Odd ball bikes ?

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Drago

Legendary Member
And then along came Jim Felt in the nineties, and BOOM! He redesigned TT bikes, having made a few for friends that proved outrageously successful, and the rest is history.
 
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woodbutcher

woodbutcher

Veteran
Location
S W France
It would seem that they both have an odd mix of Shimano 600 tricolour, Shimano 105 Stronglight, and Campagnolo . And l am guessing that time trialists are big blokes because these bikes are much to big for me :sad:
 

SkipdiverJohn

Deplorable Brexiteer
Location
London
I've always thought of dedicated TT bikes as weird looking machines of little practical value - they certainly don't appeal to me to ride, although I wouldn't turn one down as a parts donor if it was cheap enough and had what I was looking for on it. I have a very simple rule of thumb regarding road bikes; if the top tube isn't both straight and perfectly horizontal, it's just plain wrong.
 

Nibor

Bewildered
Location
Accrington
I spotted a couple of weird short wheelbase bikes at a local vintage bike show.
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rogerzilla

Legendary Member
They're horrid! I suppose you get less wheelslip when climbing a greasy 1 in 4 hill but these bikes weren't designed for that anyway.
 
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woodbutcher

woodbutcher

Veteran
Location
S W France
They're horrid! I suppose you get less wheelslip when climbing a greasy 1 in 4 hill but these bikes weren't designed for that anyway.
Ooh a bit harsh ! but l must admit that aesthetically they do nothing for me. If anything they just look a bit "overthought" especially the orange one.
 
Location
Brussels
It would seem that they both have an odd mix of Shimano 600 tricolour, Shimano 105 Stronglight, and Campagnolo . And l am guessing that time trialists are big blokes because these bikes are much to big for me :sad:


Not sure that the spec would make then useful donor bikes at that kind of money.

That said I do like the late 80ies early 90ies approach: shimano for the stuff that really makes a difference: rear mech and brakes, and then a mix of what you fancy/ can afford for the rest:okay:
 
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woodbutcher

woodbutcher

Veteran
Location
S W France
The top twin tubed Ian May reminds me of the old Saxton jobbies

View attachment 434609

The lower is a Trevor Jarvis "flying gate". In my era it was the MKM Ultimate ... Have a look at where the seat tube joins the downtube.

View attachment 434610
I love that bike and that is a very elegant way to shorten the wheelbase. I can only imagine how twitchy the handling is at slow speed. Look how far in front of the hub the brake hoods are, exciting ....l want one ^_^
 

Ian H

Ancient randonneur
Ooh a bit harsh ! but l must admit that aesthetically they do nothing for me. If anything they just look a bit "overthought" especially the orange one.

The Flying Gate (a disparaging nickname which Baines, the original makers, hated) must be one of the ugliest frames ever designed, but a friend says his is a dream to ride (though his is made by Trevor Jarvis, who revived the design).

But the Gate was not designed especially for time-trials, unlike the lo-pros featured in the first post.
 
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