1985ish Gazelle Champion Mondial Cyclocross

Acquired this lovely bike earlier this winter and have returned it to a more or less period correct look and experimented with some '80s cyclocross modding. The guy I bought it from intended it to be his last frame ever (but the carbon monsters in his shed made clear this didn't quite work out). I guess that explains why it's quite fancy and versatile for a dedicated CX frame, with bottle bosses, chromed forks and chromed right rearstay. It was never raced but was apparently lend once as a fourth back up/pit switch bike to a Dutch CX champion without seeing action. Should have paid more attention, but was distracted by the bike itself at the time.



After taking it apart I kept the seat pin, the NR front derailleur and the body of the NR rear derailleur and used my previous Gazelle CX as a donor for parts of the mafac brakes, stem, bars and the wheels. Put in a cheap and cheerful bottom bracket and installed Campag NR cranks with 42/50 chainwheels.



I modded Lyotard 460 pedals with some campag guides inside, put on Christophe cyclocross doubled up clips and bolted cut down straps to the side of the pedals (inspired by the first edition of Simon Burney's Cyclo-cross book).



I also took an old Cinelli Unicanitor that had its padding and cover removed and drilled holes in it as was sometimes done in late '70s and early '80s cyclocross to make cumbersome saddles waterproof, less slippery and lighter. (inspired by this blog: http://progettopistavintage.blogspot.nl ... ocros.html.)



Should really drill the stem and seat pin for use as cable stops, but I don't really trust myself with that.



It's a lovely ride and the 'Amstel' paint scheme makes it quite similar to the two cx bikes used in the early '80s gazelle catalogues (although the earlier one seems pure red and has no white 'cuff'.)

Good LORD that is a beautiful bike. I keep coming back for another, slightly pervy look.

That has to be a serious contender for RBOTM. Please enter it - I'd vote for it!


About the saddle: how did you drill it, exactly? I found that if you drill
plastic saddles, you tend to get a long ugly string of plastic that forms
on the side you drill in from.

Maybe I need a different kind of drill bit?

I don't think it's that technically difficult to drill out holes for 'cross cable routing, but you need a counterbore tool (so you get a flat surface inside the hole you drill for the cable outers to rest on), and a drill press helps to keep it all nice and straight. It does look really cool when it's done so it's worth the effort

That's a lovely bike - well done.

Mark.

Thanks for the kind words, never thought about entering it for RBOTM, but why not.

I used a friends drill table press (and his hands) to drill from te top side, all the way through. Considered special hole drilling bits for wood, but the regular drills worked well. Marked off the pattern and while one of us kept the saddle steady the other one slowly worked the press. At the end you have to take care since the saddle tends to shoot up the drill.

There is a slight raised edge to the holes on the top side, but that is supposed to be there to provide some extra grip. I finished it slightly with a small round file on the inside of the holes, but there were no strings of plastic. The saddle is surprisingly comfortable and still smooth in transitions.

I'll have to look into drilling the stem, is there a guide somewhere online? I'll leave the seatpost alone, since I'd like to be able to adjust the height.

Great frame, great components and great modding, superbe bike!

great story. I like the drilling into it and rbotm part

ata":1brwm5vp said:

I'll have to look into drilling the stem, is there a guide somewhere online? I'll leave the seatpost alone, since I'd like to be able to adjust the height.

Click to expand...

Not found any guides to drilling a stem, I think it may be one of the lost arts of bike tinkering.

I suppose the same rules apply as for general aluminium drilling: slow drill speed; clamp the piece down well; use a drill stop so you don't accidentally drill all the way through; make sure the hole is well centred in the piece you want to drill etc. etc...

Re:

Took the chance to get the Gazelle out in its natural habitat during a retro CX ride last weekend. Fresh rainfall made excellent cyclocross conditions with plenty of surfaces to show up my lack of skill (note to self; keep weight on back wheel for grip). Climbing a steep hill that would probably be quite a challenge if it was paved made a nice excuse to show off impeccable walking with bike on shoulder style... The ride showed up plenty of possible improvements in tensioning bolts and spokes, tyre pressure and saddle height, and a potentially problematic amount of play in the rear derailleur, but at least the bike made it to the end without serious mechanical problems. Which couldn't be said for all off the pack. Stille, great experience, very nice riders and after some cleaning and adjusting the Gazelle is ready for more.

Re:

It's that time of the year again, and I wanted to mix up the Champion Mondial Cyclocross. So I decided to remove the Campagnolo NR derailleurs and crankset and install some Mavic equipment on the Gazelle.



I have always loved the clean , purposeful look of the Mavic groups from the '80s and was inspired by Mavic featuring prominently in the first edition of Simon Burney's Cyclo-cross book.





I have also found an original Arius perforated cyclocross saddle, that I repainted and fit on the Gazele. Surprisingly first rides suggest I actually find the homemade bare plastic drilled Unicanitor more comfortable. Have to experiment a bit with my position for a final verdict.