You are currently browsing comments. If you would like to return to the full story, you can read the full entry here: “Is TJ Tollakson the Graeme Obree of triathlon?”.
Archives
Recent Comments
Recent Posts
Tags
Cannondale
carbon fiber
cargo bikes
China
city bike
Commuter
commuter bikes
commuter_bike_design_competiton
commuting
concept bike
design
design competition
E-bike
electric bikes
eurobike
fixie
folding bike
framebuilding
Greenville
HPV
Interbike
light
links
pro bikes
prototype
racing
reader submitted design
recumbent
rendering
road bike
road racing
Shimano
Specialized
Student Design
Taipei Cycle Show
Taiwan
time trial
Tour de France
tradeshow
trek
urban bikes
USA Cycling Championships
US Pro
velomobile
wooden bike
Heck yes this is what it’s all about!
Ditto. UCI doesn’t touch triathlon and triathlon has grown soooo much since the UCI banned the aero bikes.
Why not a Tri specific aero bike for the masses. A new version of a Lotus perhaps?
Actually, no don’t build them. My old Zipp and Softrides would go down in value
I find his position more reminiscent of Floyd Landis’ “praying mantis” tt position….but i see your point about Obree.
My favorite “pre lugano charter” type bikes, and one of the last, is the Pinarello tt bike used by Indurain and Riis in the ’97 Tour. Indurain also had this crazy bug-eyed tt helmet to go with it.
You are right, his position is more like the “praying Landis” with the steeply angled aerobars. With the Obree comparison, I referring mainly to his experimentation with the bike and use of uncommon materials.
By the way, I agree about those old Pinarello TT bikes. The Blade and Espada are both pictured in this old TT bikes thread at Weight Weenies.
I rode my beautiful Mike Burrows designed Giant MCR 2 weeks ago at the Zurich Ironman & will again at this weekend’s London Triathlon. People continue to stop me in the street & at races, where they walk past the legions of modern Di2 Cervelos & Treks!
Those MCR 2s are beautiful bikes indeed. Still one of my favorite designs
I’ve posted a gallery of pictures including the official time trial bikes of the teams competing in La Vuelta of Spain this year.
I think there are some nice shots. I hope you like them, and I believe this is a good complement for the readers of this article, because these are used also by triathletes…feel free to comment on any. Cheers
Sam
Re, food container-Last I read for USA triathlon ANY object to fair the rider was prohibited
it is interesting that triathlon bans the mounting of external fairings on bikes, but does nothing to stop the use of these high tech frames. Perhaps it is because one could make a fairly aero bicycle out of one not so aero, for a small amount of money, and scant few grams of additional weight. I think triathlon should allow any bike design, as long as it is not falling apart, or parts are falling off of it, purely in the name of competition, and advancement through intelligent experimentation. I race in my local sprints on an ’89 frame, with full SRAM force components, and profile design handlebars, and am currently experimenting with fairings of my own design that I hope will improve the aerodynamic profile of this bike. No bike check at a sprint tri! Having said that, I am now a huge fan of Mr. Tollakson, and am glad to see someone far more fit than me also tinkers on his own, instead of relying on corporate engineering.
A racumbent bike made with state of art components and materials would crush easily any tri-bike in existence. That’s why the banned rule is keep intact. An average person could surpass the best Ironman bike record time in same scenario.
I think the event should introduce a new kind of championship where technology rules and old bans are overruled.
A tinkerer’s championship!