harpon
Finally riding a big boys bike
I recall these well, and generally ridden by awesome riders as well. Young Jeff Bradley springs to mind- a road bike "lifer" who started very young racing- single digits of age- and then was part of the group of Juniors specifically trained by Eddy B. (I am NOT he.) Once that generation came to maturity- you had to be full-time to stand any chance of competing with them. I guess Lemond and Andy Hampston are the most recognized of the bunch.
The hardened annodized gold rims are awesome especially as the titanium BB, although I recall having a titanium spindle- and it wasn't all that expensive - in the mid 70's on a full campy bike.
On a contrary note- I look at this point as a departure of sorts- going away were the days of Columbus and 531 sort of "standard" full Nuovo and then Super Record bikes, and more exotic things - and expense- would more change the landscape-
taking a "racing bike" even farther from a "touring bike" or transportation bike and into ever more exotic mindsets and expenses that I think eventually damped the racing scene itself. A full Super Record Columbus SL or Reynolds 753 bike reached about $1200 at the time- I'm sure this bike was over that figure if any at all were sold retail.
It forced a lot of adaptation and other equipment- the bike shops had to have more special tools and on and on through the 80's and 90's, the vastly improving Japanese components gaining more niche.
The Team Record to me represents about the peak of what a road bike was during my own career. Nice.
The hardened annodized gold rims are awesome especially as the titanium BB, although I recall having a titanium spindle- and it wasn't all that expensive - in the mid 70's on a full campy bike.
On a contrary note- I look at this point as a departure of sorts- going away were the days of Columbus and 531 sort of "standard" full Nuovo and then Super Record bikes, and more exotic things - and expense- would more change the landscape-
taking a "racing bike" even farther from a "touring bike" or transportation bike and into ever more exotic mindsets and expenses that I think eventually damped the racing scene itself. A full Super Record Columbus SL or Reynolds 753 bike reached about $1200 at the time- I'm sure this bike was over that figure if any at all were sold retail.
It forced a lot of adaptation and other equipment- the bike shops had to have more special tools and on and on through the 80's and 90's, the vastly improving Japanese components gaining more niche.
The Team Record to me represents about the peak of what a road bike was during my own career. Nice.
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