Odd vintage Pearson aero road bike

I already have 2 project in the making , but I just had to buy this Pearson (time trial bike?) anyway.

The frame is made by a builder from New Zealand called Pearson, probably in the early 90's. 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 design seems to be inspired by early mountain bikes.The frame is red anodized, which explains why the welds look rather ugly.

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.

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?

You can find more pictures on my Flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/quality_vintage_bikes/sets/72157633951050993/

That thing is awesome. Would love to just build it up as a road bike and race the hell out of it. How does it actually ride and what are you planning?
The box section tubs do look cool, but those crazy Russian wheels really suit the frame, depends if they are actually useful.
Subbed

Very intriguing frame. I just love to know why the joints are different in colour? what was used to join the sections? What is the silver little hole at the back of the seat tube just above the BB? Why the other large vertical hole? What happened to the large bladed fork that appears in the first pic? I thought that the wide fork suited the bike very well.
Sorry for for all the questions and sorry if I missed something.

Just googled: "WEKA" to learn that it is a small flightless bird in NZ

that looks incredibly stiff. What are the holes on the top of the rear dropouts for?

the original build looks so sexy...

that looks incredibly stiff. What are the holes on the top of the rear dropouts for?

Mudguards.

What's the weight of that beast?

To be honest, I have no I idea what the holes in above the dropouts are for. Welds become different in color when anodized, so I guess the frame was anodized before it got its final clear coat. The hole at the back of the seat tube near the BB is for mounting a cable guide wheel. The big hole is for letting the cable for the FD pass through (or so I think anyway). Although it looks like it weighs a ton, the frame weighs 'just' 1780 grams. I removed the bladed Kinesis fork because it was not the original fork and I quite like keeping this build original.

There was also a similar design mountain bike called a "Kea", which is a NZ alpine parrot. They pop up for sale now and then here in NZ.

Pearson Kea mountain bike:

This is the kind of thread that rekindles my love for this forum.

@Egghead: thanks a lot for the amazing picture!

^^ this

I have decided to go with the Elite-Shape wheels for the build.

For a while I was planning on building the bike up with a modern SRAM Rival groupset, but since the Elite-Shape wheels have a thread on freewheel, a vintage 8-speed groupset is the only way to go. I personally think a Shimano 600 tricolor groupset would look really nice with the frame (not a big fan of DA 7400 for some reason).

When I was going through my pile of vintage bike stuff, I came across a very nice Selle Ultra Pro saddle (same as the Corima Ultra Pro) that I think looks great on the bike. It is either that, or a carbon Selle Italia Flite carbon if I can track one down.

I haven't figured out what to do with the bars yet. An aerobar assembly like the ITM CX2 would be most practical for a true TT bike, though I think just a bullhorn would look a lot cleaner. A regular drop with a Cinelli Spinaci is also an option and would make the bike more versatile.

Not drops with clip-ons, please. Proper old skool TT bars would be better.
Comme ca;

I managed to dig up a ITM Dual CX2 handlebar with a quill stem in silver. Should match the fork very nicely. Delivery is scheduled for next week, hopefully I will have a group ready by that time.

Here's a photo of a Pearson Kea mountain bike, sorry quality is not that good. Not my bike, was at a retro mountain bike show here in Christchurch last year.

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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.

As a New Zealander, I'm not sure if I should be proud or not!
I'm erring on the side of yes.
I once got pecked by a Weka in the shin and it made a fairly size-able hole. #csb.
Please put a shot of it with the full disc wheel on when fully built up.
Pure sex.

Those wheels are serious tings

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 I am not sure if I like the end result. Somehow it looks too modern for the frame/wheels.

Can see what you mean - if you cover up the handlebars it looks badass with the black cranks though.
Perhaps you could replace all the other parts with black stuff ;) Alternatively, probably once you tape the bars it might calm look a bit more matchy.
Those wheels are incredible - I've never seen them before, I can imagine they're as rare as hell but who are they made by?

I agree ^ once the bars are taped you'll be fine, and the silver teeth on the chain rings should dissapear with the chain.

I actually removed the tape on the bars to see if it would look any better without, because it looked even worse with the tape on. Totally blacked out didn't work either (I also sourced a black ITM Dual).

Wheels are 'Elite-Shape' which I believe was a Russian (USSR) company that also made kevlar disc wheels.