Vintage cyclocross bikes?
 

Just curious about vintage cyclocross bikes, if there was such a thing. I certainly don't ever remember seeing one. I don't know much about cyclocross back in the day but I've always heard that racers would use cyclocross to stay in shape and maintain that competative edge after the regular racing season and that they would just use their old training bike with some more agressive tires. Of course today there are any number of purpose built cyclocross bikes with nifty feature like canti brakes and flat top tubes with the cables run on top to make it easy to carry but what about back in the C&V period?

They do exist and I have an early 70's Mondia cyclocross bike. I acquired it along with my Mondia Special last year. At the time I didn't know what I had. Later research revealed that Mondia made cyclocross frames. As you mentioned the top tube was free of cable clips and the cable guides were positioned so as to not gouge one's shoulder when carried. The rear Campagnolo drop outs were vertical and the bottom bracket is higher. Mine is a pre-cantilever brake model. It came with 27" wheels and although I haven't checked I'm certain it has additional clearance for wider tires. Frame tubes are Columbus EL with Bocama lugs.

Pictures! :) I thought Columbus EL came along much later than the early 70's though?

I'll have to pull it out of storage and take some pictures. You're correct on the Columbus tubing; I misread the Production Timeline. Frame is most likely Reynolds.

Gitane made a cyclocross bike in the 90s (perhaps not quite yet "vintage"). The model was the XO.

Great site!

Here's mine.

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...ighlight=vanco

Saw this Raleigh after browsing through the collection from this post. http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...ght=collection
(some amazing stuff here!)

http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q...193ccbf85f.jpg

cyclocross didn't catch on in the usa until recently. thus there are not many vintage cx bikes here.

Cyclocross originated late in the 19th century and early cyclocross bikes would have been modified road / touring bikes that were adapted for more severe off road use... one must also note that the sport predates the use of derailer gears and internal hubs.

I can see that carrying your fixed gear may have been preferable to riding it through what was some pretty severe terrain.

:D

Heck I haven't seen terrain as bad as the stuff in those 1920's pictures in races using dual suspension mountain bikes!

I've got an interesting one... A 50s British bike that was retro-fitted for cyclocross in the 80s. It's an "Alcyon" from bike specialities. Quite nice with nervex lugs, TA CX crank and nice BOs.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3065/...f6a12627f4.jpg

http://lh6.ggpht.com/olivier.alonzo/...JPG?imgmax=912

Was not the cyclo-cross bike basically the racing bike used during the regular season?
Great pictures and article for a 1961 cyclocross race:

http://www.3peakscyclocross.org.uk/history/1961.htm

From the small sampling shown here, purpose built cross bikes seem to start showing up in the '80's in the US.

I'll be completing a rebuild of a 1997 Simoncini Special Cyclocross bike in the next few weeks. The frame looks vintage, with lugged construction using Columbus tubing. It has a threaded 1" fork. Details to follow.

I don't follow cyclocross but this photo of a 1982 Bertin C 34 cyclocross bike is in one of my catalogues. For those of you with the interest:

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=346769

On eBay, I have seen vintage Colnago, Gios, Pinarello, Merckx and European cyclocross bikes for sale. They are not that common, but they are out there. I just bought a 2000 Gunnar Crosshairs, which is far from vintage but one of their earlier model years.

I've got a few C&V bikes that I've found worked extremely well for 'cross racing, but all are quite on the heavy side and fall outside of what a mainstream racer would have used at the time (1992, 1984 and 1800's/1900's but made in 1980).
Come to think of it, I've never owned a purpose-build CX bike, waaaah!
Many of the older road bikes like pre-1973 Peugeots PX10's and Gitane TDF's made decent CX bikes because of their 72-degree frame angles and the generous tire clearances of their frame/fork and brakes.
I've won B-class races on two of these three, and came within a gnat's eylash of winning on the Miyata, but for the actual pictured rear derailer that ejected it's pully cage pivot into the spokes halfway through the last lap after I had just gapped the field by pedaling through a sand trap (...SIGH).

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7396/9...dc47abdfe2.jpg
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2410/1...8dd3790802.jpg
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8149/7...fa6800654a.jpghttp://farm8.staticflickr.com/7203/6...780aee0d1a.jpg

Whaaaat is that yellow thing?

Big Bird's skeleton.

Awesome site!

I had a 80s Alan that was cyclocross specific. It had glued joints and it did NOT hold up well to the rigors of cycling. It had seperation at the seat lug.

I think it might be an under-fed horse(?).


Pamaguahiker wrote:

"I had a 80s Alan that was cyclocross specific. It had glued joints and it did NOT hold up well to the rigors of cycling. It had seperation at the seat lug."

The Alan's were so disposable it wasn't funny unless you didn't have to pay for your race bikes.
I've seen so many parts of these frames/forks fail it's hard to believe they sold frames for as long as they did.
I remember compressing a cracked seat lug with a seatpost collar after the top tube started moving around.
I also remember the thin aluminum steer tube bulging out, and the many cracked head lugs, not to mention that these frames were whippy as hell, calmed only by very relaxed frame angles.

2 things to keep in mind IMHO

1 - some 80es/90es sport touring/performance hybrid can come close to CX geometry and have fittings for cantis + the right clearance

2- why not braze canti bosses to a vintage race frame with good tire clearance ?

Cyclocross has plenty of run-what-you-brung participants, it's part of it's charm.





These are common ways to convert a sports/touring bike to Cyclocross use. However, it would not be a Cyclocross bike, just a converted C&V bike.

However, I expect that many of the elite racers prior to 1980 had never used a frame specifically built for Cyclocross. Many of the racers must have simply installed special tires on road frames that had enough clearance.