- [Simon] Where's he got to? Bloody hell, Matt, what have you come as?
- [Matt] Hello, Si. It's just a bit of an homage to the past, really mate.
Do you realize actually what you're looking at?
- Well, I've got a pretty good idea of what I'm looking at, but maybe you need to
enlighten me.
- This is one of the bikes that Stephen Roche rode to the Treble, Si,
way back in 1987, on the Giro, Tour de France, and World Championships,
and this is one of the actual bikes that Stephen rode.
- That's very cool.
- It's a part of cycling history, and you, my son, are about to come out for a ride.
You can sit on my wheel if you so wish.
- That is proper cool, isn't it? FIR rims...
- Even got the original Vittoria tires from 1987 on those. They don't hold air
too well, but they do roll rather beautifully. And of course full retro kit
I've got full leather original Sidi shoes from 1986...
- Nice.
- ...a Danish Cinelli helmet from 1988, and, of course, the Carrera jersey from
1987, that obviously Stephen won the tour.
It did take me only 15 minutes to get my foot in the toe clips,
to be perfectly honest with you. But I tell you what,
how about we go for a spin...
- Let's do it.
- ...so I can completely... What I'm going to do, I'm going to set the oven to
medium, and bake this retro pie until golden brown.
♪ [music] ♪
Have a look at that side.
- See, it's really quite difficult, isn't it? Where's the hole?
I can't find your hole, Matt.
♪ [music] ♪
So Matt, it's not rough?
- That's all right.
- Oh, nice one.
- Matt, there's so many things that are different on that bike,
either subtle or major, I don't know where to start. What's your first impressions?
- Straightaway, I think it's picking the bike up. It is remarkably heavy,
and when you compare it to the Ridley you're riding, for example,
I think we're looking at at least two, two-and-a-half, maybe three kilos heavier
than a standard one, a light road bike of today.
But the first visual thing that strikes you is how narrow the tubes are.
It's Columbus XLS tubing on this bike. It does look beautiful.
There's so much craftsmanship that's gone into the lugs. There's Battaglin stamped
absolutely everywhere. It really is a thing of beauty, but it just looks fragile
But upon riding it, it isn't, because I rode... I didn't ride this bike,
but I rode steel frames when I first started out, and you forget that they are
pretty rugged. I think when you look at a bike like this compared to the bikes of
today, they just look so stiff...and these look just quite weak.
But, when you put the power through, there's not too much loss at all.
It's actually not that bad. Just one other interesting thing before I stamp on the
pedals, I've now run out of gears. I think I'm on 42/19. It's seven-speed,
so this is all I've got.
- You've got downtube shifters on there.
- Yup.
- Pretty much the biggest revolution in shifting, aside from the invention of the
derailleur, was when Shimano moved the shifters up to the levers.
- That's right.
- So how is it going back to downtube?
- It's strange. I mean, for one thing, I like to call these...they're
self-trimming. And by that, I mean you have to trim them yourself.
These aren't even indexed. Even under a fair bit of torque, changing onto the big
ring isn't too much of a hassle. I mean, this bike's nearly 30 years old,
and that went straight in, straightaway. It's actually really, really beautiful.
One other thing that stood out, the drop from saddle to handlebars,
well, there isn't much at all. I do feel quite elevated at the front end.
When you look at the position that Stephen Roche had back in the Tour,
it wasn't as extreme as the riders today, and this does feel as if you could happily
tour all day without compromising, well, any comfort, really.
Here's the thing, though. When you're out of gears, you've got to sit back down,
select it again, and there you go.
I'm sure it won't take an eagle eye to notice that I'm actually running a modern
deep section front on this bike. Unfortunately, these tires are 30 years
old, and one did go just before we started the ride. And we've just got,
I think Simon, about two mil to spare.
- Tell you what, Matt, I'm quite intrigued now, see how that thing descends.
You've got Delta brakes, which are not famous for being particularly good.
- They've got in-built modulation, which isn't necessarily a good thing.
- No.
- Let's take it on the big one, here we go.
The brakes are actually on the wrong-way-round for me, as well,
and I am actually running Vittoria CXs that are nearly 30 years old,
so I'm going to be a little bit careful. But it actually feels okay.
Quite a rough road surface, and it's really absorbing the uneven surface,
and it's actually very comfortable.
There you go, retro versus modern, retro wins. Cheers, Si!
- Damn it.
One of the other big things about the gearing is they're ratios,
when even pros now are riding compacts. You're on what, 42/20?
- Yeah, well, the big ring's 52, the little ring is a 42.
- Well, we're just going to have a little test.
- Okay.
- Because I wonder whether we might find the limits of that bike.
- Remember also, Si, I've got full leather-soled shoes, as well.
So I'm losing at least, I reckon, 80 watts per revolution.
- On climbs as steep as this, where it's the weight that kicks in as well,
isn't it?
- Yeah, and I've got another two-and-a-half, three kilos than you.
Oh, crumbs. This hill is this steep, Si.
- It gets a bit worse just around the corner, actually.
- Whoa!
How steep's that, about one in four?
- Yes, that's right. I think, about one in three around the corner.
- There you go. I'm not too disappointed now, Si.
Right. Shall we try a bit of [inaudible]?
- The other thing then, that bike pretty much marks a changing of the era is the
pedals, isn't it? They're still running clips and straps on there,
which as you know, Stephen Roche used then to win his Euro tour,
Worlds, Triple Crown.
- In terms of the actual performance, I think they're exactly the same,
it's just a comfort thing and a convenience thing. Once you've got your
foot tight in there, you didn't lose anything at all, and bear in mind Sean
Kelly won numerous classics at the back end of the 1980s riding against some
riders without clips. It's just one of those things. Certainly they're not a
detriment to power.
- Right, well, here's the burning question, then, Matt. Given the huge
increases in technology between 1987 bike and a 2014 bike, is it actually more
fun, more comfortable to ride a modern bike, or an old bike?
- Do you know what? I've been riding this for a few miles now,
this feels remarkably comfortable. With a few tweaks, I'd probably lift the
hoods up a little bit, it's actually a pleasure to ride.
It's part of cycling's heritage and you know what, I'm actually thinking about
buying a retro bike just to go on cafe runs and just enjoy what cycling's all
about. I think in terms of ultimate performance, or a hard, tough training
ride, I'd go to one of those. But relaxing days in the sunshine,
I'd go for one of these so you can just enjoy the sport.
Let's just wind this up a little bit, see what this beauty can do.
What have we got on the speedo?
- [Man] Twenty-five.
- Twenty-seven, 28, 29, 30 mile an hour.
Look!
You all right back there, Si?
For more GCN Friday features, click here, and for my retro tech click here,
and to be a fan of GCN, click on my helmet.