![]() ![]() Duclos-Lasalle and LeMond were aboard custom Clark-Kent titanium frames with a unique 'softail' design, but Bianchi took things a whole lot further.īianchi's bike came at a time where suspension was at its most popular, but its failure sparked the beginning of the end (Image credit: Matt Harvey) Road bike suspension for Paris-Roubaix had truly earned its legitimacy by this point, with two victories on the bounce, so brands looked to the rear of the bike to add an extra level of plushness, and numerous iterations of full suspension road bikes were seen on the start line that year. Most memorable was the disappointing 13th place taken by Johan Museeuw (Mapei), for it was his full-suspension Bianchi road bike that cost him. Nor was it the 67km solo attack that saw the Moldovan Tchmil take victory (impressive as it was). ![]() In that 1994 edition of Paris-Roubaix, it wasn't the third-straight victory for RockShox that people remember. SRAM's 2021 XPLR launch saw the inclusion of a gravel fork - the RockShox Rudy - which comes with, you guessed it, 30mm of travel. Then wider tyre clearances appeared and gravel bikes became a thing, with 'road plus' or 'all road' filling the gap between the two. Road bikes with slacker angles and longer wheelbases happened almost a decade ago with the rise of the 'endurance' category. Hopefully by now, you've noticed the parallel between early '90s Paris-Roubaix bike evolution and the trends followed by today's gravel bikes. Look out gravel fans, there's a theme brewing In 1993, no fewer than five teams and countless individual riders showed up with the same RockShox fork, yet it was Duclos-Lasalle that would win again, beating Franco Ballerini (GB-MG) in a photo finish.įurther bump-smoothing tech would begin to appear, including suspension stems to try and curb the RockShox monopoly, and despite Andrei Tchmil (Lotto) taking victory on a Caloi with, you guessed it, RockShox forks, it would be something altogether more radical that would be remembered almost 30 years on. This coincided with an era where technological advancement was gaining traction in all road cycling segments, with Chris Boardman's Lotus 108 challenging the rules on the track, and various riders beginning to understand the benefits of aerodynamics in time trials. ![]() With 30mm of cushioning, it provided much-needed relief over cobblestones for its users, but this too-fast-paced advancement was met with strong opposition, as road cyclists regularly do.ĭuclos-Lasalle eventually enjoyed the last laugh though, and when he rode his suspension-equipped LeMond to victory in 1992, the technological floodgates were opened. Rain forecast for Paris-Roubaix as cobbles are cleaned and prepared for the weekendīut in 1991, things stepped up a notch when Greg LeMond and Gilbert Duclos-Lasalle (Team Z) debuted RockShox's new suspension fork. Muddy Paris-Roubaix cobbles get preview by contenders - Gallery ![]()
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