Gavin O’Grady’s 1987 Cyclops

1987 Cyclops by Mike Mulholland

This speed machine was built by Mike Mulholland of Toronto, Ontario, in 1987.

In 1983, Mike bought Jocelyn Lovell’s business, Lovell Bikes, and Cyclops was born.  Mike became a world renowned frame builder and the go-to guy for many of the racers of the era, with his bikes ridden to win medals at many international level events.  Mike is an inductee in the Canadian cycling hall of fame for his contributions to the sport, and bikes like this time trial bike show off the artistry that went along with all of his hard work and generosity.

Mike Mulholland passed away in 2005.

Mike built a few different bikes for professional rider Gavin O’Grady over the years. Some of the bikes were rush jobs completed under extremely tight time constraints.  Gavin related a story of a Cannondale team bike that needed to be replaced before the start of the Olympic Games (as the large aluminum tubing ran afoul of the UCI’s rules at the time).  Mike answered the call and built Gavin a replacement road bike in less than 24 hours, start to finish.

Cyclops head tube badge

Built by Mike MulHolland

Aero waterbottle

Forward facing seatpost

Gavin’s strength was his time trialing ability, and he put this time trial machine to good use.  This “Funny Bike” was pretty uncomfortable at the beginning.  The swoopy seat tube positioned Gavin way back over the rear wheel, and he was stretched to reach the handlebars.  A forward-bending seat post corrected this unusual geometry and made the bike rideable.

Interesting touches on this bike include the rare Keywin pedals, which were an early alternative to Look or Time clipless pedals. The bike has Shimano’s stylish and speedy Sante’ derailleurs, and there is internal wiring through the fork for the Avocet computer. There are pie-crust like seams that run along the sides of the tubing which probably (inadvertently) helped with aerodynamics by breaking up the boundary layer of air as it flowed around the frame.

Early clipless pedals

Shimano Sante derailleur

Modolo brakes. The noisiest!

Gavin and this bike won more time trials than we can list here.  Notable performances include the time trial stage and consequently the overall victories at the Chico stage race and the Tour of the Gila, as well as National Championship and Olympic Trials podium placings.