1989 World Championships

[LegendRider]

Love this race - watched the VHS too many times to count. The famous finish line picture is my very favorite cycling photograph.

I've always heard Kelly's smallest cog was a 13 and that may have been a reason he didn't beat LeMond in the sprint. However, what I've never heard is LeMond was a riding a 54x11. Granted he's LeMond, but it seems like steep gearing for the Alps.

http://www.cyclingrevealed.com/timeline/Race%20Snippets/WCRR/WCRR1989.htm

[Black Dog]

I think Lemond climbed in the 54X11 and the other gears were there for show :eek:. He was a big gear pusher on the climbs. That guy had some serious power.

[nooneline]

However, what I've never heard is LeMond was a riding a 54x11. Granted he's LeMond, but it seems like steep gearing for the Alps.

http://www.cyclingrevealed.com/timeline/Race%20Snippets/WCRR/WCRR1989.htm

Yeah but he probably wasn't climing in the 54x11. :)

[wallymann]

kelly was just under-geared. even being a better sprinter he'd never close the gap lemond got by opening the sprint with that massive gear he was running.

i recall when sean kelly won the tour of ireland (nissan classic) by outsprinting then-leader steve bauer on the final stage to take a time-bonus. in that sprint, bauer was on a 13 but kelly was on a 14 and managed to win!

[BdaGhisallo]

I recall the story being that Kelly was on a 13 and LeMond was on a 12, not an 11.

Did they even have 11 tooth cassette cogs back then? For that matter, did Mavic have a cassette hub in '89 or were they still using freewheels?

[Ruimteaapje]

Indeed, I don't think Lemond had an 11. As far as I know the first 11s entered the pro peloton in the early 90s. For example, former sprint ace Jean Paul van Poppel first used an 11 in the 1994 TdF.

[carpediemracing]

One of the first (maybe the first?) freehub with an 11T was the Suntour. Problem was that you had to get an 11-13 because the first cog screwed onto the second one, and the second position cog was limited to a 13. You could have a 12-13 or an 11-13.

Bauer used that in the Tour in the TT where I think he didn't quite win but he did well enough to take the yellow. Raced for a Swiss team? It was white with some pastel green or blue or something.

A quick Google says it was probably 1988. Weinmann / La Suisse team.

I don't recall reading that Lemond had even a 54, forget about the 11, but I don't remember if it's from Sean Kelly's point of view or from Lemond's point of view. I'm sure Lemond would remember but I don't know him well enough to ask lol. Well I just asked via Twitter.

[carpediemracing]

Also, for what it's worth, I ran and could use a 54x11 (in sprints) for a long time, 10-15 years or something; for much of that time I ran shorter cranks, 167.5. Now a 53x11 with 175s is a bit tough but it's still usable in favorable conditions, sometimes even unfavorable ones. To put it in perspective most of my riding is probably in the 53x21 down to maybe the 14 but it's nice to have the bigger gears in tailwinds and on descents.

[jlwdm]

I lived in Washington State at the time of this race and we received a couple of Canadian TV stations. I recorded this race from both the Canadian broadcast and the US broadcast and the Canadian broadcast was so much better. Ron Hayman was one of the Canadian announcers, but I do not remember who the other announcer was.

During this time Steve Bauer was the Canadian star and he was one of the riders getting back on with the lead group over the top of the last climb and the announcers were going crazy until he flatted. You would have thought it was the end of the world.

Jeff

[93legendti]

I can't imagine Kelly not wanting a 12 in case it came down to a sprint...

[Mike V]

Greg rode a Regina America S 12x21

[sw3759]

thanks Mike..i was going to call BS on that 54x11 story.several stories out there with Kelly's quote regarding his 13 cog to Greg's 12 cost him the race.and never heard anything about pro's using 11 tooth cogs in the 80's.
unsure what chainrings they would use.52 or 53 maybe.even a 53 was pretty rare in the late 80's i would think.
who knows maybe Greg will respond to the twitter question

[Uncle Jam's Army]

A 53/42 crankset was quite common by the late 80's. A 52/42, however, was still available.

[Mike V]

53/42. 12,13,14,15,17,19,21

[peanutgallery]

They call those man gears. Today an 11-28 seems most common, they were nuts

53/42. 12,13,14,15,17,19,21

[carpediemracing]

I can't imagine Kelly not wanting a 12 in case it came down to a sprint...

He made the decision the day before, based on the wind I think. In his book he mentions this and how he regretted the decision come the sprint.

[93legendti]

He made the decision the day before, based on the wind I think. In his book he mentions this and how he regretted the decision come the sprint.

Amazing...I guess he didn't consider the axiom "practice your weaknesses, ride your strength"?

On a side note, I thought 8 speed cassettes/cogsets were introducd in 1989?

[peanutgallery]

It was Dura Ace only for 8 speed at that point. It was a cassette but not HG, the last cog spun on, no lock ring

For some reason 1991 stands out in the Campy world for me

Amazing...I guess he didn't consider the axiom "practice your weaknesses, ride your strength"?

On a side note, I thought 8 speed cassettes/cogsets were introducd in 1989?

[velomonkey]

Rain, ne helmet, quill stems - and the dude put the screws to everyone on the final climb, then the decent, then the sprint.

One of the best ever.

And yea, the photo is legendary.

[oldpotatoe]

It was Dura Ace only for 8 speed at that point. It was a cassette but not HG, the last cog spun on, no lock ring

For some reason 1991 stands out in the Campy world for me

1990/91 was a big transition for Campagnolo when Valentino realized CDA didn't work, C-Record/Friction really wasn't preferred by racers/racer-wanna-bees and proper indexing and lever mounted shifting indeed was the 'future'. First gen. Ergo starting being seen in 1991, along with 8s, cassette based rear ends. This after Valentino sold most everything except bike part manufacturing(magnesium forging was one. Parts for aerospace industry), to survive after Campagnolo's ill advised foray into MTB stuff.

The rest, they say, is history.

[weisan]

Indeed, I don't think Lemond had an 11. As far as I know the first 11s entered the pro peloton in the early 90s. For example, former sprint ace Jean Paul van Poppel first used an 11 in the 1994 TdF.

Jean Paul van Poppel - always like that name being called out over the radio by the commentators. Like Cipo, it just sounds RIGHT! esp. for a meat-eating, child-devoring, bone-crushing, beat-you-to-a-pup kinda big guy sprinter. :p

[Mark McM]

One of the first (maybe the first?) freehub with an 11T was the Suntour. Problem was that you had to get an 11-13 because the first cog screwed onto the second one, and the second position cog was limited to a 13. You could have a 12-13 or an 11-13..

Moulton began producing a series of small wheel bicycles in the 1960's, and continuing to the present day. Due to the small wheels, Moultons required high ratio gearing, so they produced special 10 and 11 tooth sprockets. I don't recall if they needed a modified freehub body. As I understand it, the small sprockets were sometimes used by racers, who wanted extra high gearing.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Moulton_%40_the_MoMA.jpg/800px-Moulton_%40_the_MoMA.jpg

[carpediemracing]

Amazing...I guess he didn't consider the axiom "practice your weaknesses, ride your strength"?

On a side note, I thought 8 speed cassettes/cogsets were introducd in 1989?

I think Kelly wasn't the huge gear masher. His book (the David Walsh one, I think there's another out now?) covers that Worlds. From what I read it seemed truly bittersweet for Kelly. Lemond looked so strong, so powerful, I think he would have won no matter what gear Kelly had. Lemond was the one to respond to Fignon's attack, he chased a couple attacks in the fast bits, and he went after Fignon at the end.

I got Ergo when it first came out, I think it was fall 1991. I went to Europe in 1992 and everyone was checking out my freak bike (Cannondale before Cipo, Ergo, 330g rims, Aerolite pedals). My absolutely pathetic performance only reinforced their belief that all bikes should be steel, have down tube shifters, and GP4s.

The first gen of Campy Ergo was horrible. The inner cage on the rear derailleur was about 5x as thick as it should have been and you were absolutely 100% guaranteed to rip your rear derailleur off the frame if you didn't ditch the aluminum inner pulley cage and replace it with the thin stamped steel one. I still have some of those plates from the distributor who was handing them out like candy. Rear hub was terrible and was probably more useful as a weighted weapon than as a hub. The saving grace was the non-indexed front shifter (so I could use a Shimano derailleur if I wanted to), the easy-to-customize cassette, and the rebuild feature of Ergo shifters.

The campyonly (http://www.campyonly.com/history.html) site doesn't have Ergo on their timeline but 1991 has C-Record and that was definitely prior to Ergo. 1992 should be the first year for Ergo.

Wiki says 1992 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campagnolo).

Why did I go on this Ergo tangent? I don't know.

[93legendti]

I understand, I just thought a pro rider with a strong sprint (I know he evolved into an all rounder later in his career) would use a 53 x 12 for a sprint...



:banana: ( I added this because my daughter is looking over my shoulder and asked me to add it, cuz she likes it...:) )

[carpediemracing]

:hello::banana: ( I added this because my daughter is looking over my shoulder and asked me to add it, cuz she likes it...:) )

haha my (just turned 3) son loves the banana and the :hello: which he calls "Yay!" while he raises both his hands. Then he says "Winner!"

[93legendti]

:hello:

haha my (just turned 3) son loves the banana and the :hello: which he calls "Yay!" while he raises both his hands. Then he says "Winner!"

That's very cute...my daughter is 12, so there appears to be lots of life left in the thrill factor from the smilies...

[don compton]

My favorite gear is a 52/19. Its easy for me to hit 21 mph:banana:

[choke]

Don't forget that Konyshev beat Kelly in the sprint as well.

[acorn_user]

Why did I go on this Ergo tangent? I don't know.

Thank you for going on the tangent though. I enjoyed it and learnt something.