Having just put together a cross bike, I can tell you it is a great addition to the collection of vintage road. It offers a bit of messy fun instead of the careful collecting and restoring. There are cross specific bikes such as Alans, but also there are many touring style bikes that offer the ability to run wide knobbies. While some may frown on using a touring bike for this, I think it gives you a bike that serves dual purpose. I can switch out the wheelset and put on the racks and fenders half of the year for touring. 38t x 46t is the standard and works well for dual purpose.
Please take a look at the links to see my Evans (courtesy of Hilary) and Charlie Young's Alan with a considerable amount on mud covering the brakes. Of course we could not keep up with Richard Sachs, but we were still out there and we were vintage.
Good Luck,
Chris Schultz
Kennett Square, PA
USA
On Thu, Oct 29, 2009 at 11:19 PM, Matthew 'Devotion' Bowne <
devotion_finesse@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> I am thinking of building up an on-topic cyclocross machine and thought I'd
> again turn to The List for information and inspiration...
> First off, some questions.
> Aside from the cantilever brakes and clearance for wider knobbies and
> accumulated mud, what other design features make a frame cross-specific? I
> have noticed quite a few vintage bikes built with vertical Campy dropouts
> and cable routing which keeps everything away from the downtube...The single
> front ring with bar-end shifter, etc.
> But what about the frame design specifics? High BB? Headtube and seattube
> angles? Fork offset? Short or long chainstays?
> Secondly, a request.
> Post your pics!!!
>
> Matthew Bowne
> Brooklyn, New York
>
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