Picture of Your Favorite Vintage Time Trial Bicycles and Why!
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And speaking of odd, now is as good a time as any to finally post this strange concoction. One second I really like it and the next I do not. This is one of those rare cases. I think it is cool they used the rear disc wheel for art though. The saddle and the colors on the frame are nice. The matching helmet is a strange touch. Not a fan of the stem and handlebars. I would be curious to hear how you guys like it....does it get a thumbs up or down?
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It took me a while to find an example but here's a 1895 advertisement showing that that those whale-tail saddles were nothing new.
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Wow........if I could give this post three thumbs up I would. This thing is something extraordinary.....it has that aura of something magical from the past. The elaborate metal work is simply spectacular. I feel like this came out of that show Wild Wild West....is it real? Apparently it is. Imagine how much this cost back at the time. Look at the crank wheel. Is this thing a time machine? What a beautiful unique creation. Do you have more info on this bike or a link you could give us? Thanks for sharing this! And thanks for the historical info...so nice to meet someone informed. All Best.....
Cycling was hugely popular in the mid to late 1890s, courtesy of the recent innovations of the low saddled, chain driven, safety frame and pneumatic tyres. It was one of the few booming industries in what was an economic recession. It gave people, especially females, freedom to get out of the city and was practiced by people of every level of society, including kings, queens and presidents. Think of bicycles as the 1890s version of the smart phone. It was not unusual for celebrities of the era to have highly customized, extravagant bicycles. One of the top stage actresses of the era (I think it was Duse or Bernhardt) had a bicycle encrusted with her collection of rare jewels.
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#354
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I remember reading about them on various forums. The company was founded by Gaetano Romani in 1924. They mainly produced framesets but only few full bikes, and most of their production was contract manufacturing for all the shops around the Parma area where they resided, but they also did export as well, so compare to how rare the Romani bikes are, the actual company was big. Some sources even mentioned that they helped Ernesto Colnago to roll out the Colner brand, but it might be true might be a legend. The frames were said to be good quality for the money The biz went through 3 generations until 91 when they ceased production. The "third" Romani who last ran the business (Also Gaetano) is actually a really cool person. He is happy to read about the interest of his heritage on forums and comments in them send pictures and offer help with IDing frames, etc.... a really nice man i said. Dont know if he is still living but would not be surprised if he would say hello here as well if yes.
Last edited by Lattz; 03-05-20 at 04:45 PM.
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#355
Strong Walker
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Coolness.....kudos on finding another vintage Peugeot TT bike....I thought we had found them all and posted em here already.....I should have known better. They are hard to find though. This is a nice bike and someone should grab it up quick. Nice saddle, bullhorns, paint job, Not in love with these mag wheels in particular but that is just a sniggle on my part. Interesting bike...and thanks for posting this. If you find any other vintage TT Peugeots that we have not posted yet please show them here. Thanks.
P.S. What size is it and how much does he or she want for it?
P.S. What size is it and how much does he or she want for it?
https://www.leboncoin.fr/sports_hobbies/1755989425.htm/
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#357
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So if you want to point out these posts to him and he is willing to comment here on his experiences or the making of time trial lo pros then that would be awesome if he would honor us so.....if he has the time and inclination. If you have his contact information please let him know. And if he wants to post any pictures here that would be awesome if it is not too much trouble. All Best......
Last edited by Lattz; 03-06-20 at 06:45 AM.
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#358
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That red-yellow Romani is beautiful btw, its funny that I just got my red-yellow Somec yesterday per post, they look like siblings with the 600ex and yellow extras, besides mine is in a bad shape.
Last edited by Lattz; 03-06-20 at 06:51 AM.
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EDIT: Vittoria Strada was also made in all white.... https://www.tracksupermarket.com/vit...bike-tire.html
Last edited by Lattz; 03-06-20 at 09:08 AM.
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Hookay, as I said earlier, I contribute to the lot with my very own Rossin(?) tria bike. I always loved the looks of the track and especially the lo-pro bikes, but for commuting its hard to justify them. This is the bike which turned my attention on them again, and upon trying to research what "problem" I bought myself again I've found plenty of nice bikes on the journey I'll post later. Actually, this bike made me fall in love with the rather uncommon Columbus Ego tubing. Every time I look at it, I wonder "...if it's really a Rossin, screw them, they pantoed everything besides this one, if it's not a Rossin, based on the Ego tubes, its still must be something good and rare thing. And anyway its beautiful even when it shows 20+ years of really active usage and definitely a few years of "no one gives a thing about this". It's a mess atm, first pics - as it came, last one is somewhat cleaned and changed the Syntace handlebar to a Moscow... unfortunately my big fav. Mutant stem is way too long for this, so that has to go. I'm considering to chase Ironman people here in the forum (according to the sticker it participated in a Utah IM) and Italians for info, as it is really a pain that I don't know what is it. I always find close matches, but never an exact match. But as Rossin was also making tailor made ones, this can be one of them, or this can be anything else. A Chorus groupset is on the way from Belgium as first major update to ditch the mixed Shimano parts.
Last edited by Lattz; 03-06-20 at 09:33 AM.
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That is an actul cover of an Italian Mickey Mouse comic (topolino stands for little mouse hence for the name of the early Fiat 500 cars as well).
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Two really similar but not identical ones. The first is my beloved Ego tubing with the wedge shaped head tube the second is Columbus Genius. The plain rosso corsa painting is unusual from Rossin but hey, they are italians... rosso corsa is a must (every now and then).. I guess VintageTTfan you know wheres the second is coming from
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I've been looking for this for awhile. It's a Disc Wheel advertisement from 1891, predating Moser's use by 93 years! Now all I have to do is find the road test. It mentioned having a version with 4 holes in it to mitigate the effect the side winds, though curiously it mentioned using it on the rear, as opposed to the front wheel.
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T-mar this ad is awesome thanks for it! Its interesting how many times in the evolution of wheel it changed between being a flat "solid" body or a spoked thing. When one version gets good enough the predecessor comes up with an updated version. My curiosity blew up by this ad. Wondering if the pictured bike counts as lo-pro.
Last edited by Lattz; 03-07-20 at 04:56 PM.
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T-mar this ad is awesome thanks for it! Its interesting how many times in the evolution of wheel it changed between being a flat "solid" body or a spoked thing. When one version gets good enough the predecessor comes up with an updated version. My curiosity blew up by this ad. Wondering if the pictured bike counts as lo-pro.
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"Bicycles and Tricycles", Archibald Sharp, 1896
I was about to post that page from Sharp about disc wheels but Lattz beat me to it. It's my favorite example of "there's nothing new under the sun".
Sharp's book is so amazing. The first third of the book is an introduction to engineering, starting with a definition of space, time, and matter. Talk about thorough! I read it when I was in engineering school 40+ years ago, and I never found anything wrong in it, that I can recall. It's still pretty much right-on.
Mark B in Seattle
I was about to post that page from Sharp about disc wheels but Lattz beat me to it. It's my favorite example of "there's nothing new under the sun".
Sharp's book is so amazing. The first third of the book is an introduction to engineering, starting with a definition of space, time, and matter. Talk about thorough! I read it when I was in engineering school 40+ years ago, and I never found anything wrong in it, that I can recall. It's still pretty much right-on.
Mark B in Seattle
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I've never found any photos of the 1890s' disc wheels, only illustrations, such as that provided by Lattz. Actual photos in 1890s periodicals were quite rare. They were mainly illustrations based on my research. However, it's nice to see that they shortly came around to using the vented wheel on the front. Maybe I'm recalling it incorrectly, but I thought they originally recommended it for the rear.
Another related specific that I recall was that a rider of lesser calibre had used one to beat Augustus Zimmermann, who at the time was considered the world's best cyclist. Unfortunately, it didn't receive much publicity as the rider was disqualified over what I recall was an infraction by his "holder".
Another related specific that I recall was that a rider of lesser calibre had used one to beat Augustus Zimmermann, who at the time was considered the world's best cyclist. Unfortunately, it didn't receive much publicity as the rider was disqualified over what I recall was an infraction by his "holder".
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Last edited by Lattz; 03-09-20 at 09:48 AM.
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Gazelle day! Great :-) I would love to post pictures of my Gazelle TT, but I'm 9 posts short of posting pictures...
As for the brand, Royal Dutch Gazelle, it started in 1892 selling imported English bikes. Then in 1902 they started making their own frames, but it gets more interesting in 1965 when they created the racing department. They do not make race bikes anymore and is owned by same company as Cervélo and Santa Cruz.
The first of your posts is same frame as mine; Gazelle Champion Mondial Tijdrit. Tijdrit is apparently Time Trial in Dutch. The frame is made in Reynolds 531 tubing and has some nice details; the seat tube has an indentation to make room for the rear wheel with a frame as compact as possible and the seat stays end in bottleneck style to be more aerodynamic.
As for the brand, Royal Dutch Gazelle, it started in 1892 selling imported English bikes. Then in 1902 they started making their own frames, but it gets more interesting in 1965 when they created the racing department. They do not make race bikes anymore and is owned by same company as Cervélo and Santa Cruz.
The first of your posts is same frame as mine; Gazelle Champion Mondial Tijdrit. Tijdrit is apparently Time Trial in Dutch. The frame is made in Reynolds 531 tubing and has some nice details; the seat tube has an indentation to make room for the rear wheel with a frame as compact as possible and the seat stays end in bottleneck style to be more aerodynamic.
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First let me say "Welcome to TT Land." Just gave you your first "like" so you are off to a good start. Thanks for the compliment....they are always appreciated here. When you are able to post your Gazelle TT then do it here for sure.
Second, thanks for the info on the Royal Dutch Gazelle company.....very interesting. Wow...they go way back. The company has been around long enough to see some serious bicycle history. All Best and hope to see you as a regular here.
Second, thanks for the info on the Royal Dutch Gazelle company.....very interesting. Wow...they go way back. The company has been around long enough to see some serious bicycle history. All Best and hope to see you as a regular here.
Also I would like to say thank you for this thread. I love ‘TT land’; I've been through all 855 posts, so I consider myself a 'silent regular'.
I think the old low pros are far more interesting than my modern carbon rocket ships. But as I like to ride bikes, not just have them as art works, I’ve never been able to justify buying one. Well until this autumn where I discovered time trial races for classic bikes. Fortunately, I have a fantastic wife, so she said, ‘well now you have a purpose for the bike, so just buy one’, and this being in the middle of us buying and moving into a house! So, I found the Gazelle, which I’m now preparing for my first race in May!
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Maybe I missed it between the many posts but I was thinking "the number of Takhions ( and other Eastern block stuff) is damn too low for such a thread but it will soon change" well didnt mean this was but it has changed! I'll join the Gazelle hype today but tomorrow its (hopefully) Takhion day..
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Last minute Gazelles for the day...
I like monocoque bikes like this because they are so out of this world (at least they were those days)
This has a really nice color although not a radical TT bike besides the extra long seatpost and the seattube crease to shorten the wheelbase, but I find it cool even if non Italian bike brands are usually located farther from my heart.
This one bought me with many things: first and foremost the "Mondrian-ish" colors of these TVM bikes, second the really dramatic slope of tje top tube but above all the cable going through the seattube - I fell for such tiny details like this, even if it came with sacrifices as seen below:
I like monocoque bikes like this because they are so out of this world (at least they were those days)
This has a really nice color although not a radical TT bike besides the extra long seatpost and the seattube crease to shorten the wheelbase, but I find it cool even if non Italian bike brands are usually located farther from my heart.
This one bought me with many things: first and foremost the "Mondrian-ish" colors of these TVM bikes, second the really dramatic slope of tje top tube but above all the cable going through the seattube - I fell for such tiny details like this, even if it came with sacrifices as seen below:
Last edited by Lattz; 03-09-20 at 05:11 PM.
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#374
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Some of the winners of this year's "concoursvelo.ch" in Basel/Bale, a Rossin, a Bianchi/C4 and an Antonov
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That Iscaselle i think is the one dubbed "Vultures beak". It is nice if it fits your contact spot but it isn't fpr everyone
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