Concorde TVT 92 Carbone

omegastrada

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Hello fellow Rb'ers.

After a long time lurking, I thought it was about time I actually posted my bikes. So, first up is my Concorde badged TVT 92 Carbone.

I bought the frame early last year from RB's very own Elev12k (cheers Mel, that garden table of yours is like some bike frame casting couch!).

The TVT 92 was the frame that I dreamed about as a junior racer back in the day. I always wanted to know what it was like to ride one of these having watched many of my heroes in the late 80's flying up the worlds most legendary mountains on one. A bit of a "crisis" bike you might say!

I built it up with a pile of Dura-Ace 7402 I had sitting in a box just waiting to be used again. I did have to find a few parts to complete the set, such as brake levers and a 25mm DA seatpost, but other than that it was pretty much ready to build up. I had one nice little find on ebay which was a pair of TVT badged Look Deltas in the same colour as the frame.

I must mention the wheels. They are Campagnolo Omega Strada V laced to Spidel cartridge bearing hubs (I believe these were re-badged Maillard 700s?). I bought them new in 1988 and were built by a chap at Stonehenge Cycles in Salisbury. They have been raced, crashed, dropped down pot-holes and kerbs at speed and survived the student years being used as apres-pub transport. The hubs are as smooth and the rims as round as the day they were made. I had them checked last year and neither wheel was out by more than a few mm laterally. Bomb-proof!

The bike did not disappoint and I have loved every mile on it as I've explored all my favourite roads and climbs in Dorset. The frame seems to assist you when climbing sat in the saddle. It's not flexy, not like a 979, but more "springy" which seems to work with your efforts rather than wasting them.

Ok, I've waffled on enough now so time for a few pics. I hope you like.
 

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Beautiful

I agree with Ed, its a classy looking ride :cool:
Beautiful colour and good find with the pedals.
I too have a bombproof pair of wheels, though they were built by Edison Cycles in Clowne. My lucky wheels ;)

Jamie
 
That looks svelte :cool: Already by the looks you can see it will climb like a mountain goat.

The TVT arrived in the hands of a dedicated person: the result you achieved with the build is very good imo. A tiny little bit room for improvement maybe: you could consider a treatment with black leather paint for the Rolls.
 
That's a cracker! I like the early carbon bikes, much nicer than the modern monocoque clones.

Are you from Bournemouth in your youth? I have a friend who was in the Bournemouth Arrow in the late 80's/early 90's.
 
That's a nice clean rebuild and it all looks setup just right - I like that frame colour a lot.

I have a pair of wheels built with the same rims as yours and I agree they make great wheels. They were my "training" wheels but now do service on the do-it-all commuter/weekend bike.

Mark.
 
From one 80's racing junior to another......and as an owner of 3 TVT bikes, one of which very similar to yours....

WOW....I love it!!
 
Thanks for the compliments chaps, it means a lot when they've come from people who own such great bikes themselves :D

@Elev12k - You are quite right, a black Rolls would be more appropriate on this build and is something I'm looking to do in the future. I'm reluctant to colour the one currently fitted because it has such a nice patina of it's own.

@Old Ned - I was living in North Dorset when I was a junior and was a member of the Wessex RC. Of course Bournemouth Arrows and Poole Wheelers were the big clubs around here at the time (still are) but I've only loosely stayed in contact with one chap from the Arrows. I may well remember your friend though.

@Mark34 - I remember seeing your mightily impressive collection long before I joined up at Retrobike. I'm certain that your NOS TVT DA7400 planted a seed in my subconscious so that when Mel's frame became availble I simply had to buy it. See,it's all yor fault! ;)
 
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