The Competition Bicycle

For the choice of bicycles, we set out to show only bikes that actually had served in competition, not look-alikes. Our goal was to show different areas of competition, from amateurs to Tour de France champions, men and women, including randonneurs, newspaper carriers and mountain bikes. For important areas, we have more bikes, whereas the "fringe" gets one bike each...

We did not compile a list of makers, but selected bikes with interesting history. We also wanted bikes that represented technical milestones, not many duplicates of the same type.

For example, for Campagnolo-equipped bikes, we have seven: One is Fiorenzo Magni's 1948 bike with the Cambio Corsa. Then we have a top-of-the-line Bianco with all the best 1950s equipment, including Gran Sport derailleurs and 3-piece hubs, but still with Stronglight cranks, Mafac brakes and many other parts Campagnolo did not yet offer. The 1965 Cinelli shows how the group concept had evolved the Record group, which was lacking only brakes to be complete. Eddy Merckx' 1974 bike has the full Nuovo Record, including the brakes. Peter Weigle's 1975 time trial machine is a great example of the drilled-out components of that era. Greg LeMond's 1981 bike is equipped with the Super Record group, the ultimate expression of this classic component set. Sean Kelly's 1991 bike has a mix of C-Record and Chorus and old SL pedals, showing that racers were not always happy with Campagnolo's products during the "dark" ages, but his bike already points to the future with its modern slant parallelogram derailleurs.

For riders of these bikes, have a yellow jersey in the Tour (Magni), an independent racer, two American amateurs, a world champion (Merckx), a future superstar (LeMond) and one of the greatest Classics riders ever (Kelly). Their bikes provide a good overview of Campagnolo's history.

We also included Andy Hampsten's Giro d'Italia machine because it contrasted so nicely with LeMond's Gitane. LeMond's bike was a traditional European bike, entered by a European team, unchanged since the 1970s in most respects. Hampsten rode for an American team, used an American frame, Japanese Dura-Ace parts, index shifting, clipless pedals and a criterium geometry. One was the past, the other the future, but in a nice twist, LeMond was even more successful than Hampsten.

Kelly's bike then shows how Campagnolo reacted by developing their own index shifting, and finally got it right after much trial and error. That is the history I wanted to bring out in the book.

Similarly, we chose two 1920s racing bikes: One an Automoto which still had the brakes clamped to the seatstays, but had a lugged frame, the other an Alcyon with a welded frame, but more modern brakes. Both are big, heavy brutes of bicycles, which showcase the type of machines these riders used to conquer the brutal Tour de France stages of the day. Not coincidentally, Automoto and Alcyon were the two companies that dominated the Tour in the 1920s.

Gino Bartali's and Fausto Coppi's bikes from the 1949 Tour de France form a nice contrast. Bartali was old-fashioned, and his bike showed it: Cervino derailleur with shifter paddles, and a geometry that is straight out of the 1930s. Coppi's bike was much more modern, just like the rider, with finely thinned lugs, modern geometry and Simplex derailleurs. Each represented its rider. Both worked equally well, and it was only due to a crash that Bartali came second and Coppi won that year's Tour.

We ended the book with Rominger's hour record bike, because it shows the end of an era. It has a classic steel frame (lugged, but with aero tubing), but carbon disc wheels and aero bars are harbingers of radical changes about to come. I decided not to get into modern carbon bikes, because they deserve their own book, once the dust has settled a bit, and we have gained enough distance to see the big picture. Perhaps we should have titled the current book "The Classic Competition Bicycle"?

Which is your favorite bike in the book? Mine is Coppi's Bianchi. Its frame workmanship is sublime, and it's even my size!

Jan Heine
Editor
Bicycle Quarterly