When I spotted a tiny corner of a familiar logo on a down tube in my Instagram feed, I had to stop scrolling and take a closer look. It belonged to an aluminum Ciöcc cyclocross, owned by Neil Berrett — one half of California’s Cedar Cycling. I managed to convince Neil to show us more.
“The story of the bike is riddled with a mish-mash of opposites,” Neil tells us. “I bought it in the Summer of 2009 from a racer in Boulder. I knew Ciöcc briefly dabbled in some aluminum road frames but had never seen a ‘cross version, much less with a steel fork.”
“The previous owner had ridden the bike hard and put it away wet, repeatedly. I split the cost of the bike with a friend. It came with a Campagnolo Record 10 Speed group, and my friend swapped that group out for his existing Record 9 Speed group. I ended up getting a great cross bike for a good price and he got a 10 Speed upgrade…”
“The bash guard on the Record cranks is actually a 52T chain ring that’s been ground down. New cranks will be going on the bike — a Sugino XD wide double with a Shimano Italian-threaded bottom bracket. I ride this bike like a small 29er rather than a ‘cross bike. Doing on/off road rides with lots of rad-gettin’ requires strong powerful brakes — hence the TRP CX 8.4 mini-V brakes.”
Special thank to Neil for the story. Cedar Cycling are dedicated to creating high-quality kit that’s crafted from merino wool and manufactured locally in their home state of California. Their range already includes T-shirts, base layers and jerseys. They regularly test their own gear on trail rides like this one in the Oakland Hills. Check out their website here.
