Hooker made 2 framesets…the Cat1 was a dual 700c bike, intended for road racing and crits. The TT was a 700c/24" funny bike for time trialing. There was also a track version of the funny bike. The bike pictured in the Slowtwitch article was my TT bike. I raced it in sprint triathlons when I lived in Florida but sold it after moving to Colorado where I had much less opportunity to ride it.
Beautiful. Do you still ride it much Paulo?
just checked ebay…http://cgi.ebay.com/1990-Hooker-Elite-Road-Bike_W0QQitemZ190052000841QQihZ009QQcategoryZ98084QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
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maybe so you dont have to stop pedalling round corners on the aerobars
I was talking about their (my) road bike.
just checked ebay…http://cgi.ebay.com/1990-Hooker-Elite-Road-Bike_W0QQitemZ190052000841QQihZ009QQcategoryZ98084QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Nice pic there of Hooker’s proprietary (but troubled) stem.
I bought a Hooker road frame in 1994 and raced several World Championships and an Ironman on it. It is, and remains, the fastest bike on the planet. Although I am not racing much (I am doing a lot of come backs, though) I would never get rid of it. The positives are obvious. The negatives are that it is hard to break down for travel, it is not much good for climbing and for longer races it puts you in such an aero position that it can get very uncomfortable. For a flat or rolling Oly, a disc and Zipp front wheel, there is nothing like it.
Some notes about the Hooker that I have (Cat.1):
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The seatstays are really nice and aero. That makes them a bit stiff too, so the ride is a bit stiff.
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The design of the frame has some details that makes most other frame designs look clunky. It’s just a very sleek, beautiful design.
Stiff? I’ve got one and find it rides like a wet noodle. The seat stays are aero, but they have a healthy l/t ratio so they are thin and not stiff at all.
Agree on the frame design/looks. Love the bike even though I don’t have the original fork, bars, or brakes. Fortunately the old Shimano Dura Ace AX brakes work on the back so that I could get the bike competition legal.
I didn’t race it this year as I opted for a more open setup. I certainly had the speed on the bike but my power was down 10% or more due to the agressive position. May have to play around with it more next season to see if I can fix that. I need to repaint mine too.
I bought it in the Spring and built it up over the Summer, so it’s the newest bike in the stable. Anyway, I am just running right now, so I’m not riding it at all. But I am looking at it now 