In the collection · Aarhus, Denmark · around 1988
Asmussen
Super Prestige
A Danish time-trial bicycle from the years when a small front wheel, low cockpit and crouched rider promised a path through the air.
Gunnar Asmussen
From Olympic gold to his own bicycle shop
Asmussen won Olympic team-pursuit gold in 1968 with Per Lyngemark, Reno Olsen and Mogens Frey. He later ran Gunnar Asmussens Cykelsportscenter in Aarhus for more than three decades.
Who cut and brazed this particular frame is not documented. It clearly shows, however, how international aerodynamic experiments became a Danish custom build bearing Asmussen’s name.
Funny bike
Rider first, bicycle second
A smaller front wheel lowered the bars while a full-size rear wheel retained familiar gearing. The sloping top tube and unequal wheels looked odd beside a traditional racer, but their purpose was serious: reducing the rider’s frontal area.
The polished Campagnolo parts, toe clips and frame-mounted shifters reveal a transition in which aerodynamics advanced faster than ergonomics.
From wheel to head
Its long tail continued the line from head to back. Rider, helmet, bars and wheels were increasingly treated as a single shape.
Brief specification
- Type
- Custom time-trial bicycle
- Geometry
- Small front wheel and low cockpit
- Components
- Campagnolo Croce d’Aune / C-Record era
- Status
- In the collection
A short-lived piece of Danish craft from before regulations made racing bicycles more uniform.