Steve Hegg’s 1986 Columbia funny bike

1987 Columbia time trial bike

So fast!

Really, look at this bike. You’ll have to keep swiping the screen to keep the photo from rolling off to the right! It just wants to move.

This is another addition to our assortment of late ‘80’s time trial machines. Each example seems to be more purpose-built than the last. This “Columbia” has an incredibly low front end, placing the hand grip areas of the handlebars about 12 inches below the probable saddle height. The Mavic cowhorn bars couldn’t just provide hand positions at the handlebar stem level, oh no. They had to drop the grip position three or four inches below the stem-bar connection.

The 1980’s Campagnolo Super Record group was just terrific, and it definitely suits this speed machine. The rider had 12 pretty big gear ratios to choose from, a headset and a bottom bracket that was smooth and precise, and brakes that stopped without any hassle. Nice additions on this “Columbia” include the aero-shaped C Record seatpost, an obviously faster choice than a round Super Record model, the C Record downtube shifters that held their gear better than the older Super Record models, and the C Record platform toe-clip pedals.

For wheels we have a carbon fiber disc for the back, a Zipp 950 model that is a little bit newer than the rest of the bike. Up front there is a smaller 650c handmade wheel spinning on an American Classic hub that was slotted to accept wide bladed spokes.

Classic by Columbia badge

Low profile front end

Super Record drivetrain

Concor saddle

Streamlined

Now, a bit about the original rider and builder of this bike.

You may have noticed that I put “Columbia” in quotation marks a couple of times. Classics by Columbia, the identifying headtube badge and decals, was a line of bikes that looked like old-fashioned cruisers and utility bikes. They didn’t make road bikes and they certainly didn’t make funny bikes like this one.

Our friend Aiden, the current owner of this bike, thinks that SoCal bike builder Dave Tesch built this “Columbia”.  An email from former Olympian Carl Sundquist confirmed this, and Carl knew that this bike was built for (now professional racer) Steve Hegg to race with his sponsor’s logos on the frame.  Steve won a gold medal in the individual pursuit at the ‘84 Olympics.

If you were around to watch the 1984 Olympics on television you would know that after winning his gold medal, Steve Hegg completed a victory lap of the velodrome with coach Eddie Borysewicz’s young son in his arms.

This bike, built a year or two after the games was employed along with an aerodynamic baby seat to shuttle toddlers to day care in record time!

Special thanks to former National and Olympic Team racer Carl Sundquist for providing some background details about this bike.