At the 1993 Paris-Roubaix, Steve Bauer unveiled his secret weapon …the stealth bike. He actually created this odd looking bike to battle the pave of Roubaix.
It was made of steel and had an unusual seat tube angle. It made Bauer look like he was fighting to stay on the bike. I did some research and found that a special seat had to be constructed with a high back to prevent him from slipping back. The bike looks awkward with a very long chain to a very long wheelbase.
Bauer’s odd bike garnered surprised looks and giggles from the peloton & press. I’m reading an entertaining book, Le Tour De Foglia by journalist Pierre Foglia. At the 1993 Tour, after the first ITT stage Bauer looked like he found his form. He was 29th, 33 seconds behind Miguel Indurain. A good spot for the veteran Bauer to be in.
Journalists were expecting to see Bauer with his new stealth bike. But he rode well with a normal bike at the ITT. “Where’s your funny bike, Steve?” asked the press. “I abandon my funny bike after the first week of the Giro. It wasn’t giving me enough mobility, so you won’t be seeing it anymore,” said Bauer.
You have to give him credit, he tried his Paris-Roubiax experiment and came in 21st behind the winner Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle. The Frenchman won for the second year in a row ...with MTB Rockshox suspension forks.
Comments
So you got yourself the winter with the gentleman cycling cap! Nice gift! The Gal behind Galstudio is my partner, and I'm the product tester!
I'm happy that it's keeping your bald head warm!
Also, I'd be interested to hear Eddy Merckx's thoughts. I remember hearing Bob Roll talk about the year when Eddy started making the bikes for 7-11. He was completely hands on. Eddy flew out to California, measured each guy on the team and built each of them bikes that were custom to their physical attributes (I believe the clip is on competitorradio.com). The way I understood it, Eddy didn't care too much about what each rider thought, he built them the bike that he thought was right for them. My point being that if this is a Merckx (maybe it isn't) I gotta believe that Eddy was on board with it.
Either that, or see if he's interested in following your blog and providing us all with a little insight on some of the extra details. With him running his own team and his touring company he shouldn't be too hard to track down.
Great idea. I'm going to work on that.
There's very little on the stealth bike on line, It would be good to dig up more info on it.
I didn't know that Merckx did that for the riders!
:)
I've heard about it. This is the first time I've ever seen Bauer's bike.
Welcome aboard!
Great piece.
Cheers!
I hope Merckxs never destroyed it and stored it instead...
Thanks for this!
Rick
That's amazing-1 meter wheelbase and called 'the chopper.'