May Contain Y-Foils.] – Bike Snob NYC

Right here, in the end, is my Exterior column concerning the Spouse Oil:

After receiving the bike from Basic Cycle again in July, I took to these Internets to study as a lot about Foil historical past as doable. Nothing is tougher in 2024 than sifting the info from all of the opinions and myths and half-truths, however after years of simply assuming this was a motorbike designed for aero-dweebs and tri-freaks I used to be stunned to unearth historical discussion board posts claiming the bike had been designed to not be ridden in a mankini however relatively to just accept a suspension fork and to be ridden by the professionals within the Spring Classics.

So I turned to Trek. They have been sort sufficient to attach me with engineer Jim Colegrove, who labored on the Y-Foil and gave me the total backstory:

Anyway, there’s extra within the column, however on one hand the bike is a solution to a query no one was actually asking aside from Trek (that being “How can we make a Y-shaped street bike”) and alternatively it’s an actual success story in that they did find yourself making a brand new (or new-ish) kind of street bike that performs fairly nicely and has some precise quantifiable benefits (even when these include one or two comparatively minor disadvantages). Additionally, right here we’re nearly 30 years later, and in case you’d purchased a Y-Foil again then you definately’d actually don’t have any downside retaining it going at the moment since regardless of its radical body design it takes commonplace parts which might be nonetheless kind of available at the moment.

Whether or not you’d nonetheless have the ability to attain the bars of your Y-Foil 30 years later is one other story, however due to the magic of quill stems you’ll be able to at all times get an extended one and trip it that manner till you lastly come to your senses and purchase a Rivendell.

In fact, I have already got a number of Rivendae, so I don’t thoughts contorting myself on a race bike every now and then for some low cost thrills, and as a classic sizzling rod the Ferl has actually grown on me:

Right here’s that pinched suspension-corrected entrance finish that makes the bike appear like it’s sporting a corset:

After I requested the engineer if there’s something he would have finished otherwise on reflection, he stated he wouldn’t have gone with the suspension correction. Apparently it was a matter of some debate on the time, however as I point out within the column they actually did suppose street bike suspension was going to be the following large factor they usually didn’t need to miss out on it.

One other factor he talked about is that Trek was intelligent about utilizing the identical body parts throughout completely different fashions, and the “seatstays” (reminiscent of they’re) and I imagine the chainstays are the identical ones which might be on the 5500 (, the US Postal bike), solely bonded to a rear dropout with a extra acute angle:

Now that I do know that I can’t unsee the bike as a squashed 5500.

As for the elements Paul from Basic Cycle George Plimpton selected for the bike, the Zero Gravity brakes are finicky to regulate and have awful tire clearance, however they give the impression of being cool they usually draw the attention away from the overly tall fork crown:

Sure, that’s nonetheless the dust from my gravel trip in Vermont again in August.

The wheels will not be Plimpton spec–these are the Rolfs that got here with the LeMond–however they’re a lot better suited to day-to-day using than the Tri Spokes he favored, and had I been utilizing these on this explicit blustery day I’d have been blown clear throughout the Hudson:

The saddle occurs to be one which was lengthy favored by a sure Trek-sponsored rider, and I discover it fairly snug. The mechanical look of the Salsa seatpost’s clamp additionally enhances the brakes:

The superlative efficiency of the 9-speed Dura-Ace hardly warrants mentioning, although surprisingly one in all my favourite issues concerning the bike is the bars:

I bear in mind when these bars have been sizzling shit, although I by no means really had a pair as a result of it at all times appeared loopy to me to pay additional for carbon bars of all issues. As you’ll be able to see, the form of them is a bit uncommon, and whereas I are usually leery of unusually formed bars on this case I discover them fairly snug. I used to be additionally apprehensive about bar slippage, however Paul included some carbon meeting paste and it hasn’t been a problem:

I additionally actually just like the rubbery tape, which I imagine is these things:

It’s rubbery, however in a great way.

As for the bike’s Plimptonian provenance, I’ve been noticing that this running a blog platform now provides an AI picture generator, and whereas really feel about that form of factor in the identical manner I do about e-bikes and digital shifting, I figured I’d as nicely give it a whirl by asking it to make me a picture of George Plimpton using a Y-Foil: