Wow, this video makes me feel a bit silly for all the work I've put into my 1990's Specialized Epic carbon and aluminum lug frame. However, one thing to consider is the cost of vintage carbon. I aquired the complete bike with 105 kit (minus a front derailleur and a wonky rear sti shifter) for $50.00. Since then, I've converted back to downtube shifters. Shifters are now carbon, seatpost is now carbon, Brooks carbon seat, NOS Shimano 600 AERO stem and 600 derailleurs. FSA carbon cranks with dura ace rings. Diacompe 900TI brakes with Ashima carbon cartridge pads. Tektro carbon reverse brake levers. Re-laced the 105 hubs and mavic rims with double butted spokes, but I have carbon clincher wheels on order. I'd say I've spent about $1300 in total on the bike including a set of continental gatorskin tires, deep drop zoom aluminum bars and welgo pedals. A bit of a "hot rod classic" that I use for neighborhood time trial laps. If you guys would like to see my bike and the progress I've made with it, I'd be happy to send photos for your "Nice or Really Nice" bike review section. Thanks for the great content, I just discovered these videos and I've been impressed with the knowledge and production quality.
Oli=Clarkson, Si=Hammond, Dan=May, Chris=Stig, well he could if we hadn't seen his face already. GCN the new Top Gear for Cyclists, Cycling Weekly is Fifth Gear, and Bike Radar is the middle ground that Auto trader would hold if they did a TV show.
I was 12yrs old watching Greg Le Monde racing the tour in 86 and every night after watching the highlights on tv I'd jump on my 12spd Raleigh Equipe and head out for a couple of hours riding pretending I was one of the greats, good memories☺ Of course these days with work and modern life I'm no longer as carefree or fit as I'd like to be but the fire still burns albeit much dimmer.
Same age & experiences from that amazing time in cycling, my friend - probably no big surprise, given my user name!! And I owned a Raleigh Grand Prix that year, passed down to me by my dear ol' Dad, my first 'racer'!
Such a stupid statement, saying a bicycle is fast, the rider can ride it fast or not. So it depends on the rider. He should’ve said, it’s the lightest bike instead.
With Si on this one, the new bike is super cool. Every road bike before carbon was basically the same, only differentiated by its paint job. Modern bikes are amazing and anything that gives me more speed and comfort, and therefore greater range, has got to be good in my book.
@@look_cycle different strokes for different folks but still doesn't beat a good old KG243. Just loving the stileto style forks, ready to attack at any moment. Let alone the fact that carbon's final destination is the landfill, let's be honest. We are cyclists so at least in theory, we care for the environment.
I have an Alan glued and screwed carbon/alloy frame made in the eighties. In the early 2000s I built it out in super Campy, nice and all but I was always nervous about catastrophic failure. Now it sits in storage, maybe some day I’ll build it out again. Pretty and unique.
I owned a Look KG191, 1996 And since 2009, Look 586 pro team, dura Ace, Fulcrum racing 1. 7.25kg with pedals and bottle cage. It’s a climber, smooth but stiff bike. I love it. Incredibly stable and safe. Love look bikes❤
I've just had my late 80's cougar (653 Reynolds tubing) converted into a track frame with mud guard eyes to use as a winter bike.I also have a 1950s JRJ track frame which is lovely to ride on the road .
Compared to steel and aluminium, carbon fiber is a very unethical material. Very difficult to recycle, excess cloth is usually buried in most Asian factories. Gives off many nasties when burned and does not break down very easily. Hate to think what happens to old frames at throwaway time. Both steel and alloy can be very efficiently recycled and are renewable resources.
My first cleats were Looks.. I had them on my first tri road bike, the Schwinn Tempo. A chrome moly gem with the much maligned Biopace crank rings. I still have it and its my training rain bike.
Great job, Si and Ollie, and for sure, Look deserves more credit and love for their carbon advancements than they probably receive. And I enjoyed the pic of Greg in '89 as you chatted about '86, but whose counting? And it would seem, to your loyal observers, that Ollie is now the worthy bearer of the GCN Retro Torch.
Never afraid of trying to charge what they can get away with rather than true manufacturing cost plus profit. Carbon is a scam. Aluminum for life so far for me. Nothing but alu. Last longer. More forgiving and far less costly.
I still love my Raleigh Milk Racer, not as sprightly as my Pinnacle Dolomite, but interestingly when I came across an equipe in France, my Milk Racer overtook the entire team on their specializeds when coasting downhill. Admittedly my Raleigh now has Mavic wheels, but I also think the heavier steel frame gives an edge downhill, and a certain flywheel effect of a consistent speed, which gives a more relaxing, easier ride.
My first carbon bike was a 1981 Giant tcr-2 road bike. This was recently replaced with a 2015 Cannondale Supersix w/Shimano di2. Old bike weighed 21.5 lbs and new one is 15 lbs. The difference is noticeable everywhere. Smoother and more stiff ride in new bike. I really can notice the 7.5 lb difference when it comes to hills. I can't say much when comparing down tube shifters with ergo shifting with electric help. My riding style changed - now I'll try gears just to see if it feels better. There is no effort involved with di2 - I liken it to switching from a manual to automatic transmission with cars. Although I've enjoyed many miles on my Giant, I'm happy with the change and would NEVER go back. Cheers!
@@lordbertos8124 Good News!,,,,,,,,,,,,,, Shimano has finally released........... R7000,,,,,,,,,,,, the latest edition of 105,,,,,,,,,,,,,, the most reasonably priced Groupset.,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,in the world
I have an identical Look. It was $549 shipped from aliexpress. Frame/fork and bar. It's an amazing bike and you can customize the paint w the Chinese sellers. They're happy to help and build to order.
Yeah, I have a 1985 Nashbar Sport Ex bike, with Shimano 600 groupset. The rear derailleur though is a sport ex. The bike was impressive in its day with very clean lug construction, and was half the price of other road bikes back in its day.
Absolutely brilliant!! Love a bit of retro v modern but always feel sad when you cant really put the retro tech to the test... Think of the Orbea Si rode in the basque country 😉 Got to love the new Look blade, super cool! Got a turn of the century aluminium aero bike...not sure if that counts as retro!Was the funniest part when the video almost turned into a dating video there for Ollie! 🤣 Keep it up guys!
Me buying a new bycicle in 9 years and the first road bike (gravel bike) looked with a smile at this bike, as it reminded me of my first bycicle, a peugeot. I think it had 10 gears and the levers were like on that vintage bike. I remember how many problems I had with later bikes. The levers tended to get lose and it was sometimes hard to keep the gear I chose...
When I first got into cycling as a kid in the 80s in Manchester, there was a beautiful Gios Torino in Harry Hall's shop window. That classic Gios blue was a wonder to behold.
The pedals on the LOOK KG-86 are not the original LOOK PP-65 pedals, but the ~1990 LOOK PP-56 pedals. The hinged locking blade at the end of the pedal didn't wrap around the pedal body with the original PP-65, however, it does in the PP-56 pedals shown in the video.
I not have one vintage bike. I unfortunately have several of them and really want that Look aero bike! Maybe that is possible for the Grinshen Ollie fix that? :) The question about how mush faster would Greg Lemond been in the Tour 1989 is wrong. The question should have been would Laurent Fignon won if he had the aero Look bike?.
when I was 16 years old I had pictures of the old Look bike on my wall, I used to dream of that bike. Should have been thinking about girls (kim Wilde) but I really loved bikes....
In 1986, I was racing triathlon on a 1984 Vitus Carbone 3 with the same Mavic Group, which was the 3 carbon tube version of the famous Vitus 979 on which Sean Kelly won so many races. In my stable, I have a 1986 Bik Racing. The first monocoque carbon frame made in Maine, USA. The team that made those frames later split and one part of the team went to Minnesota to work with Trek on carbon frame while the other part went to California and created Kestrel. Those are truly the first Monocoque carbon frames. I can send you pictures.
3 years ago I resurrected my original 1989 Trek 1500, bonded aluminium frame with Ultegra and Matrix IsoC aero wheels. It’s museum-quality condition and I’ve ridden it in anger nearly every weekend, including 2 gran fondos. Love the bike. However, I just stepped up to a new Trek Emonda SL6 disc, and, the difference is like night and day. The Emonda is lighter, much more comfortable and goes like stink. Like Simon says, while the vintage bikes are capable performers, modern bikes are just plain faster and won’t beat your body up so bad. It’s exactly like comparing vintage sports cars to modern. Great video...sorry Ollie had to baby the thing. Cheers!
The KG86 is fantastic. There is a girl at work who rides one and leaves it outside in the rain, unlocked! She got it from her uncle who was a French pro. Makes me cry to see it sitting out in the wet. She's fitted fugly pedals too.
I made the switch from steel to carbon this year. I bought 2 lightly used C-40 Colnago bikes. I also upgraded to power steering and EFI in my 1956 Chevrolet. Technology is great. New cars and bikes should be better, without a doubt. That Colnago rides great though.
I tried riding these CF frames in the late 80's but the bottom bracket had to much flex and killed my sprint. I had a 42MPH (67.59 kph) sprint and the only frame that could handle it was Cannondale criterium. They were stiff and harsh riding and the stem angle was steep but if you wanted to win races it was always in the sprint.
ollie's GCN kit was in the wash and Si was doing interval training. He was mainly riding at an easy leisurely pace, but every few minutes the camera operator would yell, "5 ...4 ... 3... 2... 1... im recording!" and at that exact moment it was full power in front of the camera
@@gcn early 90's relaxed uci rules TT bikes versus modern day UCI legal Time trial bikes wind tunnel and on the road test ride comparison, please please please with a cherry on top.
@@jonnythelegs2597 YES!! A one of my 7 "Lemond TDF replica bikes" is the red/white Bottecchia Columbus AIR TT bike (with 100% period-correct MAVIC SSC groupset but MAVIC 571/2 rather than MAVIC 500 hubs - so that I can use HG freehub cassettes with it, rather than freewheel), upon which Greg overcame the 50-second deficit that he had to Fignon (RIP) to win the '89 TDF by 8 seconds & whenever I've ridden it, so many people freak out re: the 650c front wheel & fork upon it!!
@@lavielemond that was the first tdf I watched as a youngster I joined a club got a bcf licence and started racing and have been utterly enthralled with cycling ever since and to this day I still think that was the best edition of the tour I have ever seen.
@@jonnythelegs2597 It was amazing, wasn't it?! Have you read "Three Weeks, Eight Seconds" &/or "The Comeback"? Both awesome books, especially the latter of the two if you're a fan of Lemond...
I am not sure it qualifies as vintage but I did inherit a CURLOO time trial bike built by Lloyd Wellington in Australia, I think about 1998. I has Rolf Vector wheels and an Easton aero frame. Kind of a cool Tri bike to go along with my GIANT road bike.
Don't forget at the 1986 World Championships in Colorado Springs USA where Moreno Argentino of Italy won thread race on a Bianchi Steel Bike! What a Year guys!!
The aluminum+carbon construction would seem to be less susceptible to manufacturing defects on their carbon parts simply because the carbon parts are just straight-up tubes.
I own a vintage Wilier Triestina, similar mid 80’s geometry as the Look. (Same 1st gen Look pedals too.) It gets harder to ride with each passing year. Sure, the difficulty is compounded by the increasing number of candles on my b’day cake but a big contributor is also the comparative ease and ride-comfort modern bikes provide. With each new bike I’ve owned and ridden through the years performance, efficiency and comfort have improved. When I took the Wilier out for a ride this past summer...well I proved an old adage wrong. Skill and confidence didn’t simply return. It wasn’t “just like riding a bike”. In fact it was kind of frightening. Like the Look Ollie “borrowed” my old classic is now and for the future a museum piece.
Nice to a bike un ridden in a museum for 30 years being put through it's paces in a classic side by side video. Hooray for CF, you can bash it about, get rear ended and side swiped by cars and goodness knows what else for 30 years and it comes up shining ready for some serious hill work, and you can be as heavy as an Ox too. And only serious m/bike money too to get a svelte one in the shops. What a wonder material.
Remembering when LeMond introduced the carbon frame bike - thought it was disguised in "Huffy" colors to tweak everybody. I plan on having my own homage to TREK in my garage with a selection from the days of steel to carbon / aluminum lugs to OCLV. (Gotta stop at OCLV 110)
I'm never certain how seriously to take Ollie. He always sounds like he's intentionally trying to sound over-pretentious. Some times it's spot on, some times it's awkward, and some times it's quite hilarious. I also love the end of the video. Very Matt-esque with his bike troubles. Si: "How many bits of cake DID you eat?" lol. Si is definitely my favorite presenter.
Hate to be a killjoy (again) but as I own KG76, KG86 (clear carbon retail version & silver La Vie Claire '86 TDF replica) & KG96 framesets, I can assure you that the KG96 (Team Replica) frame also featured the same alloy lugs as the KG86 (& KG76), just painted dark grey rather than anodised silver (or light grey painted alloy lugs, in the case of the KG76 Kevlar Hinault, painted dark grey at the bottom bracket shell).
At least later on you guys correctly mentioned the KG196 (& not the KG96 from 2 years after the KG86) from 6 (not 4!) years later, which WAS indeed a complete carbon monocoque frame! Yes, I know that I'm a pedantic, OCD nutter when it comes to LOOK &/or Mavic SSC from the 'semi-vintage' days of cycling!!
I remember one of the very early Giant OCRs - their entry into carbon frames, that was pretty much the same construction as the old Look. Trouble was that the bonding of the carbon to the aluminium lugs was sometimes........ummm....ahhh...........less than ideal. There used to be pictures floating around of OCRs in many individual pieces where the bonding had completely let go while on a ride, usually a climb where the stresses are somewhat higher.
I'm about to build a Giant CFR 3 from 1994, carbon main tubes in alloy lugs, alloy dropouts and fork. Are these frames safe to ride still? The paintjob on mine is perfect, the bike wasn't used much at all, no obvious sign of ageing material, or anything dodgy. No cracks or what so ever. I won't be racing it so win't get much pressure, I'm a hobby rider. What's your thoughts GCN? I've heard that the glue in the lugs can get aged, or UV light can damage the glue in the joints? MY frame has bean clearly kept safe over decades and is in great shape.
I have a gorgeous black Mondonico Futura Leggero. I can’t ride it any more due to an illness that affects my hand strength. Sure, disc brakes and Di2 keep me riding, but that doesn’t mean they’re better. Don’t get me wrong, I love the new stuff , but there’s something about Campagnolo on an Italian bike
I have a well loved KG86 exactly like the one in this video, but with Campag...the cranks are drilled out Super Record. I've had it since 1992! If you ever want to borrow one for a video or comparison, you are welcome to. They had a habit of coming unglued. Used to be comfy on long rides due to it's flexi nature! Feels awkward now though. I also have an old Look Max One power meter from the same era (late 80s). The computer covered the stem and the torsion shaft was in the hub. There is a RUclips clip of live data from one in the 89 TdF (search "Look Max One TdF"). Very cool.
While vintage steel frame ridden by Lemans, Hinault and others have high value, carbon oldschool frames go for pennies. You can pick up such KG frame for around 150-250 eur, in best case scenario with groupset on it.
Fascinating. Where were you riding Si? Loved the roads. And did you enter the front wheel skewer on the wrong way or is that how they gave you the bike? Me too. I'm a totally modern, the more modern the better, rider!
It's our local stomping ground of the Wye Valley on the Wales/England border. And the axle has to go in that way because it threads into the frame, and the threads are on the left side.
Back in the 90s you could buy a top end road bike marketed as a Lemond. Mine was steel with Campy components. It was the nicest-riding bike I had ever been on. But I think Greg had some kind of falling out with Trek, and the brand went away. In the day, it was a really nice option for a new bike.
Do you have a vintage beauty in your stable?
The chain looks a little slack on the KG86
Yes. a few.
4:26 luck or look?
I have a gitane interclub. not sure what year :(.
Sure do. Love ‘em.
“I’ve brought another bike, LOOK” nice
Wow, this video makes me feel a bit silly for all the work I've put into my 1990's Specialized Epic carbon and aluminum lug frame. However, one thing to consider is the cost of vintage carbon. I aquired the complete bike with 105 kit (minus a front derailleur and a wonky rear sti shifter) for $50.00. Since then, I've converted back to downtube shifters. Shifters are now carbon, seatpost is now carbon, Brooks carbon seat, NOS Shimano 600 AERO stem and 600 derailleurs. FSA carbon cranks with dura ace rings. Diacompe 900TI brakes with Ashima carbon cartridge pads. Tektro carbon reverse brake levers. Re-laced the 105 hubs and mavic rims with double butted spokes, but I have carbon clincher wheels on order. I'd say I've spent about $1300 in total on the bike including a set of continental gatorskin tires, deep drop zoom aluminum bars and welgo pedals. A bit of a "hot rod classic" that I use for neighborhood time trial laps. If you guys would like to see my bike and the progress I've made with it, I'd be happy to send photos for your "Nice or Really Nice" bike review section. Thanks for the great content, I just discovered these videos and I've been impressed with the knowledge and production quality.
>gatorskin tires
you really had me and then you lost me.
@@testtest-ol3yi Is gatorskin very bad?
Oli and Si my favourite two GCN presenters !! love the presentation style, script and humour.....
Oli=Clarkson, Si=Hammond, Dan=May, Chris=Stig, well he could if we hadn't seen his face already. GCN the new Top Gear for Cyclists, Cycling Weekly is Fifth Gear, and Bike Radar is the middle ground that Auto trader would hold if they did a TV show.
Oli reminds me of Moss on the IT crowd funny character. Very engaging
I was 12yrs old watching Greg Le Monde racing the tour in 86 and every night after watching the highlights on tv I'd jump on my 12spd Raleigh Equipe and head out for a couple of hours riding pretending I was one of the greats, good memories☺
Of course these days with work and modern life I'm no longer as carefree or fit as I'd like to be but the fire still burns albeit much dimmer.
Same age & experiences from that amazing time in cycling, my friend - probably no big surprise, given my user name!! And I owned a Raleigh Grand Prix that year, passed down to me by my dear ol' Dad, my first 'racer'!
2:50 GCN is slowly turning into the Top Gear of bicycles.
Yes, but as someone who isn't British I think the tone is gentler, more fun and more self depricating.
It always has been but without the dickheadedness.
@@heliumtrophy You guys are morons. You don't know how good the old Top Gear was.
@@heliumtrophy i mean, it's not that difficult once you take Clarkson out of the equation
Such a stupid statement, saying a bicycle is fast, the rider can ride it fast or not. So it depends on the rider. He should’ve said, it’s the lightest bike instead.
With Si on this one, the new bike is super cool. Every road bike before carbon was basically the same, only differentiated by its paint job. Modern bikes are amazing and anything that gives me more speed and comfort, and therefore greater range, has got to be good in my book.
Both presenters are great, but I just couldn't imagine anyone doing a better job than Simon. Thanks GCN!
Si is TOP!
i agree. Simon does it for me. So does emma. Both are pretty funny in their own way. Miss matt though.
That old frame is a beaut. With those wheels especially, it makes me appreciate shallow rims.
Still like the KG86. Classic lines, alloy lugs. Beautiful.
And packed with memories ! #RideYourDream
@@look_cycle different strokes for different folks but still doesn't beat a good old KG243. Just loving the stileto style forks, ready to attack at any moment. Let alone the fact that carbon's final destination is the landfill, let's be honest. We are cyclists so at least in theory, we care for the environment.
whoever is in charge on the music.. please creat a spotify playlist.. you're darn good Mate!
I have an Alan glued and screwed carbon/alloy frame made in the eighties. In the early 2000s I built it out in super Campy, nice and all but I was always nervous about catastrophic failure. Now it sits in storage, maybe some day I’ll build it out again. Pretty and unique.
I owned a Look KG191, 1996
And since 2009, Look 586 pro team, dura Ace, Fulcrum racing 1. 7.25kg with pedals and bottle cage. It’s a climber, smooth but stiff bike. I love it. Incredibly stable and safe.
Love look bikes❤
I've just had my late 80's cougar (653 Reynolds tubing) converted into a track frame with mud guard eyes to use as a winter bike.I also have a 1950s JRJ track frame which is lovely to ride on the road .
Great Video Guys! History of tech is my favourite topic. And Look bikes has a huge amount of history in cycling. Cheers
Compared to steel and aluminium, carbon fiber is a very unethical material.
Very difficult to recycle, excess cloth is usually buried in most Asian factories. Gives off many nasties when burned and does not break down very easily.
Hate to think what happens to old frames at throwaway time.
Both steel and alloy can be very efficiently recycled and are renewable resources.
True which is why I’ll never buy a carbon bike
There was a void when Matt left GCN. But Oli is fillling that void more and more with every new video he makes.
There's still an empty hole where maniacal laughter should be;(
He does indeed need to work on his wink to camera and his giggle
He needs to fall off more often, a classic Matt trait!!
@@garyesson6163 now they have to hire stuntmen for that;(
Oli doesn't need maniacal laughter. He just needs to look at the camera then look away again. See 16:10.
My first cleats were Looks.. I had them on my first tri road bike, the Schwinn Tempo. A chrome moly gem with the much maligned Biopace crank rings. I still have it and its my training rain bike.
Great job, Si and Ollie, and for sure, Look deserves more credit and love for their carbon advancements than they probably receive. And I enjoyed the pic of Greg in '89 as you chatted about '86, but whose counting? And it would seem, to your loyal observers, that Ollie is now the worthy bearer of the GCN Retro Torch.
Look have always been innovators, never afraid to buck the trend. Gotta admire them for that.
Where is that video, would be interesting to watch it
@@ska042 watch this and maybe you'll change your mind .ruclips.net/video/zryhuHkbb-o/видео.html
Never afraid of trying to charge what they can get away with rather than true manufacturing cost plus profit. Carbon is a scam. Aluminum for life so far for me. Nothing but alu. Last longer. More forgiving and far less costly.
I still love my Raleigh Milk Racer, not as sprightly as my Pinnacle Dolomite, but interestingly when I came across an equipe in France, my Milk Racer overtook the entire team on their specializeds when coasting downhill. Admittedly my Raleigh now has Mavic wheels, but I also think the heavier steel frame gives an edge downhill, and a certain flywheel effect of a consistent speed, which gives a more relaxing, easier ride.
Happy to see that you testing the Look 795, I have one on order.
Guys that KG86 looked gorgeous, but that chain was SLAAAAACCCKKK... Y'all gotta do somethin' about that!
PERFECT end to that video!! Another great one, mates! 😂 Two of the best presenters.
Superb segment, boys. Always enjoy the playful banter, mixed with nuggets of genuine information. ;) As always, thanks much for sharing.
Steve
My first carbon bike was a 1981 Giant tcr-2 road bike. This was recently replaced with a 2015 Cannondale Supersix w/Shimano di2. Old bike weighed 21.5 lbs and new one is 15 lbs. The difference is noticeable everywhere. Smoother and more stiff ride in new bike. I really can notice the 7.5 lb difference when it comes to hills. I can't say much when comparing down tube shifters with ergo shifting with electric help. My riding style changed - now I'll try gears just to see if it feels better. There is no effort involved with di2 - I liken it to switching from a manual to automatic transmission with cars.
Although I've enjoyed many miles on my Giant, I'm happy with the change and would NEVER go back.
Cheers!
Ollie is using Jeremy Clarkson's "blah blah blah .... ..... .... in the world" pause, lol.
He had a recent holiday on Clarkson Island where they farm Clarksons.......................in the world
ruclips.net/video/DMuO-8S_0Wg/видео.html
Some say that he was schooled by the old top gear team in how to present. And that he forgot absolutely all of it that night.
@@lordbertos8124 He's not the Clarkson, but he is the Clarkson's younger cycling cousin.
@@lordbertos8124 Good News!,,,,,,,,,,,,,, Shimano has finally released........... R7000,,,,,,,,,,,, the latest edition of 105,,,,,,,,,,,,,, the most reasonably priced Groupset.,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,in the world
I have a Koga Miyata from 1980 with a frame way too big for me. But I love that bike :)
I still have my Guerciotti frame stamped #45 on the bottom bracket and a first production run of the Shimano FreeHub.
Nice!
Classic geometry just looks SO GOOD.
I have an identical Look. It was $549 shipped from aliexpress. Frame/fork and bar. It's an amazing bike and you can customize the paint w the Chinese sellers. They're happy to help and build to order.
Yeah, I have a 1985 Nashbar Sport Ex bike, with Shimano 600 groupset. The rear derailleur though is a sport ex. The bike was impressive in its day with very clean lug construction, and was half the price of other road bikes back in its day.
Absolutely brilliant!! Love a bit of retro v modern but always feel sad when you cant really put the retro tech to the test... Think of the Orbea Si rode in the basque country 😉 Got to love the new Look blade, super cool! Got a turn of the century aluminium aero bike...not sure if that counts as retro!Was the funniest part when the video almost turned into a dating video there for Ollie! 🤣 Keep it up guys!
Me buying a new bycicle in 9 years and the first road bike (gravel bike) looked with a smile at this bike, as it reminded me of my first bycicle, a peugeot. I think it had 10 gears and the levers were like on that vintage bike. I remember how many problems I had with later bikes. The levers tended to get lose and it was sometimes hard to keep the gear I chose...
Lemond was a beast. Imagine how many Tours he would have one if he didn't go hunting that day and had he not been clean when the doping era started.
Two amazing bikes. I, for one, could not pick a favorite. Great video as well, Si and Ollie work(ed?) well together.
None of my fluid dynamic textbooks looked like that in college...
When I first got into cycling as a kid in the 80s in Manchester, there was a beautiful Gios Torino in Harry Hall's shop window. That classic Gios blue was a wonder to behold.
And the gold plated BASSO
GREAT CLIP - bloody well done guys.
Thanks for yet another kick-arse (and informative) clip.
Keep 'em coming.
The pedals on the LOOK KG-86 are not the original LOOK PP-65 pedals, but the ~1990 LOOK PP-56 pedals. The hinged locking blade at the end of the pedal didn't wrap around the pedal body with the original PP-65, however, it does in the PP-56 pedals shown in the video.
Greg lemond’s 1986 tour winning bike ....picture of 1989 podium 😂
I not have one vintage bike. I unfortunately have several of them and really want that Look aero bike! Maybe that is possible for the Grinshen Ollie fix that? :)
The question about how mush faster would Greg Lemond been in the Tour 1989 is wrong. The question should have been would Laurent Fignon won if he had the aero Look bike?.
Whats up with the Chain Tension on the old look?
I noticed that. Maybe a weak spring in the derailleur?
Part of the reason why it's a museum piece is that the rear derailleur spring is broken unfortunately.
LMAo...thats the first thing i noticed. Before i even looked at the bike the chain looked out of place.
Less than a minute in I immediately scrolled down and scanned the comments for chain tension comments, haha
I have the LOOK KG286 (20 years old) and the Giant Cadex 980c (the first Giant Carbon Road Bike. 30 years old)
when I was 16 years old I had pictures of the old Look bike on my wall, I used to dream of that bike. Should have been thinking about girls (kim Wilde) but I really loved bikes....
In 1986, I was racing triathlon on a 1984 Vitus Carbone 3 with the same Mavic Group, which was the 3 carbon tube version of the famous Vitus 979 on which Sean Kelly won so many races. In my stable, I have a 1986 Bik Racing. The first monocoque carbon frame made in Maine, USA. The team that made those frames later split and one part of the team went to Minnesota to work with Trek on carbon frame while the other part went to California and created Kestrel. Those are truly the first Monocoque carbon frames. I can send you pictures.
3 years ago I resurrected my original 1989 Trek 1500, bonded aluminium frame with Ultegra and Matrix IsoC aero wheels. It’s museum-quality condition and I’ve ridden it in anger nearly every weekend, including 2 gran fondos. Love the bike. However, I just stepped up to a new Trek Emonda SL6 disc, and, the difference is like night and day. The Emonda is lighter, much more comfortable and goes like stink. Like Simon says, while the vintage bikes are capable performers, modern bikes are just plain faster and won’t beat your body up so bad. It’s exactly like comparing vintage sports cars to modern. Great video...sorry Ollie had to baby the thing. Cheers!
These two are legends. The bromance is real ;)
The KG86 is fantastic. There is a girl at work who rides one and leaves it outside in the rain, unlocked! She got it from her uncle who was a French pro. Makes me cry to see it sitting out in the wet. She's fitted fugly pedals too.
I still have my 1986 Specialized Epic Carbon Comp with Scott Drop-in bars and Time Attack pedals and a 105 drivetrain
I drooled over a Kestrel 4000!!!
that carbon weave is beautiful 👌
I made the switch from steel to carbon this year. I bought 2 lightly used C-40 Colnago bikes. I also upgraded to power steering and EFI in my 1956 Chevrolet. Technology is great. New cars and bikes should be better, without a doubt. That Colnago rides great though.
I tried riding these CF frames in the late 80's but the bottom bracket had to much flex and killed my sprint.
I had a 42MPH (67.59 kph) sprint and the only frame that could handle it was Cannondale criterium.
They were stiff and harsh riding and the stem angle was steep but if you wanted to win races it was always in the sprint.
That La Vie Claire kit is still cool. Probably one of the best designs ever.
It's hard to beat!
It was inspired by the "Mondrian" motif of our logo.
ollie's GCN kit was in the wash and Si was doing interval training. He was mainly riding at an easy leisurely pace, but every few minutes the camera operator would yell, "5 ...4 ... 3... 2... 1... im recording!" and at that exact moment it was full power in front of the camera
More Retro vs. Modern, please!!!
We'd love to!
@@gcn early 90's relaxed uci rules TT bikes versus modern day UCI legal Time trial bikes wind tunnel and on the road test ride comparison, please please please with a cherry on top.
@@jonnythelegs2597 YES!! A one of my 7 "Lemond TDF replica bikes" is the red/white Bottecchia Columbus AIR TT bike (with 100% period-correct MAVIC SSC groupset but MAVIC 571/2 rather than MAVIC 500 hubs - so that I can use HG freehub cassettes with it, rather than freewheel), upon which Greg overcame the 50-second deficit that he had to Fignon (RIP) to win the '89 TDF by 8 seconds & whenever I've ridden it, so many people freak out re: the 650c front wheel & fork upon it!!
@@lavielemond that was the first tdf I watched as a youngster I joined a club got a bcf licence and started racing and have been utterly enthralled with cycling ever since and to this day I still think that was the best edition of the tour I have ever seen.
@@jonnythelegs2597 It was amazing, wasn't it?! Have you read "Three Weeks, Eight Seconds" &/or "The Comeback"? Both awesome books, especially the latter of the two if you're a fan of Lemond...
Can we expect a full in depth review of the 795 Blade RS anytime soon? :)
Would pick the Blade all day every day, but Ollie's kit is mint! Always loved that kit.
It makes us want to try a new cycling kit inspired by our "Mondrian" logo !
@@look_cycle That's a splendid idea! I would save up my pennies to get one!
I am not sure it qualifies as vintage but I did inherit a CURLOO time trial bike built by Lloyd Wellington in Australia, I think about 1998. I has Rolf Vector wheels and an Easton aero frame. Kind of a cool Tri bike to go along with my GIANT road bike.
Don't forget at the 1986 World Championships in Colorado Springs USA where Moreno Argentino of Italy won thread race on a Bianchi Steel Bike! What a Year guys!!
Go smash it, until 2016 I was riding a Giant 980C...never missed a beat and didnt fall apart! same construction, alloy lugs and carbon tubes!
You guys really rock! Informative and stylish, top class! Thanks.
Loved my Look KG 176 carbon , similar to what Laurent Jalabert rode.
The aluminum+carbon construction would seem to be less susceptible to manufacturing defects on their carbon parts simply because the carbon parts are just straight-up tubes.
Had an 86 fuji del ray that I wish I hadn't sold. That thing was amazing.
Now I'm turning a 93 giant iguana into a touring/commuter bike.
I rode a Grafftec Exxon bike for a while. Carbon fiber from the 70s 👍
great video! was thinking as i watched it how much more i prefer the look of modern bikes but also how the opposite is true with cars
yop, cars are sterile and boring these days. But they work very well and are cheaper, so its a tradeoff I guess.
I own a vintage Wilier Triestina, similar mid 80’s geometry as the Look. (Same 1st gen Look pedals too.) It gets harder to ride with each passing year. Sure, the difficulty is compounded by the increasing number of candles on my b’day cake but a big contributor is also the comparative ease and ride-comfort modern bikes provide. With each new bike I’ve owned and ridden through the years performance, efficiency and comfort have improved. When I took the Wilier out for a ride this past summer...well I proved an old adage wrong. Skill and confidence didn’t simply return. It wasn’t “just like riding a bike”. In fact it was kind of frightening. Like the Look Ollie “borrowed” my old classic is now and for the future a museum piece.
Nice to a bike un ridden in a museum for 30 years being put through it's paces in a classic side by side video. Hooray for CF, you can bash it about, get rear ended and side swiped by cars and goodness knows what else for 30 years and it comes up shining ready for some serious hill work, and you can be as heavy as an Ox too. And only serious m/bike money too to get a svelte one in the shops. What a wonder material.
THE best show about bikes - humour, scenario, and - yeah - acting. I would say - Top Gear of bike world, but i think, it's actually better.
Got my first carbon this year Trek Domane SL7 Di2 best bike I’ve ever had love it 😁👍
So 3mo In was DI2 Worth the extra cost?
wait, they had Continental Ultrasport tires in 86?
Using 32 years old tires is almost suicide!
@@chikuchiku2 hahahhahahaha yeah
Remembering when LeMond introduced the carbon frame bike - thought it was disguised in "Huffy" colors to tweak everybody. I plan on having my own homage to TREK in my garage with a selection from the days of steel to carbon / aluminum lugs to OCLV. (Gotta stop at OCLV 110)
I'm never certain how seriously to take Ollie. He always sounds like he's intentionally trying to sound over-pretentious. Some times it's spot on, some times it's awkward, and some times it's quite hilarious.
I also love the end of the video. Very Matt-esque with his bike troubles. Si: "How many bits of cake DID you eat?" lol. Si is definitely my favorite presenter.
3:46
I still have those pedals.
I'm not using them though.
Hate to be a killjoy (again) but as I own KG76, KG86 (clear carbon retail version & silver La Vie Claire '86 TDF replica) & KG96 framesets, I can assure you that the KG96 (Team Replica) frame also featured the same alloy lugs as the KG86 (& KG76), just painted dark grey rather than anodised silver (or light grey painted alloy lugs, in the case of the KG76 Kevlar Hinault, painted dark grey at the bottom bracket shell).
At least later on you guys correctly mentioned the KG196 (& not the KG96 from 2 years after the KG86) from 6 (not 4!) years later, which WAS indeed a complete carbon monocoque frame! Yes, I know that I'm a pedantic, OCD nutter when it comes to LOOK &/or Mavic SSC from the 'semi-vintage' days of cycling!!
I remember one of the very early Giant OCRs - their entry into carbon frames, that was pretty much the same construction as the old Look. Trouble was that the bonding of the carbon to the aluminium lugs was sometimes........ummm....ahhh...........less than ideal. There used to be pictures floating around of OCRs in many individual pieces where the bonding had completely let go while on a ride, usually a climb where the stresses are somewhat higher.
I have a Trek Sport 370, Black, 1994, CrMo. It looks so beutiful.
I'm about to build a Giant CFR 3 from 1994, carbon main tubes in alloy lugs, alloy dropouts and fork. Are these frames safe to ride still? The paintjob on mine is perfect, the bike wasn't used much at all, no obvious sign of ageing material, or anything dodgy. No cracks or what so ever. I won't be racing it so win't get much pressure, I'm a hobby rider. What's your thoughts GCN? I've heard that the glue in the lugs can get aged, or UV light can damage the glue in the joints? MY frame has bean clearly kept safe over decades and is in great shape.
I remember my local bike store having an Exxon Graftek in the late 1970s or early 1980s. They also had an ALAN (not carbon), "glued and screwed".
my first road bike was a kg96 !! amazing bike !!
I have a gorgeous black Mondonico Futura Leggero. I can’t ride it any more due to an illness that affects my hand strength. Sure, disc brakes and Di2 keep me riding, but that doesn’t mean they’re better. Don’t get me wrong, I love the new stuff , but there’s something about Campagnolo on an Italian bike
Cool LOOK bro!...a trip down retro lane should take time to talk about the TELEDYNE TITAN.
I got an old giant cadex around and I really like it!
The KG86 sits on GP4000, goes to show that it was high time they got the GP5000 on the market
I still have a new Concorde TVT 92, not assembled yet, frame and fork only.
@4:15 - Ollie’s voice here…all I hear is, “Tonight on Masterpiece Theatre….”
It´s always great to have a small chainring almost as big as the big chainring ROFL
That KG86 looks _so_ good. (Except the handlebars, which look kinda weird.)
You have to remember that the vintage bicycle was ridden downhill at breakneck speed during the tour.
Geez! I still like my old bikes - good thing - couldn't afford a new one.
TVT stood for "Technique du Verre Tisse" (roughly translates to "Technique of Woven Glass", not "Tube Verre Tisse", FYI lads...
I have a well loved KG86 exactly like the one in this video, but with Campag...the cranks are drilled out Super Record. I've had it since 1992! If you ever want to borrow one for a video or comparison, you are welcome to. They had a habit of coming unglued. Used to be comfy on long rides due to it's flexi nature! Feels awkward now though. I also have an old Look Max One power meter from the same era (late 80s). The computer covered the stem and the torsion shaft was in the hub. There is a RUclips clip of live data from one in the 89 TdF (search "Look Max One TdF"). Very cool.
Thanks for the great comment! That’s awesome. We did wonder about the longevity of the adhesive 👍🏼
That headtube is massive!
While vintage steel frame ridden by Lemans, Hinault and others have high value, carbon oldschool frames go for pennies. You can pick up such KG frame for around 150-250 eur, in best case scenario with groupset on it.
Sheeshhh this only made me want to buy this look KG486 I found up for sale locally even more now
Chain looks too long on the KG86
Is Oli turning into GCN's very own Captain Slow?? X)
Fascinating. Where were you riding Si? Loved the roads. And did you enter the front wheel skewer on the wrong way or is that how they gave you the bike? Me too. I'm a totally modern, the more modern the better, rider!
It's our local stomping ground of the Wye Valley on the Wales/England border. And the axle has to go in that way because it threads into the frame, and the threads are on the left side.
Back in the 90s you could buy a top end road bike marketed as a Lemond. Mine was steel with Campy components. It was the nicest-riding bike I had ever been on. But I think Greg had some kind of falling out with Trek, and the brand went away. In the day, it was a really nice option for a new bike.