Friday, March 26, 2010

Mike Melton Aero Bike?

Anyone know anything beyond the usual about Mike Melton's work in aero frames?

I'm aware of the work he did with Dave Moulton on the 1980 Olympics bikes, and I've seen some examples of later Olympic bikes attributed to him. But what's the deal with the bike above?

It's built from True Temper RC. Fillet brazed throughout, except for the chainstays. Approximately 54cm. 74° seat and 75°-ish head tube.

Funky little faring behind the BB. The seat and downtubes sleeve OVER the bottom bracket sockets. All of the tubes are shaped in some way, be it flared or flattened.

Flattened seat stays. Shimano drops

Oddly roomy for such a small bike - I usually ride a 57cm, and don't feel cramped in it. Probably the steep head tube angle.

None of the equipment is original, just the frame and fork. Is this a TT bike? Tri-bike? Normal road bike? Was it built for a specific purpose? Team? Lots of mystery around this one...

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Almost certainly a TT bike, probably a bit earlier than 1983 but likely not older than 1981. The details are pretty typical of pre 83 aero TT bikes. And stuff older than 1981 wasn't quite as refined except for the Gitanes. It'll be hard to find any info on this one, as it's not really team specific like the later Huffy tech center bikes. (seatstay arrangement isn't early tech center either)
Steve Birmingham

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