Awesome customer's bike: 1981 Lotus Aero Super Pro

     Sorry for the lack of posts in the past week. I was very busy boxing and shipping out larger internet sale items and also was ill. But, enough about me. This is a really unique bike one of our loyal customers / friend brought in for us to assemble / tune up. It is a 1981 Lotus Aero Super Pro frame and fork complete with the spec'd Shimano AX Dura-Ace component group that he sourced. It is a fine original example, probably the nicest I have ever seen in person. Here is an article about the model's history and specs. Lotus Aero Super Pro! Thanks so much for trusting us with its care! This design was pretty cutting edge for the time and was a bold move for such a young company. It was also featured in the July 1982 issue of Popular Mechanics Magazine! My favorite detail is the aerodynamic brake caliper barrel adjusters, no detail spared in the pursuit of streamlined advantage! Not too long after this, Campagnolo famously introduced its C-Record groups in 1986 complete with the iconic Delta brakes and sculpted components. Enjoy the photos!

Cool shop bike #3: Colnago with Gilco tubing

This is one of the Curtis's personal bikes. Late 80's / early 90's Colnago with Gilco tubing. Pretty unique machine, The Gilco design was produced by Columbus and is Hexagonal. We also have the Cinelli EXA bars that match the tubing, super rare. Maybe one day we will install them? The bike is mostly C-record components, the coolest being the rare sheriff star road hubs. Usually you see them as the track version, they were prone to cracking where the flanges met the hub barrels, I wonder if this was a problem with the road version? The down tube index shifters Campagnolo produced were prone to problems as well, but these work well. The large Biodinamica 900ml water bottle is a bit of a rarity as well. This era was the aero dynamic trend, so a lot of the components reflect that. Campagnolo Delta brakes were also over designed and did not work very well, but are super cool looking and equally rare. Nice Mavic 280 rims are very light. The lugs are the early "master" type. The seat cluster is almost a fast back treatment, keeping with the aero style. The BB shell is webbed, again for the aero style. Straight blade fork. This bike is meant for speed, not comfort. Curtis states that this bike is indeed very fast and responsive and looks forward to putting some more miles on it!