Spoonrobot 

I don't believe I've ever seen a collection of C&V cyclocross bikes. Lots of road bike collections, and vintage MTB is really exploding now, so why no CX? Even C&V track bikes seem to have a larger following.

Just too small of a niche? It seems like CX didn't become popular in the USA until the mid-late 1990s? So not enough bikes in the available market to get people interested?

I suppose it's also the fact that the bikes themselves were so much more likely to become degraded from use as racing machines and discarded to the scrap heap when the time came. It's amusing that the Speed Bicycles "museum" has 300+ classic road bikes, 60+ classic track bikes and...7 classic CX bikes.

Anyone want to weigh in? Are there CX bike collectors?

I ask because I'm interested in collecting myself. Resources are scare and much of what I've been able to find is generally exclusive to the USA despite a much more developed CX-scene in Europe and the UK. I understand for many and for a long time, cyclocross bikes were just their road bikes maybe fitted with knobbie tubulars - but I've seen branded and specific CX designs from the 50s and 60s so the niche was at least active then if not as well-developed as later periods.

Wildwood 

It would be rather unique.
My guess = Euro centric if going back to '80s and prior, and filled with bikes from small builders.

Being USA, an early Richard Sachs (of any type) would be classic.

zandoval 

Didn't those 80's CrossX frames end up becoming Gravel Bikes in the late 90's?

Markeologist

I’ve often wondered why we don’t see more interest in cyclocross bikes but then I figured its mostly because for quite awhile, standard bikes were used including by the greats into the 60s and 70s.

3speedslow

[QUOTE=Markeologist;23209362]I’ve often wondered why we don’t see more interest in cyclocross bikes but then I figured its mostly because for quite awhile, standard bikes were used including by the greats into the 60s and 70s.


This. We used what we had.

AngryFrankie

I think Eddie and Jacques were probably on bikes that were built as cyclocross bikes, but I think you're right that they were just treaked versions of their road bikes. On the original post question, I think it's a little bit of everything they guessed. There are far fewer cross bikes, they were treated harshly ( I raced on a Kona Jake The Snake for a couple of years and then did one super muddy race IN the pouring rain, and the paint was ruined in that one race), probably put away dirty as deep winter was settling in, and rusted and seized by the next summer. Also, they were probably used as get around bikes after their cross days, much more than old race bikes. And then, there probably are owners of Erik DeVlaeminck, or Adri VDP cross bikes who have them squirreled away. One thing I've learned is that lots of collector's are pretty private about their collections. Almost secretive.

Markeologist

[QUOTE=3speedslow;23209367]…and your point is (if different than what I just stated and why I posted these specific photos)?

3speedslow

That we don’t have CX bikes to collect cause we repurpose what we had.

Im agreeing with you.

seagrade 

I neither want nor need m/any more road bicycles, but an all-steel Ritchey SwissCross or RSCX would be very useful acquisitions…

gaucho777 

He replied, “This,” common parlance used to express agreement—id est, you are correct, +1, what he said, ditto, et cetera.

And I agree with you, too. In the 80s, I re-purposed a couple old road frames for winter cyclocross riding. One winter I even re-purposed a crash-damaged Vitus 979 frame as possibly one of the worst cyclocross bikes. It was an ill-conceived plan, and I was a no-nothing, broke teenager clueless enough to pinch the stays on an aluminum frame for added tire clearance. It did last the winter and it was a light burden over the shoulder. I think my dad eventually scrapped the frame after I moved away to college—the fate of my first-ever race bike/frame, and probably for the best.

A friend of mine used to race an A.L.A.N. cyclocross bike. When he speaks of it, he gets a twinkle in his eye.

jPrichard10 

I would love a 70s or 80s CX bike from a no-name low country builder. But how would I ever find such a frame?

Much easier to search for the names I know. And the names I do know are going to fetch far too high a price for me.

non-fixie 

Interesting subject. Paging fabiofarelli !

Spoonrobot 

Truth here and I think most of the 80s and 90s CX bikes hung around not doing much - ridden as road bikes, turned into townies or commuters - until the boom in 2020, and then they all became gravel bikes.

This is also a good point. I've been doing a bit more research here on the forum and there's probably a couple-few members with CX collections but they stay pretty mum unless answering specific questions. Maybe we'll see more as time goes on.

RB1-luvr

occasionally I'll see a vintage cx bike in one of my Masters 60+ races. I dig it.

retlaw53 

I recently acquired a '90s Colnago CX from a friend who bought it new. Not the Colnago I was looking for, but the price was right, just had to pay the cost of having boxed and shipped. It came with a Campy 3x9 mix of Veloce and Mirage with Shimano cantilever brakes. The first thing I did was check if 700X40s gravel tires would fit...now planning to upgrade it to a 10 or 11 speed x2.

Kabuki12

I have a Mondia that was set up for cyclocross when I got it . I guess because of the wide tire clearance on them , they were used for this purpose . I have it set up for road now, much better riding bike than before . I don't do gravel or any of that but I still have the wider wheels and tires if I ever wanted to.

1972 Mondia Special , as purchased

Present set up for road , more my style!

Portlandjim

I have this CX bike. The first time MTB type bikes were raced in a USCF National was 1981. This bike and 2 others built by Tom Ritchey were in the race. This bike is right at 20 pounds!

https://photos.app.goo.gl/yXb2bSaVigXyq1Cj7

Story about this bike is here: https://goo.gl/photos/3VEoy152KiH3dLp9A

Classtime 

They are very hard to find. I would love 1. I almost got a Pinarello 1x5 speed but was too late. My CX bike is my Milwaukee Road with long reach BR650 brakes. No good for mud but good for SoCal CX. A future project is to put canti bosses on my PA-10E and race again.
Please note: A CX bike is any bike that you use to race CX.

gugie 

We do have a World Champion CXer on Bike Forums. Perhaps we can get him to comment. @Andy_K, what say ye on the subject?

Love my all steel (now that I built a new fork for it) Ritchey Breakaway CX. It's a great credit card tourer/gravel bike/all arounder.

DanBikeFan

I love old cyclocross bikes! I have the rare cyclocross version of the Vitus 787, with cantilever brakes. It's very light, and rides great. Even the violet anodizing was ahead of its time! By modern standards the tire clearance is very limited though, it clears 33mm cyclocross tires, but not much more. I have never seen the ALAN aluminum cyclocross frames in person, but my impression is that they went further than Vitus in modifying the frame, with ovalized top tubes, all cables above the top tube, etc.

Of all the large manufacturers, Gitane consistently made a cyclocross frame for many years, the "country". For at least a couple years they included a brazed-on metal shoulder rest. The frame is all Reynolds 531, with Huret honeycomb dropouts. I covet one of those bikes, but have never seen one in my size (apart from the forbidden fruit of Leboncoin).

bikemig 

I think one reason why you don't see many threads on vintage cross bikes is because they're really hard to find. I'm sitting on a Pinarello cross frame I need to build up. This is how the bike came to me in the "wild." Maybe this thread will get me motivated!

Spoonrobot 

Nice pics and comments so far. Interesting discussion about the relative rarity and the ability of contemporary road bikes in the 60s/70s being able to take enough tire to work fine. It seems the UK was much less enthused with specific CX bikes and lagged behind French and the Low Countries in development. Looking at Cycling covers on eBay it seems that if the event pictured is in the UK the cyclists often have regular center pulls. Elsewhere more cantilevers. Perhaps not the most rigorous observation but something interesting to me.

Found one of these on pedal room - Wow

Quote:

Originally Posted by Classtime

Please note: A CX bike is any bike that you use to race CX.

The forced split between MTB/flat bars and "road-style" dropbar bikes is interesting because it illustrates the road/offroad divide in a funny way. Why would anyone use dropbars (and limited to ~33mm tires) unless the rules said so? Makes sense the governing body would want to keep them seperate. More than a few early flat-bar hybrids were designed with CX geometry and ended up as racing machines anyway.

Took me a second to remember but Dave Moulton has some really good posts on mid-century CX in the UK/Europe. Interesting rundown of the small but relevant changes a CX-specific bike might have had back then: https://davesbikeblog.squarespace.com...clo-cross.html

nlerner

I've had a few vintage cx bikes over the years, and in all of those cases, at least, the BB height was crazy high, far out of the range I find comfortable.

Classtime 

There is no concensus CX geometry. 73-73 with 70mm BB drop is average. Road bike stuff.

styggno1

I do not have a CX collection but I am happy to have one in the "collection".

Amature World Champion and then turned pro, John Talen, had this bike made for him at Merckx.