I’ve noticed a number of TT bikes the last few years that look similar to the P3. I remember “bobtail” seatpost tandems from the 70’s, where the intention was to shorten the wheelbase. Is Cervelo the first company to curve the seat post around the rear wheel for aerodynamic advantage in a TT bike, or are they just the best known? Who did this first? Is Cervelo Apple, the creative source, or Microsoft, who sold it to the masses?
this was done as long ago as the 70s, to my recollection, and perhaps before.
It’s pretty easy to find images of mid-70’s schwinn paramounts with curved seat tubes.
the schwinns may have been the inspiration but the intellectual property is that of aegis. so to answer your question NO cervelo was not the first just the best marketers.
K
My KHS Aero Comp (1994-96 somewhere in there) was steel and had a curved seat tube. Mind you the wheel did not come as close as you would like but it was still curved to match the wheel. I think that the STA was 75 and with Syncros post flipped around, I had the STA at 78. I would like to get this frame again and built it up as a single speed fun bike. I just have to find one again.
Gardin a small bike company based in the Toronto area did something similar with round tube steel bikes back in the mid to late 80’s. They curved the seat tube around the rear wheel. It was also a way to manipulate the seat-tube angle. I had a couple of their bikes as I was sponsored by them at the time.
Didn’t Lemond Bottechia in '89 have a curved ST? Far less curves than that bonkers curvy Moser (I think) of Bugno though.
Aegis built a curved seat-tube in carbon before the P3C was launched, but I’m pretty sure that the P3 (in 2000) predates the Aegis version.
G.
but the carbon aegis was a direct knock-off of the aluminum P3.
here is a better question:
did anyone make a readily available production bike before cervelo that had a radically curved seat tube that was designed primarily for (and functioned for) aerodynamic advantage?
Do you count the Lotus Superbike, Hotta, Corima track, a couple of Colnago carbons, and a few more in the category of “curved seat tube”. The rear part of all of those bikes was curved to match the rear tyre. The front may or may not have been straight, but there weren’t any UCI rules limiting the depth of the frame tubes, so the seat tube didn’t need to be fully curved.
I’ve seen several photos of the old TT “funny bikes” with the 650 front and 700 rear that had curved seat tubes. They must date from the 70/80’s?
Yup, I have a Gardin frame in my garage with a curved seat tube from about 1991.
I’ve noticed a number of TT bikes the last few years that look similar to the P3. I remember “bobtail” seatpost tandems from the 70’s, where the intention was to shorten the wheelbase. Is Cervelo the first company to curve the seat post around the rear wheel for aerodynamic advantage in a TT bike, or are they just the best known? Who did this first? Is Cervelo Apple, the creative source, or Microsoft, who sold it to the masses?
The curved seattube is not the relevant feature here, the relevance in properly designing that tube in an aerodynamic fashion. There are quite a few bikes with curved seattubes that are absolutely horendous aerodynamically. Something like an Orbea Ordu is less aerodynamic than a frame as “simple” as a P2 SL, despite the curved seattube. I always find it funny when people go “it’s got a curved seattube, so it must be fast like a P3”.
Super Clyde, you read the question carefully before answering it. So is there an Aegis bike that makes aerodynamic use of the bobtail seat tube? What bike? Do you know when it was introduced?
Thanks