Is A Retro Time Trial Bike Faster Than A Modern Superbike?

Aerodynamics in cycling has exploded in recent years - equipment is getting more and more aero all in the pursuit of speed. But this arms race has been going on for longer than you might think. Even in the 1980s, TT bikes were lower and more specialised. But is a modern superbike, like the Ribble Ultra SLR faster than a TT bike from yesteryear? Ollie and Si are going to find out!

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[gcn]

Are there any bikes you'd like to see us put up against a superbike?

[Umut-Sen]

Every time I see Ollie in the thumbnail, I bet there will be humour, and never get disappointed. Well done guys.

[douglasbooth]

These two guys are great. Nice comparison too. Would be good to see them in a aero tunnel too. We want proper full aero wheels on the new aero bike for the big test against the lotus.

[marshallw]

I have a TT bike (Litespeed Sabre) from the year 2000 that I built up as a road bike. I'm not sure how much slower it would be than a modern road bike, but it still feels fast and puts a smile on my face!

[ericpmoss]

I’d love to see a test of that old bike with one upgrade at a time — one ride with just new wider tires and latex tubes on the same rims, one with just narrower bars, one with just better sized cranks, one with shallow rims but fewer, bladed spokes. Do all the individual savings add up to the total difference with all the changes in one go?

[Blipthethrottler]

Just getting into cycling, my first ride was yesterday and my seat bones are bruised as hell. I’m currently 102kg and looking forward to shifting some timber and making progress in my cycling performance. Live near Bath so it’s really cool watching this channel for some local inspiration. If you wanted to document an overweight newb get in shape with cycling I’d happily embarrass myself for the viewers.

[lucasjw]

The John Tesh backing track!!!! Well played.

For those who haven't watched vintage 80s race coverage, broadcasters (at least in the US) thought that cycling was best covered as a montage of scenes backed by 1980s synth pop music.

[emmettish]

It may be much slower but that vintage TT bike is gorgeous. The curved tubes, the chrome details, the Campy shift levers all beautiful.

[roberttell]

Love the retro video effects for the time trial bike! Kudos to those behind the camera.

[Corkiepie]

Nice video! My godfather set a National 100 mile record in 1969, going under four hours - I’ve always thought it would be great to see how a modern time trialist would get on using a bike of the era, on a course of similar difficulty. By any metric, less than four hours is impressive, but doing that fifty years ago is so impressive.

[simonroebuck]

The Ribble was nice, but theres something about old road bikes for me, and that Battaglin is a beauty!
But perhaps the biggest technological advancement in the last 35 years is the tech. Power meters/pedals, and computers. Who would of thought it back then. Makes you won where we will be in the next 35 years

[aarondcmedia]

80's speed blur, screen size and grading are spot on, good job that editor.

What a nostalgic clip. Great stuff guys.

[Aureas]

I love retro stuff, always good to see Simon.

[FlatSpinMan]

Interesting video, especially as I’d just finished GCN+’s documentary “The decade that changed cycling” this morning. That was a really interesting video, and the guy in the bike shop that lent the bike in this video really explained the evolution step by step. Well worth watching.

[medeuce]

Yes finally! Lotus vs modern road!!! Also do the track version Lotus with Manon! Always been curious as to the tech of those vs today.

[ntdyxwr]

I gotta admit, that Ribble is the hottest bike in recent years as I remember. Nice video!

[VIEultimate]

I sincerely hope GCN gets to ride the Lotus mentioned at the end not only to compare it to modern aero road bikes, but also to compare it to the hyper bikes featured in earlier videos (e.g., TriRig Omni and Ventum One) to see how UCI-illegal bikes compare across generations.

[Skyum]

That ribble is beautiful! Even the paint is insanely good looking!

[JSC]

That Ribble looks something else! i remember Roche riding that TT bike its gorgeous and in my day looked so advanced great video.

[sasha]

Guess what, 10k will be there by Monday 😉 I'm sure you already filmed part 2? Can't wait