[CR]"Aero Frames"

(Example: Framebuilders)

From: "David Novoselsky" <dnovo@ix.netcom.com>
To: <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
Date: Thu, 13 Mar 2003 19:16:13 -0600
Subject: [CR]"Aero Frames"

Other than the Cinelli Laser, which surfaced in a discussion on this lately, along with its (apparently) equally-rare companion by date, the Colnago Oval CX (and which both fit just within the time limitations of this list as they appear to have arrived in 1983 and vanished within a year or so thereafter, were there any other frames that adopted this then-radical aero principle, or were these two unique? It would seem that as "regular" production models, they would appear to be among the most rare of rara avis, so were there kin? I presume that since Columbus went to the trouble of producing special tubesets, and at least when inspecting my Oval CX, it would seem that Colnago went to lot of trouble to produce some model-specific parts, lugs, etc including having 'aero' shifters built for inclusion with these frames (and I must assume Cinelli did the same on the Laser, although I have seen that frame in photos only) what killed this concept off so quickly? Colnago goes to the trouble of running off a model-specfic catalog, goes to all this work, and the Oval and the Laser end up with the model lifespan of a Dayfly? What caused this to happen? Poor public reception? Poor performance? I got out of bikes about this point in my life (my practice and a growing family kept me otherwise occupied) and nobody I have spoken to has a good answer. What's the scoop?

Dave Novoselsky,
Chicago, Illinois