1991 American Road Bike
1991 A.B.M. Road bike
This American road bike is a great example of the new materials and ideas than took hold of the bicycle world in the 1990’s.
Don’t know how the ’90’s treated you, but Aluminum had a great time. Aluminum tubing was fairly new on the bike scene, and it was an instant star for being light, cheap, and durable. These attributes made it the real miracle metal of the decade (no matter what Titanium says). American Manufacturing out of St. Cloud, Minnesota put the aluminum tubing to good use here, with sparkly mid-sized tubes (compared to skinny Vitus frames or fat Klein and Cannondale bicycles).
The few people who still remember American mountain bikes are probably surprised to know that they made these cool road bikes too. ABM didn’t sell a lot of road models, and as far as we know, this bike didn’t even have a model name apart from “road bike”.
An aero position more extreme than the drops
STI levers brought the shifting to your fingertips
The Flite Saddle was a comfortable option under 300 grams
Dura-Ace 7400 derailleurs
Some of the parts on this bike were fads that came and went. Some of the ideas were pure genius, and took the bike world in new directions.
Shimano Total Integration (STI) moved the shift levers off of the frame and joined them with the brake levers. A stroke of genius that made road cycling safer, more fun and certainly faster.
Scott’s LeMond Drop-In aero handlebars introduced the idea of aerodynamic body positioning for everyday riding and racing. Unfortunately, the extreme position wasn’t very comfortable and offered questionable safety.
Selle Italia’s Flite saddle was an intant hit with its narrow nose and light titanium rails. Really the first comfortable (believe it or not) bike seat to break the 300 gram barrier, and a catalyst for changing comfort and performance expectations in saddles. Selle Italia still makes this model today, and there are dozens of similar bike seats on the market three decades after the Flite first appeared.
18 and 20mm wide tires made their way onto road bikes like this one in the ’90’s. The goal of the skinny tire was to reduce rolling resistance, but the narrow width made for a harsh and sometimes twitchy bike that suffered a lot of flats.
Dual Pivot brake calipers
Dura-Ace parts raised expectations for future bicycle components
Dura-Ace 7400 crankset
Specialized brand (now sold by Hed) Tri-Spoke wheels
Specialized’s Tri-Spoke wheels earned their esteemed status in bicycle history. They were one of the earliest bicycle wheels (besides discs) made of carbon fiber. They were a commercial success, and were followed into the marketplace by countless carbon-fiber wheel manufacturers. These aerodynamic wheels were fast. They had great numbers in wind tunnel tests (and still do today) and could turn a mediocre bike racer into a rocket. They were reasonably light (about the same as wire spoked wheels), and they handled better than disc wheels in severe crosswinds. Specialized sold the manufacturing rights for these wheels in the late ‘90’s to Hed Cycling and Hed continues to sell them even today.