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I think the original ones with the 24inch wheels arise from the team pursuit and the team time trial. It was more about getting close to the rider in front in a similar way that motor pacing bikes have the smaller wheel and is why the 24inch wheel was initially popular untuil people realised the handling was a nightmare and 26inch wheels became more common.I would guess they came on the scene in the early 80's or possibly late 70's. Origin was either Eastern Europe or Italy. If you look at old pictures of riders like Engers and Eddie Adkins from pre lo-pro's it is cear they offered little if any aero advantage until Lemond added tri-bars to the mix.
They were never banned as such, just that the UCI introduced the rule of matching wheel sizes. To me a lo-pro and a modern TT bike position wise are not that different. Not sure if when they banned the different size wheels was before the Obree farce and the subsequent banning of all frames like the lotus and hotta etc.
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First used in the early 80s by the DDR for the 4km pursuit. At the time, sprinters, pursuiters etc would ride on the drops, so they decided not to bother having drop handlebars but flat bars and a 'lo-pro' front end. Then, as people copied them in the 80s, the front wheel got smaller and smaller to get the front of the rider lower. By the end of the 80s this was the convention for all pursuits, sprints and time trials. Then tri-bars came along and there was a wierd bit in the early 90s where people had tiny little front wheels and a really high handlebar position, then in 1997, rules were passed where both wheels had to be the same size and only drop bars could be use. The sports loss was the fixie scene's gain.
Photos to follow, if i can figure out how.
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wondered where you had been Gordy, too busy cycle training to post eh?
isnt the history of Lo Pros, "and lo, God said there was to be a type of bicycle revered by hipsters and city folk world over, and it came to be known a rare type of steel bicycle unrideable by brethren of average stature was worshipped for its intricate lugwork, and thereon all massive -thighed bikie folk sought this machine, eulogised about its special qualities for long hours on internet fora worldwide"
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By 96 the bikes were getting quite strange.
Yamaguchi/GT lo-pro at Atlanta
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This is all you need to know
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http://static.lfgss.com/attachments/16897d1257233490-16713d1256566623-groupshotcircusspace.jpg
new for summer hipster trend? a. m. azing.
edmundro
dmczone
Woodie
zouo
pifko
TM
rskiwi-
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The History of Lo Pros
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