The U.S. Cyclocross Nationals are an annual occasion for the country's cyclocross community to come together, race bikes and swap stories about the sport. For cyclocross tech fans, it is also a great opportunity to check out the myriad types of bikes and builds amateur athletes from across the country are riding.
So far this season, we have gotten the opportunity to gawk at a number of Elite riders' builds, including Wout van Aert's Felt FRDx, Tobin Ortenblad's Santa Cruz Stigmata and Caroline Mani's Van Dessel Full Tilt Boogie, among others. However, these athletes have access to the latest and greatest, while the majority of us are forced to take a more "run what ya brung" approach.
With Nationals racing less than a week away, we wanted to take this Throwback Thursday to look at some of the unique builds from the past nine years of Cyclocross Magazine's coverage of U.S. Cyclocross Nationals. When placed against the backdrop of our profile of Jeremy Powers' SRAM eTap-equipped Focus Mares, the profiles also provide a great opportunity to see how cyclocross bikes have and have not changed over the years.
We hope you enjoy this trip down memory lane.
For living in the now, check out our already-growing compilation of coverage of the 2018 U.S. Cyclocross Nationals in Reno.
Zachary Schuster and Andrew Yee contributed to this throwback.
Use the slider to see each bike profile.
Haydn Hludzinski’s Flat Bar Kinesis – 2016 (Asheville)
Haydn Hludzinski’s championship-winning Kinesis 29er with White Brothers Rock Solid carbon rigid fork. 2016 Cyclocross National Championships. © R. Riott/Cyclocross Magazine
Sometimes USAC officials bend the rules for Masters categories, but with no restrictions on equipment in her Junior 9-10 age group, Haydn Hludzinsk was free to race her Kinesis mountain bike conversion to two consecutive Junior national titles. Built with a Chris King Headset and White Brothers rigid fork, this high-end build was rounded out with a SRAM XO1 drivetrain, Shimano XT single ring crankset, and Avid Elixir 3 brakes. The contact points were equally flashy, with an Easton EC70 handlebar and Bontrager carbon seatpost. It was a light bike!
See the full profile of Haydn Hludzinski’s 2016 Nationals-winning bike here.
