Best fitting frame I have ever had was my USA Superform loved it. If it weren't for the fact nearly all the old steelies were 650 I'd be happy to rock one, but my hoop stable forbids it.

I have the same with my 650 cannondale ... its still one of my fav bikes even though I am 6'3.

I wanted a 650 bike after seeing Ray Browning ride 4.40 on a hilly, windy and rough road surfaced course at IMNZ and won with a new course record overall.



I sometimes wonder what would happen if you made one of those bikes with carbon tech of cervelo etc today, but then you would end up with something like the 650c Kestral which is like 20 years old now

I can and have reproduced the fit I had on the USA, but I think one reason the reason the Superform was especially good was b/c of 80*. We had no Adamo/Cobb options and riding a Flite Ti back then I was still sitting way back so it was very tough to ride steep. NO way could I nose ride those things even with the QR Softie.

I occasionally see some of those Kilo PR frames in my size and am tempted, but dumping all my hoops for 26" would be a massive money loser and PITA.

Remember the KM40? That was a bad ass frame back in the day.

yeah, I think that is the one I was thinking of...this one right ? I still think the flite is one of the nicest saddles ever made, never tried a cobb adamo though.




1990 , link

Hey wheres ma seat tube?!

There's some creative stuff happening on the handlebar of that Kestrel. Has he welded on a DT shifter boss and cable stop with some kind of backing plate??
GripShifters, happy days. I just sold a job lot of them, went for silly money.

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´Get the most aero and light bike you can get. With the aero advantage you can be saving minutes and with the weight advantage you can be saving seconds. In a race against the clock both matter.´

BMANX

Just quoting because that is about as much retro sweetness as you can get, complete with the Scott Extreme bars (38 cm wide) and Tektro levels and gripshift (I assume 8 speed). Add in the 650 wheels and what appears to be Stronglight cranks and a pre Kestrel EMS aluminium fork (by the way, I have an Extra EMS fork sitting around doing nothing on account of Kestrel sending me a warranty upgrade to the fork you appear to have there) and that's about as nice as it ever got.

Agreed about the flite saddle. Rode that saddle from 1994-1999

Not Kona, similar set up IMC 1994

Tinley tri clothing needs to come back..sharp!

Brent

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DFRU - Detta Family Racing Unit...the kids like it and we all get out and after it...gotta keep the fam involved!

I actually still have that tri suit. I should wear it at my next race! If I recally correctly I only wore is around 5 times ever.

If I ever go back, I'll go old school.

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CAMPAGNOLO GRAN FONDO NEW YORK

Don't know about this year but in 2010, I rode my 1984 Schwinn Paramount in Kona and was very happy with that decision. I guess the moral of the story is different strokes for different folks. I've had carbon fiber, I've had tri-bikes, etc, but I prefer (and do well) on my vintage steel bikes. Due to a variety of factors, I raced only one tri this year. It was done on a 1983 steel 'John Howard' built by Dave Moulton (with aero bars). Result, age group's fastest bike split. That said, I'm not getting any younger :) IMO, fitness level, bike fit, position and wheels play a more important part than frame material. There are clearly some fine bikes of all materials out there. I wish all Kona riders the best on race day!

You'd be surprised how aero those old school narrow tube narrow fork steel frames are, both in frontal and especially at yaw....they are much more "invisible" to the wind compared to some of the marketing fluff from today! That 200SCi with Scott Extremes (not narrow tube steel, but not far off), descended just as fast or faster than all of these bikes on the same decent that I have done around 40x per year for 25 years: Litespeed Tachyon, Guru Trilite, Cervelo Soloist, Cervelo P3, QR Lucero, Kuota Kalibur, Kestrel Airfoil Pro. The only bike that was faster and stood head and shoulders above all the rest was my old Softride Solo (narrow tube, Al frame).

There is a Kestral 4000 (original) hanging in a LBS. It has been there for at least 20 years. I would wager that it is brand new.

A friend will be riding an S&S coupled round tubed Ti QR 650c in the 60-64 AG. He qualified. He's plenty fast.

15 year old Calfee with some newer bits fastened on:

Nice bike, thanks for posting!

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´Get the most aero and light bike you can get. With the aero advantage you can be saving minutes and with the weight advantage you can be saving seconds. In a race against the clock both matter.´

BMANX

Love it. I'm thinking of ditching my bike for a les extravagant frame.

S&S coupled plus 650 = NO AIRLINE FEES ?

S&S coupled plus 700 = no airline fees. Snug, but 700s fit in the S&S cases (our tandem fits in two of them).

I'd like to see one of the grocery bikes ridden in the first IM in 1978. Maybe one of the original IM would volunteer or perhaps a well trained younger stud--- now that would be newsworthy.

like!

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The first time man split the atom was when the atom tried to hold Jens Voigt's wheel, but cracked.

Maybe Frank Day doing his best Freddie Mercury stand in can chime in about his Oahu Ironman 1978:

http://www.slowtwitch.com/...ronman_1978_174.html

We also have a tandem and two coupled tri bikes, and two coupled road bikes. Yeah, love the S&S and no airline fees.