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LRB News ! - Issue #3

 The suspens-ion is killing me...Part 1.


Welcome back to LRB News !  We trust you have had a relaxing and happy festive season ?

With Christmas safely behind us, it is now time to return to the serious business of bikes and the upcoming big event - L'enfer du Nord.

You may recall reference to Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle in your exclusive invitation to the upcoming Launceston Roobaix.  Well, here is the man - Gibus as he is affectionately known - at speed and closing in on his first Paris-Roubaix win, 1992, at the heroic age of 38.

...and yes, acknowledged, Gilbert is unmistakably wearing Z-Peugeot kit.  

His famous back-to-back victory in the event came the following year, in the teams' new white, blue and yellow GAN colours so familiar to Aussie fans on the back of Stuart O'Grady and Henck Vogels.


Tragically dedicated followers of this somewhat obscure race will have more recently noticed the Pont Gibus leading up to the entrance into the Trouee d'Arenberg, a milestone marker and fitting tribute to the swaggering Frenchman.

For the eagle of eye, or connoisseur looking for inspiration in the detail, the Z-Peugeot bikes were not Peugeots at all, but Greg Lemond branded steel rigs fitted with inch steerer RockShox forks drilled for a road caliper brake.  Titanium and magnesium fixtures characterise these beauties, changing the look of professional road racing until banned in the mid-90's with a return to a more traditional aesthetic.




Now you may be thinking that the image above has been added in for additional Euro-style inspiration.  And who could possibly say that giving a bike a shampoo and blow-wave while rocking aviators and a double-zip-front-coverall-jump-suit is not insanely cool ?   

But what really stands out in the image above is the abolute hot-rod collection of parts on this Team Z racer.  Columbus steel G/L frame, Mavic 631 Starfish cranks, French Time pedals, Campag Ergo-Power shifters linked to Mavic derailleurs, the above-mentioned American springer forks, Cinelli stem and bars; a truly international sponsorship lash-up made to work by legendary head mechanic Julien De Vries.

Actually considered one of the all-time great bike mechanics, Julien most clearly sticks in the mind from a tale of pre-classics preparation by Greg Lemond; with Julien fixing a slipping handlebar by putting a self-tapper through the stem clamp !

Is it possible to incorporate suspension into your ride build ?

Stay tuned for a future issue of LRB News ! where we will take the suspension question to an illogical and pointless conclusion.

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