Cyclocross - Cross bikes competing in the Paris Roubaix

http://www.adventurecycling.org/resources/200905_Machismo_Schubert.pdf

- Two teams used Pinarrello cross frames, and two more used Ridleys. One team even fitted cross levers!

Yup....and in the early 90's at least 2 Paris Roubaix were won with Rock Shox suspension forks. Rock Shox even sold a retail road version. Johan Museeuw rode a full suspension road bike one year. Of course the UCI rained on that parade and banned them.

Thanks for the link. I found this artcle with pics.

http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/race-tech-contrasting-bike-choices-at-paris-roubaix-21203

I guess that answers that common posting "Is my cross bike fast enough for road riding" now we know.

I don't think suspension is banned. I do know that Musseuuw broke his Full suspension Bianchi halfway through the race.

I don't think suspension is banned. I do know that Musseuuw broke his Full suspension Bianchi halfway through the race.

Yes,i remeber that,too.
His Bianchi broke in the year Tchmil won.
He had problems to get out the pedals, because the broken framei was flexing.

Yup....and in the early 90's at least 2 Paris Roubaix were won with Rock Shox suspension forks. Rock Shox even sold a retail road version. Johan Museeuw rode a full suspension road bike one year. Of course the UCI rained on that parade and banned them.

I haven't found anything on a UCI ban, but these articles are interesting -

http://bikehugger.com/2009/06/rock-shox-paris-roubaix-sl-for.html

and

http://italiancyclingjournal.blogspot.com/2009/09/eros-poli-about-rockshox-forks-at-paris.html

and

http://www.velonews.com/article/75037

- reading the last two leads me to think that there isn't a ban, eg



I asked Eros Poli to tell me about his experience of riding a RockShox equipped Eddy Merckx in P-R. He replied: "We used the RockShox because it served to damp the vibrations on the pavè, on the smooth road portions we closed it to zero and it became rigid. It was much too heavy and did not give great advantages. They were replaced with forks with more inclination to the front (ed. note: more rake) which damped and tracked better, they also responded better to attacks on the pavè or from a curve."