What a blast from the past. Last night at the SRM holiday party Steve Johnson presented to Uli a Project '96 Superbike as a gesture for all the work he did in the help of developing the technology to produce the bike leading up to the 1996 Olympics. The funny thing is now the bike is useless as the UCI made technological advancements like this illegal for competition. 12 years ago this was the fastest and most expensive bike in the world. Now it's just really pricy wall art.
I have a connection to the Superbike too. It's from the era when I worked at USA Cycling. In fact, Project '96 funded my salary. Project '96 spent several million dollars developing the Superbike. Estimated cost per bike - $30,000. My salary as a physiologist for Project '96 - $800/ month. Ha! ha! ha!
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It also took like 45 minutes to execute a gear change on one of those bikes. That one looks like it had a real saddle, a few of them had a piece of wood with leather on it.
Did you happen to steal me a new crank unit from the SRM party?
Just wonderin'. I've heard stories of your kleptomania
It's the only complete Superbike left. They threw out the wheels on the other bikes when they cleaned out the warehouse that used to be across the street from CTS
The other bikes are in pieces with missing cranks and forks
The original value of the bikes were astronomical now they are funky relics
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