Terrifying retro time trial bike vs. modern superbike | BikeRadar Diaries Ep17

Is the pinnacle of nineties aero tech enough to beat Joe on his modern superbike?

Is the pinnacle of nineties aero tech enough for Jack to beat Joe on his modern superbike?

Felix Smith / Immediate Media

Jack Luke

Published: August 2, 2019 at 1:51 pm

While perusing the expansive halls of the BikeRadar workshop, Jack Luke stumbled upon an ultra-rare Softride-equipped Dave Lloyd tri bike from 1993, which was visiting for an upcoming feature in sister magazine 220 Triathlon.

Unable to walk past a weird bike without swinging a leg over it, Jack took the bike for a spin, only to discover that it was super sketchy, ludicrously flexy and utterly terrifying ride.

Knowing that subjecting him to riding the bike in a race would make for a great video, BikeRadar Diaries co-star, Joe Norledge, promptly bullied Jack into racing a local time-trial on it, organised by Bristol South CC.

While Jack was subjected to the very best of the worst of nineties aero tech, Joe would be smashing it out on his modern Giant TCR Advanced superbike.

But who will come out on top? Will Jack crash in a ball of fire and glory? Is a nineties TT bike faster than a modern road superbike?

Find out as poor Jack scares himself silly on the insane retro machine in an action-packed episode of BikeRadar Diaries!

Jack Luke

Deputy editor

Jack Luke is the deputy editor at BikeRadar and has been fettling with bikes for his whole life. Always in search of the hippest new niche in cycling, Jack is a self-confessed gravel dork, fixie-botherer, tandem-evangelist and hill climb try hard. Jack thinks nothing of bikepacking after work to sleep in a ditch or taking on a daft challenge for the BikeRadar YouTube channel. He is also a regular contributor to the BikeRadar podcast. With a near encyclopaedic knowledge of cycling tech, ranging from the most esoteric retro niche to the most cutting-edge modern kit, Jack takes pride in his ability to seek out stories that would otherwise go unreported. He is also particularly fond of tan-wall tyres, dynamo lights, cup and cone bearings, and skids. Jack has been writing about and testing bikes for more than six years now, has a background working in bike shops for years before that, and is regularly found riding a mix of weird and wonderful machines. Jack can also often be seen zooming about with his partner aboard their beloved tandem.
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