IT’LL NEVER WORK
The history of cobbles bike tech is almost as rich as the race itself
If there was a golden era for cobbles bikes it was the 1990s. Suspension forks entered the fray in 1991 to much derision, but by 1992 had won under Gilbert Duclos-lassalle, who used a Rock Shox fork ostensibly borrowed from a mountain bike. The following year Steve Bauer turned up on a steel Eddy Merckx with a seat tube angle so slack he needed a special saddle with a back to prevent him slipping off.
Bianchi was the first to create a true full-suspension cobbles bike. Ridden by Johan Museeuw in 1993, it failed mid-race when the chainstay snapped, allegedly as a result of mechanics crimping it in a vice last minute to provide the necessary clearance for the chainrings.
It wasn’t the end for full sussers however. Duclos returned in 1994 on a Clark-kent built Lemond titanium bike whose test development ground consisted of the rubble on a local construction site in Denver. After that things died down until Trek released its Madone SPA (Suspension Performance Advantage) in 2005, with 13mm of rear travel courtesy of an elastomer in the wishbone seatstays. George Hincapie rode it to second place that year, but on its second Paris-roubaix outing the steer tube snapped and the project was shelved.
winners are decided here, but the contenders are certainly identified. Even though for safety’s sake we agreed we weren’t going to race each other today, it seems sacrilege not to go at the Arenberg full bore, so I bite the bullet and hit the drops.
Everything starts rattling and my eyes feel like a pair of those joke glasses with the springs, but once I’m over the shock there’s a glorious moment where I can feel the Roubaix skimming the tops of the cobbles like a ballerina on a building site. The rear end has come into its own and I can feel it moving in a way similar to the Domane, and while the Future Shock is bottoming out repeatedly, my hands feel solid enough on the bars that I’m able to unfurl a finger to change gear.
The hits become bigger as I lose speed, and by the end Rob has taken me by two bike lengths and I’ve tied for second with Sam.
As we pull up Rob’s doing that maddening casual whistling thing, like it’s been nothing, but I can tell his wrists are bothering him. The front end of the Domane seems no match for my Roubaix in the comfort stakes.
Just to be sure, Rob and I swap bikes and hit the cobbles again. He concedes the front end of the Roubaix is significantly more forgiving, and I try to convince myself that makes me the true winner. But aboard the Domane I just can’t shake how incredibly smooth the rear end is. It is simply without compare.
In the interests of fairness we both offer our bikes up to Sam, but he declines. Apparently the Synapse is all the bike he reckons is needed for rides like Paris-roubaix. ‘It’s just quick and racy, and with the tyres I reckon it’s comfortable enough. I’m not sure I’d want to ride it here if I owned it though. No matter what you’ve got, new bikes get old quickly on the cobbles.’ James Spender is features editor of Cyclist and has newfound respect for Classics riders
Everything starts rattling, but once I’m over the shock there’s a glorious moment where I can feel the Roubaix skimming the tops of the cobbles like a ballerina on a building site