Categories: Anatomy of a Photo

Anatomy of a Photo: Awkward Adolescence

Evolution is a slow, gradual process, punctuated by sudden change. For the first 80 years of our sport, riders rode contra la montre on their regular road bikes. For certain, the bikes were carefully cleaned and tuned to remove all possible resistance, but these were their standard, daily machines. Then, in a span of barely ten years came the skin suit, aero helmet, and the coolest time trial innovation ever, the cow horn handlebars. Then it was on to aero bars, and since that innovation, we've been back to gradual change, thanks in large part to the UCI declaring creative thought to be against regulation and banning all but the most conventional bicycle designs.

For a time, however, it was as though Pandora's Box had been cracked open, and from it sprung countless innovations that would change our sport for ever. Some were good, some where bad, some were altogether too much, but all of it was exciting and all of it was cool in its own right. It was a thrilling time for cycling.

We did, however, enter a very awkward adolescence as the Pro Road Racing scene struggled to adopt the aerobars which had permeated the Triathlon world. The challenge was, of course, to integrate a handlebar made popular by men and women wearing Speedos and doodle on themselves in an appropriately sophisticated European manner. But things were to get worse before they got better; in the span of a single season, Sean Yates went from doing the one-eye V-Squint to wrestling with the Scott Noodles of Death. Even the ever-classy Johan Museeuw couldn't manage to make a graceful transition.

We figured it out eventually, but it wasn't exactly a painless process. For your review, I've collected a handful of examples from the progression.

[dmalbum path=”/velominati.com/content/Photo Galleries/frank@velominati.com/Aero Bars/”/]

frank

The founder of Velominati and curator of The Rules, Frank was born in the Dutch colonies of Minnesota. His boundless physical talents are carefully canceled out by his equally boundless enthusiasm for drinking. Coffee, beer, wine, if it’s in a container, he will enjoy it, a lot of it. He currently lives in Seattle. He loves riding in the rain and scheduling visits with the Man with the Hammer just to be reminded of the privilege it is to feel completely depleted. He holds down a technology job the description of which no-one really understands and his interests outside of Cycling and drinking are Cycling and drinking. As devoted aesthete, the only thing more important to him than riding a bike well is looking good doing it. Frank is co-author along with the other Keepers of the Cog of the popular book, The Rules, The Way of the Cycling Disciple and also writes a monthly column for the magazine, Cyclist. He is also currently working on the first follow-up to The Rules, tentatively entitled The Hardmen. Email him directly at rouleur@velominati.com.

Next Velominati Super Prestige: Giro di Lombardia »

Previous « A New Decade

View Comments

frank says:

Oct 12 2011 at 4:56 pm

@Chris

There's something about that black Lotus that's strangely compelling. The GT, on the other hand, with it's unisex step through design looks like an early prototype of the Boris Bike from when the designer only hear the "we want something that will get the commuter around town quickly" and didn't hear "that will also have benign handling, be robust and cheap to produce"

I had a poster of Boardman rolling that Lotus in my room for ages. Agree, it's somehow very cool - probably for te same reason Obree made his abominations look good: they just oozed class from their pores.

Shit, Boardman even made Mektronic look good.
frank says:

Oct 12 2011 at 5:05 pm

@Routier, @Gianni
We'll do it, promise. His awesomness has graced these pages before, but a full retrospective indefinitely overdue. As a fellow tall guy, I have mountains of respect for the dude.

@Gianni
And he's graced with the unique Merckx-given gift of just looking more and more badass with age. What a fucking stud. The dude is so awesome I'm not ashamed to say I'd prolly do him if he asked. Partly because I'd be scared to say no, but still.
Gianni says:

Oct 12 2011 at 5:14 pm

@Routier
Welcome...good to have you in with us sickies. We do have this little bit of a tease on Yates. Yes, he is a stud.
G'rilla says:

Oct 12 2011 at 5:43 pm

Speaking of old guys who are fast, Sven Nys is 35?!
frank says:

Oct 12 2011 at 8:59 pm

@Gianni

@frank
Cool photos, you should own a TT bike, yes? You would look good on one. Lemond's position looks awfully good in his ADR kit photo, wasn't that the fastest TT ever in the TdF? Mien Gott, faster than Faboo?

Yes, I should. I think it's the only part of this sport I'd ever be good at. Thankfully, I don't have TT bike, so we can't disprove that assertion.

I think that was the fastest ever TT, although it's possible that Dave Z set a faster time in 2004 when I took the yellow jersey. He had a tail wind the whole way, everone else had a headwind. Still, a great way to enter the Tour. He then promptly crashed out of the jersey by hitting his bars with his knee during the TTT.

LeMond's position in photo 7 of 14 (where did the captions go?) but that is not the final TT; that is the one from mid-race, when he surprisingly took yellow, riding mostly in the rain. You can tell that the aero bars are not fully taped down as in photo 6 of 14, and the arm rests are black - those are home-made arm rests; Boone Lennon made them up for him and then made him some better ones for the final TT. I think the ones in photo 7 are actually wrapped in electrical tape!
frank says:

Oct 12 2011 at 9:00 pm

@G'rilla

Speaking of old guys who are fast, Sven Nys is 35?!

I just turned 35. I can probably smoke that old fossil.
mcsqueak says:

Oct 12 2011 at 9:51 pm

@frank

Speaking of old guys who are fast, Cyclops is 50?!

I just turned 35. I can probably smoke that old fossil.

FTFY.
RedRanger says:

Oct 12 2011 at 10:01 pm

@mcsqueak
you sure you wanted to open that can of works a week before the cogal?
michael says:

Oct 12 2011 at 10:29 pm

Let's not forget about these:

I actually remember racing against some pros riding these in the 90s. I wasn't sure what to think of them at the time.
michael says:

Oct 12 2011 at 10:32 pm

Slingshot is still around believe it or not. Strangely I can't find any good photos on their own website. I'm not surprised.