Originally Posted by
jpearl
...and he's got a Dugast tire on the front - very interesting bike.
The split seatube reminds me a Rigi road bike I saw reviewed way, way back (mid-eighties) in a bike mag. The seatube was split, and Rigi had to make thier own special front derailleur to fit the right seatube. The two seatubes were very thin, and the wheelbase extremelly tight. The tester found the bike painfully stiff, but insanely fun to sprint on.
The handlebar setup, though, makes me nostalgic for the Gitane time trial bikes that Systeme U and Laurent Fignon rode in the later part of the eighties as well.
I've seen those Rigi's before (didn't remember the name though)
Quite a few people have mounted the stem to the fork. This one's my favorite.
I think it was mostly a response to the rules that said that both wheels had to be the same size. If you can't move the whole headtube down, just move the stem and bars.
Of course, I think the pic above may disprove my theory. I can't tell if the front is smaller or if it's just the photo.