1976 CYC Bike advertisment and kit

This is an advertisement showing CYC’s first bike.  It was sold as a kit or in parts.  It was the same bike as the AAA Rascal. So it would  be interesting to know if CYC was making it for them or vice versa. I still haven’t heard who welded all those CYC’s. This was from an October 1976 issue of a BMX Magazine. Man hard to believe BMX Magazines dated back that far.

CYC BMX jersey timeline

Just put this together today after looking thru an old NBA Newspaper from early 1979. It shows Arizona Powder Puffer Sara Rutledge sporting a CYC jersey I hadnt seen before. If you have any pictures of racers from BITD please email me them at bulletproof2000@live.com along with any info, race, riders name, year etc.

The uniforms were not always changed at the start of the year. In fact sometimes several variations could be seen at one time. Like the 1980 Luja uniform in blue and yellow. In the black and white ’80 picture you see what appears to be a second version. This one looks solid with stars on the sleeve. Cant tell for sure if the Luja one also had stars. I cant find any 1981 pictures of a CYC racer. Now in my personal collection I have a picture of me racing a National in 1981. One of the guys in my Expert class had a ’79 CYC jersey on.

From memory the 75-77 version was a simple solid yellow jersey with black lettering. The 78 version is the legendary Bill Walters uniform when CYC was at its peak.  The 79 version was white body with blue sleeves in a sort of baseball cut.

Is this the cleanest Ames Stormer?

I got a email from Jim Estelle regarding his Ames Stormer. He is the original owner and as far as he can remember his dad got it new back in 1978 from a bike shop. This is backed up by the decals. He didnt say if the chrome and decals are original. If so it is clearly NOS (New Old Stock) or as close as you can come. It is unusual in that is has the 78 decals but has a Gary Turner built frame.  The newer (2nd generation) Ames came out sometime in 1978. So perhaps his is the last batch of the Gary Turner built Ames and was simply made in very late 77 or early 78. It is unclear at this time when the first 2nd Gen frames were made.

It doesnt have a serial number just the letters “KAZ Y”. I dont think was normal for CYC and perhaps the bike was originally intended for a Team rider. Then the rider left before getting his or her bike.  Kaz could be a nickname or short part of the last name. Like Kos for Kosmala.

Now you know, the rest of the story

The entire time I raced, I never knew what “Magic Mushroom” stood for on the CYC team jerseys in 77-78. The 79 Jersey didnt seem to have it anymore.  I loved those old Blue and Orange jerseys. I would have rode for CYC in a second in 78 but it was my first year racing.  By the time I was good enough for a Factory co sponsorship CYC team was no more.

But what the heck did “Magic Mushroom” mean. I mean it was in huge letters on every CYC Jersey in those years.  Well thanks to Johnny Johnson and Leo Dano we now know. Leo it turns out rode for “Magic Mushroom” back in the 80s. But by this time CYC was gone. Turns out “Magic Mushroom” was a bike shop in Glendale, California. Now you know, the rest of the story.

1978 CYC Ames Stormer

Thanks to a CYC fan for sending me pictures of his Ames Stormer. It looks to be in great shape, just in need of a new decal pack. But thankfully till then he left the survivor decals on it.

1980 CYC Panther

This image is from BMX Plus! test of the CYC Panther.

1978 SoCal Factory riders

This team picture shows the CYC Factory riders from the Southern California area in 1978. I had the picture for some time trying to ID all the riders correctly with no luck. Hopefully one of you guys can help fill in the blanks. To see a larger version of the picture click on it.

Help ID this bike, is it a CYC?

This bike is decaled as a CYC. It clearly was red over chrome at one point. Something CYC did. However if the CYC decal is original it would then have red paint underneath.

If this is a CYC model, which one? If not what bike is it?

Rare CYC decals now on eBay

I dont know who is selling these, but wanted to give you guys a heads up since CYC decals almost never pop up.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130412759519&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

This is the end time (Jul 28, 201015:58:59 PDT)

1977 CYC Stormer

Wow Baird Bergenthal sent in pictures of his ’77 Stormer MX. Going to be a beautiful project as he included a shot of the parts for the build. Great looking original stickers. I will post a second picture of the complete build once its done.