Odd vintage Pearson aero road bike

This weekend I picked up a rather odd Pearson Weka bike. So far I don't have too much information on the bike, so I was hoping you could help me out. I am quite fascinated be the way the frame looks and I plan to keep this one for myself.

The frame is made by a builder from New Zealand called Pearson. I already contacted Graeme Pearson from Pearson Composites in New Zealand, but he didn't build it: "No, luckily I didn't make that. I think some guy in the south island was making those and mtb's years back." Above the 'Weka' decal it says 'road series' so I am not sure if this frame was actually meant to be built up as a time trial bike. The frame is red anodized, which explains why the welds look so ugly. The fork currently on the frame is not the original fork, so I might replace it for something a tad more subtle.

Wheels are 'Elite-Shape' which I believe was a Russian (USSR) company that also made kevlar disc wheels. The wheels look quite fascinating and have seen very little use. According the previous owner Jan Svorada took these with him for the USSR.

Any more information on the frame(builder) and wheels would be greatly appreciated.

I like this. Quirky and dripping 90,s cool. Nice pickup

I remember seeing ads for Pearson mountainbikes in the Dutch mags in the early 90s. There was a distributor, but I don't remember who.

only needs some Kiwi made keywin pedals !

I took the bike apart today and after that I shot a couple of pictures of the frame itself (with the original fork) and with different wheel configurations (box section tubulars, Elite-Shape 5-spoke wheels and Elite-Shape + Juna Moscow disc wheel). What do you think?

@ Elev12k: thanks helping with the dating.

Despite it's industrial look I think this is a brilliant bike, pretty unique but suggests part of the period where aero frame experiments where aplenty. Original photo built up with the aerobars & 5 spokes for me - looks top drawer.

Nice find indeed he says with a hint of jealousy!

Check out what someone dug up on LFGSS

Looking at the frame one thing makes me think of an old saying ''About as Aerodynamic as a Building Brick''


I'll get my coat............

Progress on the bike has been really slow.

I was hoping to get my hands on a Shimano 600 groupset yesterday, but the frame it was on was unfortunately in too bad of a condition for me to buy it.

Luckily I have been able to track down some nice handlebars, or three to be exact. I got a bit carried away with my recent fascination of ITM Dual CX bars, so this week two NOS ones were delivered (a black ahead and a silver quill with a flat base bar) and one used one (quill with a sloping base bar). The used one matches the frame beautifully, so I will be selling off the other two.

The seatpost and the saddle on the pictures are just two items I had lying around. The frame requires a 27.0mm seatpost and the only one I had available was a Suntour Superb Pro. The saddle is an Ultra Pro, made in France. I believe it is the same as the ones made for Corima.

600 groupsets are apparently getting more rare these days - the good ones anyway - so I pulled the trigger on a Campagnolo Centaur carbon groupset instead. I thought the black on the cranks would look nice with the frame, but it didn't. Somehow it looked too modern for the frame/wheels.





After ditching the Centaur groupset, I set off to the attic to see if it had something to offer for the bike. After sorting out all the parts that were up there, I ended up with no less than 9 more or less complete groupsets, including a really nice Shimano 600 tricolor 8 speed groupset. The shifters were not functioning, but half a can of degreaser quickly fixed that. Aside from the cranks, all the parts are now in great shape and they look very nice on the frame. While I was at it I also changed the saddle for a Turbo, which in turn I changed for a Flite.