If Kevin Costner still rode a bike today

Photo credit: RoadBikeAction.com

The Giro d’Italia is well underway and the Tour of California started yesterday, so naturally I have been checking the tech sections of VeloNews, CyclingNews, Road Bike Action, and other cycling sites to see which race bikes they are featuring. The majority of the featured bikes are pretty predictable, but the bright red Specialized Tarmac SL3s that the Saxo Bank riders are racing in the ToC immediately caught my attention. I mean…how often do you see pro team bikes these days with a single color frameset and understated graphics?

It turns out that the bikes have that paint and retro graphic scheme to commemorate the original Specialized Allez bikes used in the 1985 movie American Flyers. Road Bike Action’s tech feature explains that Bobby Julich, now a directeur sportif for Saxo Bank, came up with the idea of creating these commemorative edition American Flyers bikes for the team to ride in the race. See more pictures of the new and old Allez bikes at RBA. Personally, I really like the clean looks of these bikes. If Saxo Bank wants to get back to their regular team bikes immediately after the ToC, I would be happy to take one of these red bikes off their hands… I’d even pretend to be a fan of American Flyers if that is what it takes.

Posted

May 17, 2010

Road Bike

James

Tags:

American Flyers, Giro d’Italia, road racing, Specialized, Tour of California

Comments

4 responses to “If Kevin Costner still rode a bike today”

Peter

May 17, 2010

As I recall, you were a fan of American Flyers back in 1985. Remember Bobby? He was the dog that we would ride sprints with, an idea we picked up from the movie.

Reply
1. James T
  
  May 17, 2010
  
  That was the best part of that movie, and yeah…I remember Bobby. He was a pitbull, right? A real sonofabitch.
  
  I definitely remember the time he ran between your wheels to get run over by the rear one. That only slowed him down for a second and just seemed to make him mad when it was my turn to pass.
  
  Reply
Nick

June 13, 2010

I have a 2006 Allez (what is essentially an S-Works) team frame that looks just like this with the exception of one more “Specialized” written in smaller font on the top tub. I love it. Its understated and slick looking. If I remember right, this paint scheme was not available to the public, only to shops and teams. I got it from a good friend who is a Specialized dealer last winter new in box and built it up with a full Ultegra SL kit I had around.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/51077448@N02/4695797770/

Reply
Bear

June 21, 2012

Pitbull’s name was Eddy and yeah a real sonofabitch. Awesome movie.

Reply