Thanks to all who replied to my Crit Bike query, both on and off The List . Very informative and helpful in "filling in the blanks". I must admit that I was surprised to read in a number of replies about the prevalence of not only specific components but crit-specific frame designs. Turns out I was headed down the wrong path. It aint the set-up of the co mponentry...but the design of the frame itself that was the most definitive factor in making The Crit Bike. Which leads me to my next questions: Why don't we see more of them? I'd imagine that given the fact that they a re a specialty bike, they were not the type of frame that one could purch ase "off the shelf" of the LBS. Where there in fact many production bikes available that were marketed as such? Or mainly bikes ordered through custo m builders? A couple of replies suggested that given the amount of crashes in this type of event, racers would often save their best gear for their "regular" ro ad bikes. Any chance that the amount of crashes has anything to do with th eir relative rarity today? Or is it just that they are uncomfortable to rid e for much time and thus contemporary collectors are less likely to spend t ime and money resussitating them?
Matthew Bowne now getting ideas for another frameset I want to build in Brooklyn, New York
----------------------------------------
> From: devotion_finesse@hotmail.com
> To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
> Date: Wed, 15 Oct 2008 00:57:40 -0400
> Subject: [CR]The Crit Bike
>
>
> For reasons unbeknownst to me, I have an increasing interest in The Cri
te
> 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 ne
ed
> s of racers engaged in a very particular or specific practice.
> While I see plenty of "period" builds or restorations, race-specific re
st
> 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 cr
it
> -specific bike...Partially because when I received the frame, it had be
en
> 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 c
ha
> 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 wit
h
> 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, e
sp
> 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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