Early Lopro

[Rustyretro]

Here is my Grandfather's Lopro - one of the very first made. He won many races in the short time he was able to ride it, until the UCI banned it for having such an unfair advantage. This is the 1.5 speed model, where moving the gear lever allows the right hand crank to turn twice as fast as the left crank.

It's very fast, but soon gets uncomfortable, bent double to reach the handlebars, with your legs trailing behind.

 

[jm]

Re:

Presumably the bars are movable so riding to and from races was easier.Have you any video of him racing it ?

 

[The History Man]

Why was this thread missed by so many?

Such a waste of a piece of cycling history.

This is the etymological derivation of the term 'Hipst(e)er'

 

[Rustyretro]

Re:

The bars are remarkably easy to move, but I don't think they are original. I'm not sure video was available all those years ago, but I'm sure my Grandmother had an old photo of my Grandfather beating the Dutch rider Loof Lirpa to a sprint finish in the Poisson D'avril in France. I'll see if I can dig it out.