The Godfather of modern bike design, and surely the one who helped bringing modern road bikes to the masses.
Who of us does not have at least one bike with a sloped top-tube, all going back to his original TCR frame design, which helped Giant to become the “giant” it is today.
His Lotus 108 was his absolute masterpiece though:
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I know absolutely buggerall about bikes (the sort with pedals) but it’s always interesting to see posts about obscure interests or facts. I learnt something new today.
Why is the front wheel spoked but the rear wheel is solid?
Understanding of the aerodynamics at that time, combined with ridability.
Spokes churn the air up and cause drag. Spokes are essential on most bikes and the on front due to discs being susceptible to crosswinds and gusts which make the bike a lot harder to control.
Spoked wheels have a suspension effect too which is more important on the front.
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I actually own that first generation Giant TCR. Giant’s first mass market carbon frame. Still going strong. Good bike!
Many doubted the wisdom of that design but now everyone (well, almost every big bike company) uses that concept.
You are a fortunate man!
I was sooooo close to buy one of these in 1998, including those wheels. For some unknow reason it never happened, and I still regret it.
Although they are pretty heavy by today’s standard, I surely should still use such legend.
I just got a naked frame (TCR 0), not the ONCE team version. And not the T-Mobile version from 2003.
I guess it was a bit later, frame probably from 2000 (bought in 2003 for cheap), so maybe not the very first run. But still had the round tubes all over, and built with Campy Record and light carbon wheels, it just made it under 7 kg, so not a heavy bike.
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Looking a bit closer, mine has a bigger head tube. Inch and one eighth I guess. The original looks like one inch only.
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