When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

SOVIET Track bike : "CNOPT"

-

corbettclassics

I live for the CABE
This XB3 "CNOPT" frame was built in 1987. Called the "Sport-Git" .. it is their "Sprint" Model.

These frames were built special order from 1987 - 1991 and are quite rare. They built about 50 frames per year ( small circulation ) by
Kharvov bicycle factory in the experimental workshop of the HVZ on special orders of the Soviet Special Racing Teams. Today Kharkov is in the Ukraine.

Unfortunately this bike does not have the original Soviet parts on it like cranks, wheel-set etc. Either way it's an amazing bike to ride because of its short wheelbase and angles of a sprint machine. The bike seems very fast and is extremely twitchy to ride.

IMG_4149.jpg


IMG_4150.jpg



IMG_0487.jpg



IMG_0672.jpg


IMG_0481.JPG


IMG_0489.JPG
 
-----

thanks very much for sharing this find

forum member @Bikerider007 is also owner of a Kharkov XB3 track machine

his example is stamped with an "86" on the dropout so it may be within one year of your machine

it is presently set up for training

1642879087598.png


Bikerider007 visits the forum only irregularly so have sent him a message about this thread

you two owners will likely to able to share some helpful information...

here is a discussion thread he created for his example -



-----
 
A friend was telling me of an ex Soviet team road racing bike that he worked on in the early 90's.
He cannot recall if it was 'CNOPT' or 'TAKHION', but he remembered that every single component of the groupset was unashamedly a copy of then current Campagnolo parts.
I do see their versions of the chainsets for sale occasionally, but usually stamped with the 'TAKHION' logo.
 
Yes their hubs and other parts do look like Campagnolo. They have odd sizes though like the headsets and bottom brackets where it's best to just run the original parts. I was lucky that this one that I have still has the original H/S & B/B.

I've been on the hunt for another one of these "CNOPT's" but in the gold color. Really hard to find one for sale in the right size.

13320504_1156676311029704_4102703262170759376_o.jpg
 
Last edited:
They do keep popping up from time to time in Russia and the Ukraine. The "CNOPT" examples usually look pretty rough though.
The Takhion pursuit bikes (and road TT bikes) with the fork mount bars are fetching crazy money!.
 
Having owned some Eastern-bloc vehicles, several motorcycles and a pair of cars, you are likely better off without the Russian made fittings as I’ve rarely encountered such crap quality metalwork as the Soviet made junk. You’d likely have something snap on you sooner or later.

I had one engine that bled oil right through the castings when it got hot, to seal the porous little bugger up offending castings were coated with epoxy on the inside to seal them. So much of the epoxy bled through we ended up with a spotted engine, so we had to paint it black. The inside of the crankcase was studded with little lumps of sand from the casting process, apperantly the possibility of lumps of sand drifting loose into the engine’s works isn’t a concern over there. Nice.
 
Having owned some Eastern-bloc vehicles, several motorcycles and a pair of cars, you are likely better off without the Russian made fittings as I’ve rarely encountered such crap quality metalwork as the Soviet made junk. You’d likely have something snap on you sooner or later.

I had one engine that bled oil right through the castings when it got hot, to seal the porous little bugger up offending castings were coated with epoxy on the inside to seal them. So much of the epoxy bled through we ended up with a spotted engine, so we had to paint it black. The inside of the crankcase was studded with little lumps of sand from the casting process, apperantly the possibility of lumps of sand drifting loose into the engine’s works isn’t a concern over there. Nice.
Their track racing squads, alongside the then East German teams were pretty dominant in the 1980's; that requires some serious metallurgical skills to produce lightweight componentry able to cope with the stresses induced under these conditions.
To be fair though, their cars and motorcycles of that era were pretty poor in quality compared to western equivalents. But of course there was a different ideology at play.
 
Last edited:
Having owned some Eastern-bloc vehicles, several motorcycles and a pair of cars, you are likely better off without the Russian made fittings as I’ve rarely encountered such crap quality metalwork as the Soviet made junk. You’d likely have something snap on you sooner or later.

I had one engine that bled oil right through the castings when it got hot, to seal the porous little bugger up offending castings were coated with epoxy on the inside to seal them. So much of the epoxy bled through we ended up with a spotted engine, so we had to paint it black. The inside of the crankcase was studded with little lumps of sand from the casting process, apperantly the possibility of lumps of sand drifting loose into the engine’s works isn’t a concern over there. Nice.

Personally, I think for collectability and also to showcase the bike for a display, then it's always best to have the original parts that the machine was born with. It's a better representation of the bike historically. It seems rare these days to see one with all its original components. I'm trying to get one now that's all original out of Russia from a friend and if I do get it then I would leave it that way ... all original.

One thing I have to admit is that the CNOPT that I'm riding has great geometry. The angles that they built them with really makes it a blast to ride!

65268778_1624469431021115_1121342456915296256_o.jpg


65308362_1624469617687763_534053121396047872_o.jpg


kharkov_-_instructions_for_b541_b553_track_bike_-_front_cover_thumbnail.jpg
kharkov_-_instructions_for_b541_b553_track_bike_-_page_7_thumbnail.jpg
 
Last edited:
Back
Top