Ossa

[wetfeet]

found this little beaut on ebay rare as hens teeth

item number :120532888091

[tgh30]

Yeh, I saw that, wasnt sure though as I thought the cheney frames were chromed.

[old trials fanatic]

Yeh, I saw that, wasnt sure though as I thought the cheney frames were chromed.

I've got a Cheney framed Ossa but thats a twinshock. Nickel plated frame. Dont know about the monoshock ones if they were chromed or not. Either way it's a rare beast indeed but where would you ride it? or would you ride it? Aint a twinshock and not a competitive mono either.

Still it's a bit of trials history if it's a genuine one but is it worth anywhere near the asking price?

Then again i was gobsmacked at what that suzuki fetched recently so who knows.

[woody]

The original cantilever conversions were modified Ossa frames if I remember correctly so not chromed, later frames were purpose built and chromed

There is no reason really why it can't compete in twinshock class as it was a twinshock at original manufacture and it competed against twinshocks in it's era, so it wouldn't be unfair to compete against the same bikes in twinshock classes today. It's still 1975 technology and probably wasn't much of an improvement over standard, even Yamaha went back to twinshocks. It's still no match for more modern twinshocks.

There is no way it could compete against modern aircooled monos as it would be absolutely and comprehensively outclassed and slaughtered - it's from a different era.

One for the collecter really, or just to ride and enjoy in club trials without worrying about classes.

[monoped]

As OTF says the Cheney frames were bright nickel plate, the Cheney frame was made from Reynolds 531 tubing and did not have a side stand. None of Eric Cheneys frames were numbered. Woody is also right that Roger Holden the then UK importer had 30 bikes converted to monoshock using the standard Ossa frames, which were not plated. Keith Horseman also made a monoshock frame for the Ossa and again this was electro plated. As has been said what would you do with it? I had one (which was certified as an original by Cheney) for many years, it was a garage queen. See VMX issue #29, 2007. Personally I doubt that this bike is the work of Eric Cheney or Keith Horseman, as it is not plated, if it is then all of the welding will be outstanding quality and very distinctive around the headstock. If anyone is interested in it I would advise them to call Simon Cheney first.