a bike that I can put some racks and fenders on.
However, I am also super interested in getting into CX racing, we have an awesome local community for it and I have been getting to know some people in it. I also don't have a ton of money (recent college student, I am buying a bike so I don't have to buy a car and spend money on fuel and expensive repairs).
For example, there is a Trek Crossrip Elite near me for sale for $650, and I was thinking about jumping on that, but I don't want to be too hasty. I know people say that they would rather have the 105 set rather than the SORA, but I hope to save up some money for a dedicated CX race bike in a couple years, or something similar that I wouldn't be using for commuting, but I need something now.
So what features ( geometry, component level ) should I look for in a good entry-level CX bike that would work for racing as well as a general purpose commuter?