respace your drop outs and put a derailleur hanger on there. 
If only i was in chicago…
http://chicago.craigslist.org/nch/bik/1202693009.html
This is true. However, the material properties of aluminum necessitated a geometry that ended up being really stiff, particularly on earlier generations of these bikes. The 3.0 Criterium supposedly is one of the stiffest bikes ever made. Sounds awesome.
Go here, choose your size, and start looking. It’ll be obvious which are the “good” bikes and which are the “bad” ones, so if a bike has a super long wheelbase and cantilever posts, it’s probably not what you’re looking for. If it has forged dropouts and an Italian sounding name, it’s probably right up your alley.
[quote=halbritt]I was going to get this bike, but it might be a little large for me. It’s a 58, with a 56.2CM top tube.
Cannondale Criterium 3.0 on Ebay
Let me know if you want intend to bid on it. It’s hot fucking sex. The angles are steep as fuck, it’s stiff as hell and built like a fucking tank. It’s a “3.0” series, but it weighs 3.2Lbs and is seriously built to take the abuse of crit racing.
22Lbs is easily achievable with a steel frame and fork and reasonably nice parts. That Cannondale would probably be sub-20Lbs.
I’ve been looking for road bikes with >73 degree head tubes lately and haven’t had much luck finding them.[/quote]
I bought my cannondale frame from that seller, when it arrived he hadn’t really documented some of the paint issues that well and a set of bottle cage bolts are spinning and I can’t get them out. My fault because I impulse bought it and didn’t ask as many questions as I usually would but I figured it was worth a mention!
[quote=cookietruck]
i like your davidson alot.
i almost bought one about 6 months ago. it just popped up on ebay with all dura ace 7 speed or 8 speed…sold for like 775.
i want the frame and fork but i doubt that one is gonna pop back up.
davidson made a steeper frame than the impulse. called it the stilletto.[/quote]
Yeah. There was a Stiletto in my size hanging in the Elliot Bay shop for a while. I think the Impulse was their “production” model - not full custom geometry, but you could pick your parts kit, paint, etc… I could be wrong though.
Re: the brazing thing. Mine hasn’t asploded yet.
me? mine’s a very classy looking party foul conversion.
me? mine’s a very classy looking party foul conversion.[/quote]
no, Tbird’s affinity.
[quote=EivlEvo]To throw a lesser (maybe) known name out there “Cilo”
My gf found one of these lying in a dumpster (no joke) in Bend, OR. She’s telling me about it over the phone and I had no idea what it was, so I’m thinking POS. Turns out it has campy dropouts on it and its built with a full shimano 600 group. Handmade in switzerland, nice lugged steel.[/quote]
Your girlfriend is boner city?
[quote=boner city]also, found this in the dumpster outside of my apartment.
vitus made? full shimano 600 group.[/quote]
most all these bikes posted are just stage race geometry.
that’s fine though, it’s more comfortable and more practical than an actual criterium geometry.
ok also, to OP.
finding a crit frame is basically just luck.
i know serotta made one in the early 80’s.
mercks also had a criterium frame for i don’t know how long but i seen on on ebay before.
then there are little custom builder guys that built them. kinda like the one i have that came from australia. i only found it because a guy on the CR list outed his auction. ended up being my size and the aussie dollar was way low so i grabbed it. pretty sure it’s been wrecked (probably a few times). i should take the fork off and check it out but it still tracks pretty ok.
saw a mid 70’s one that was pretty awesome. i shoulda bought it. it was custom. baylis mentioned it was most likely built for crits because the builder used the largest part of fork blades, the rake was very short. angles steep, chainstays were large also. the bike was nice and it sold for a pretty damn cheap and i’ve never seen it since. forget the builder name now. i bet another CR guy got it for his collection.
i’d assume most crit frame that were actually raced have been crashed so be aware of that.
[quote=crushkilldestroy][quote=EivlEvo]To throw a lesser (maybe) known name out there “Cilo”
My gf found one of these lying in a dumpster (no joke) in Bend, OR. She’s telling me about it over the phone and I had no idea what it was, so I’m thinking POS. Turns out it has campy dropouts on it and its built with a full shimano 600 group. Handmade in switzerland, nice lugged steel.[/quote]
Your girlfriend is boner city?
[quote=boner city]also, found this in the dumpster outside of my apartment.
vitus made? full shimano 600 group.[/quote][/quote]
HOLY SHIT! Cilo is the new dumpster brand. Hers was white with nuclear orange decals but it had a turbo saddle, the 600 group, and mavic wheels (one has a niiiiiiiiiiiice flat spot in it). And… she is boner city, but… not that boner city… hmmmm
Cookie… I agree with that whole crit geo thought. I figured any decent steel info is good info in this instance since the brand names are the hardest thing to think of.
I ride a glued together early 90’s Allez Epic and I’m ~200#s. I’m sure you’ll be fine. Also, I recommend this bike. I love mine.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Specialized-Allez-Epic-Carbon-Fiber-Frame-105-Group_W0QQitemZ280354886922QQcmdZViewItemQQptZRoad_Bikes?hash=item414674150a&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=65%3A12|66%3A2|39%3A1|72%3A1205|240%3A1318|301%3A1|293%3A1|294%3A50
[quote=zombie]Razesa/Zeus made some rad crit bikes in the '80s. Here’s mine:
[/quote]
i love this bike carl.
broken chain?
on topic: late 80’s/early 90’s c-dales ftw
The chain is sitting on the barricade right behind the bike. It snapped while I was about as far from my home or a bike shop as I could possibly be and still be in SF.
give me your bike carl
I seen this bike up close and personal, it truly is beautiful. Carl, what stem is that?
Not worth the Buy-It-Now price, but definitely worth the $250 opening bid. I don’t have the geometry, but an old Trek Tri-Series like this will be fairly “aggressive” and ride a lot like how you’re describing.
Merckx panto 3ttt.
In the same vein as that Trek, Peugeot tri bikes from the '80s are super cool. I met a guy in Amsterdam that rode a coaster conversion Peugeot tri and it was a blast.