As a so called Crit rider of that era (and not much else), I believe such bikes, if there ever really was such a thing, were defined more by frame geometry than parts. I had, what I thought at the time, was the ultimate "crit" bike built for me for the Master's Nationals being held in the early 80's in Allentown, PA. U.S.A. It was built by Tom Kellog and was, essentially a track bike with brakes and derailleurs. Tight, lots of pedal overlap, extremely twitchy if you weren't smooth, and would go right were you put it in a steep turn. Most of us used track pedals, some (I think Pa t Gellineau -- the ultimate crit specialist and still racing and winning -- I think had a right campy bar con shifter for the sprint. Want to know about setting up a criterium bike of that era? Ask Bobby Phillips at the next bi g swap in Westminster, MD. He was (is) a master at the art. Edward Albert Chappaqua, New York, U.S.A
On Wed, Oct 15, 2008 at 12:57 AM, devotion finesse <
devotion_finesse@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> For reasons unbeknownst to me, I have an increasing interest in The Crite
> rium Bicycle. Perhaps it is because of the small build details that ofte
n
> differentiate a criterium racer from the average all-around road racing b
ic
> ycle. Much like the time trial bike, the crit bike seems to be purpose-b
> uilt, often with small bits of ingenuity and invention born from the need
> s of racers engaged in a very particular or specific practice.
> While I see plenty of "period" builds or restorations, race-specific rest
> orations seem a bit less common.
> But I am endlessly fascinated by creativity with things such as cable rou
ti
> ng, lever placement, drillium, curved shift levers, etc. (Weigle's
> white '73 Time Trial machine is an all-time favorite of mine.)
> Just for fun, I have decided to build my current project as a period crit
> -specific bike...Partially because when I received the frame, it had been
> re-painted, braze-ons had been added and I have thus been (temporarily)
> liberated from the responsibility to build it as a "period correct" resto
ra
> tion. My long term plan is to have the frame restored to it's early 70's
g
> lory... but given my current financial status, I also created another cha
> llenge for myself: Build this bike with as many on-hand parts as possible
.
> I just so happened to have a pair of Cinelli Criterium bars, NR levers w
> ith "shield logo" gum hoods, Campy bar-cons, a 7-speed wheelset with lo
> w flange NR hubs laced to gray annodized Nisi Mixers (which I will be re-
sp
> acing to a 5-speed) and a bunch of other Nuovo Record bits...
> So I will attempt to build what I call a "late 70's/early 80's take on th
e
> refurbishment of an early 70's race bike."
> I am hoping The List can suggest some build details that might be worth c
on
> sidering as I set up my first criterium style bike.
> I have seen pics of bikes with a single ring in front and a bar-end shift
er
> for the rear cluster (a corn cob, I'd imagine). I have seen bikes with
> two bar ends...Or a downtube shifter for the front and a bar-end for the
re
> ar.
> What other sorts of details made a bike a quintessential "crit bike"? 165
mm
> cranks to enable pedaling through corners? Where the bars typically shor
te
> ned the same way track bars were? I'd imagine this would be the case, esp
> ecially if barcons were used...
> Any help or pics of similar builds is appreciated. As is a pair of nutte
d/
> non-recessed Nuovo Record brake calipers.
>
> Matthew Bowne
> Brooklyn, New York
>
>
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