TSP18: My 1980s Tri Bike
In the last 18 months I’ve put together a 1980s tri bike. It was a fun project. I really enjoyed sourcing the bits and learning more about the group-sets of the day. I’m going to race it a few times in 2024.
The aesthetics are based on Mike Pigg’s 1987 Basso and Guerciotti bikes. Below. 1987 was the first season of aerobars. With the Scott DH bar, on Mike’s bike, being the first aerobar to be manufactured in quantity and then become popular with triathletes. TSP3 is about them.
Images:
Sports Illustrated: Triumph For Pigg Power
Mark Allen’s Total Triathlete
Back then athletes were still figuring out how to optimise their set-up around these bars. But the bikes of the time were great. Skinny steel tubes. Downtube shifters. A rear disc with a front spoked wheel. Mid-rail saddle positions and straight-through 7 speed blocks.
So let’s look closer at my component choices. The frame is a 1987 Peugeot Tourmalet. Most of my own triathlon experience is in France. And I’m pretty obsessed with the 80s scene there. So I wanted a bike that French triathletes of the day might have ridden.
The Scott DH handlebars are made by Nitto in Japan. Probably from 1988. The stem is also a 100mm Nitto. The brake levers are Shimano 600 Ultegra from 1987 and the downtube shifter is Shimano 105 from 1986.
The cranks are also Shimano 600 Ultegra with the tricolour logo and the chainring is a new narrow-wide one from Wolf Tooth. The pedals are modern too. Shimano Ultegra with the 4mm of extra spindle length.
The rear derailleur is another piece of 105. And the rear wheel is a Spengle disc. Made in Austria. I’ve been told by the Time Trial Collector that it's from 1991 or 1992. Not quite the late-80s vibe maybe. But an upgrade you could imagine being made by an athlete back then.
The cassette is a straight through 7 speed 12-18. Although I’ve blocked off the 18 due to wheel rub. And the tyres are new Continental GP5000s.
The saddle is a re-release version of the Selle Italia Turbo. A popular choice in the late-80s. The seatpost is a complicated situation. Peugeot have used many diameters for their road bikes. This is a rare 24mm.
The brake callipers are Weinmann 570 Alphas. They were specced on a lot of bikes back then. The front wheel is just an old one I had in the workshop. In early-2024 I’m going to build a Mavic MA2 rim onto a Shimano 105 hub.
In August I got out onto my local airstrip to make a YouTube video. Above. I wanted to film the bike before making a couple of big changes. To make the bike much more of a daily rider.
It doesn’t mean that I won’t take it back to a full-80s look in the future. Or put together another one. Maybe based around a Raleigh Triathlon, a Raleigh Quadra or a Dave Russell frame.
Let me know in the comments below what you were riding in the 1980s. And if you still have a working 1980s tri-bike these days.
Links:
TSP3: I Bought 4 Sets Of Scott DH Handlebars
Time Trial Collector
