Sean Kelly rides Tourmalet in wool kit on 1910 bike! pics!

[Makrie]

Anybody else listening to the Eurosport commentary on the Tour at the moment?

The commentators arranged to join a group heading up Tourmalet yesterday (the rest day). Sean Kelly said yes he'd go, but he didn't have a bike. No problem said the group leader, just turn up and we'll sort it. Okay said Sean, but I don't have kit either. Again, no problem.

He turned up, and was presented with his ride for the day - a 1910 singlespeed bike geared at 40:24 (overgeared, they said)! The kit they gave him was the wool olden days kit. And fair play, he put it on, saddled up and rode the ride. Awesome!

Interesting note - even back in the day, the bikes ridden on the Tour would have been single speed not fixed, according to the commentator. Who knew?!

Edited to say photos here and the story here!

Roll on the Eroica!

 

[Old Ned]

Excellent. I can't believe how those guys rode the (very long) stages in those days on those bikes on dirt roads with no assistance.

Every one a HERO!

And good on Sean for doing it as well

There's life in the old dog yet.

I wonder if Cav will do the same in 20 years time?

 

[Steve Kish]

Top man!!

 

[PIGEON]

Wow I wish he'd just called me, would have lended him one of my Vituses to do the ride on

It's kind of logical they would have ran freewheel isn't it, the tiny gear needed to get up those mountains wouldn't allow you to go very fast downhill on a fixed wheel bike.

 

[Old Ned]

Didn't they use double sided hubs with large and small sprockets, stopping to turn the wheel around at the top and bottom of climbs?

 

[fingers]

I believe so, and I think they did use fixies very early on.

 

[Steve Kish]

I believe so, and I think they did use fixies very early on.

Unlikely - 'fixies' weren't invented until about 5 or 6 years ago!

 

[PIGEON]

Unlikely - 'fixies' weren't invented until about 5 or 6 years ago!

You sure of that?

 

[john]

Fixies aside some great pics of Kelly. He looks absolutely nails!

 

[nimbus]

In a similar vein, about a month ago, two French cyclists recreated the original Pyrenean stage from Luchon to Bayonne on period bikes. Described here (in French): http://www.velo101.com/cyclosport/artic ... ns-!--1238

In short: 326k, 5 cols, almost 24 hours. One rode a 48x24(!) single gear, the other a flip-flop with 44x20/24. The latter broke his seat post on the Col d'Aspin, forcing him to do the entire climb out of the saddle before (authentically) stopping for repairs in Sainte Marie de Campan, where Eugene Christophe repaired his own fork in the 1913 tour.

What can one say but "chapeau"?