Originally Posted by
VintageTTfan
It is possible that the date given for this bicycle is wrong which would make my time range too early. The general idea of the thread is to include bikes from approximate time range so I ask for wiggle room.
Here is a post that has tons of pictures and information and might in fact contradict my dating. Thank you for your indulgence.
Vélo "Révolutionnaire" D.Salmon 1981. - Le blog de velosvintage.over-blog.com
Interesting. Thanks for posting that. I did not know about those. If the Salmon TT bike really was racing in 1981 that was quite early. I would like to see some corroborating evidence. Seems more likely that it was conceived in 81 and used later. On the other hand it wouldn't surprise me if TT funny bikes originated in France like so many other things cycling.
From my recollection, it was really 1984 that I first saw a funny bike, and not in person. There were definitely a few showing up in the pro ranks. Didn't Hinault ride one in the Tour that year or the latter? A lot of people though were still on regular road bikes, or a splitting the difference by running bullhorns on a normal bike. At amateur races stateside, you weren't going to see any of that at a TT. Just normal bikes. Put on a Brancale helmet and a skinsuit if you were lucky. The super bikes slowly trickled in during the late 80s. Triathlons were kind of the trend at the time, and had a big influence.
Incidentally I found this timeline for Gitane while looking for other early Frenchie TT bikes. Worth checking out if you haven't seen it.
Gitane USA - Time Trial