Cyclo-cross is a form of bicycle racing. Races typically take place in the autumn and winter, and consist of many laps of a short course featuring pavement, wooded trails, grass, steep hills and obstacles requiring the rider to quickly dismount, carry the bike while navigating the obstruction and remount. Races for senior categories are generally between 40 minutes and an hour long, with the distance varying depending on the ground conditions. The sport is strongest in the traditional road cycling countries such as Belgium, France and the Netherlands.
A cyclo-cross bike or cyclo-cross bicycle is a bicycle specifically designed for the rigors of a cyclo-cross race. Cyclo-cross bicycles roughly resemble the racing bicycles used in road racing. The major differences between the two are the frame geometry, and the wider clearances that cyclo-cross bikes have for their larger tires and mud and other debris that they accumulate.
The Schwinn Bicycle Company is an American company that develops, manufactures and markets bicycles under the eponymous brand name. The company was originally founded by Ignaz Schwinn (1860–1948) in Chicago in 1895. It became the dominant manufacturer of American bicycles through most of the 20th century. Schwinn first declared bankruptcy in 1992, in 2001 Schwinn went bankrupt again and was purchased by Pacific Cycle, now owned by the Dutch conglomerate, Pon Holdings.
Independent Fabrication (IF) is a bicycle company located in Lynn, Massachusetts, USA. IF fabricates bicycle frames from steel, titanium and carbon fiber. Independent Fabrication has twice won the Bicycling Magazine "Dream Bike of the Year" with its carbon-tubed, titanium-lugged XS road frame. Independent Fabrication was founded by and is owned by its employees. In 2005, the company took part in a CNN television program called The TurnAround. The show paired a growing business with a mentor from a more successful company. Independent Fabrication was paired with Jeff Swartz, chief executive of Timberland.
Tom Ritchey is an American bicycle frame builder, Category 1 racer, fabricator, designer, and founder of Ritchey Design. Ritchey is a US pioneer in modern frame building and the first production mountain bike builder/manufacturer in the history of the sport. He is an innovator of bicycle components that have been used in winning some of the biggest cycling competitions in the world including the UCI World Championships, the Tour de France and the Olympics. In 1988, Ritchey was inducted into the inaugural Mountain Bike Hall of Fame in Crested Butte, Colorado : and 2012, inducted to the United States Bicycle Hall of Fame in Davis, California.
Roberts Cycles is a custom bicycle frame building business, originally located in Selhurst near Croydon, South London, now located in East Sussex, England.
Jonathan Page is an American bicycle racer specializing in cyclo-cross and road racing. He was the USA Cycling National Cyclo-cross Champion in 2002, 2003 and 2004. Page won his fourth national championship in 2013. He lives in Underhill, Vermont, when not based in Oudenaarde, Belgium during the cyclocross season.
Lugged steel frame construction is a method of building bicycle frames using steel tubing mated with socket-like sleeves, called lugs. For most of the bicycle's history, steel has been the primary material for bicycle frames, with lugged construction the primary assembling method. Steel continues in use by builders of high-quality steel frames, though its dominance as a frame material has waned since the mid-1990s displaced largely by aluminum and carbon fiber; lugging has been displaced by TIG welding.
Waterford Precision Cycles was a small bicycle manufacturer based in Waterford, Wisconsin. Waterford produced high-end, custom, hand-built, steel-frame bicycles, particularly road, criterium, stage, track, and cyclocross racing bicycles, that ranged in price from about $2,500 to $8,500. Waterford built both TIG welded and lugged steel frames to order, and specialized in custom and unique bicycle frames.
Kogswell Cycles, Inc. was a small bicycle frame company with its headquarters in El Dorado Hills, California. Kogswell frames were designed in the United States and manufactured in Taiwan. Kogswell frames often ran counter to mainstream bicycle industry trends. According to Biking.com, Kogswell "focuses on creating bicycle frames that lean more towards utilitarian design rather than speed and rough roading."
Koichi Yamaguchi (山口弘一) is a noted Japanese bicycle frame builder, based in the United States.
Dario Pegoretti was an Italian bicycle framebuilder based for many years in Caldonazzo, outside the town of Trento, in the Dolomites, Italy, and then later for a few years in Verona, Italy.
Witcomb Cycles, formerly known as Witcomb Lightweight Cycles, is the trading name of the Witcomb Trading Company. It was a British company based in Deptford, South London, specialising in custom handmade steel bicycle frames. The company was founded in 1949, by Ernie Witcomb and his wife Lily. The London shop closed in May 2009.
Focus Bikes is a bicycle manufacturer that has its administration in Stuttgart, Germany and production facilities based in Cloppenburg, Germany and builds sport bicycles such as e-bikes, racing bicycles and mountain bicycles.
Bilenky Cycle Works is an American handmade bicycle manufacturer located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Ron Cooper was a noted British "master" bicycle frame builder.
Bespoked is a bicycle show for custom bikes based in London. It features framebuilders from around the world, and seeks to promote the art of building bicycles by hand.
The Schwinn Paramount was a high-end racing bicycle produced under the Schwinn Bicycle Company brand from 1938 through 2009.
