Raleigh Banana time trial bike

Raleigh Banana TT bike — (Image credit: Future)

This extraordinary-looking TT bike was built in 1988 for the Raleigh Banana Team to compete in prologues – ultra-short time trials that opened a stage race - during the 1989 season. This is the only surviving example of a pair of complete team bikes, making it exceedingly rare. Its defining feature is, of course, its eye-catching banana-shaped sloping top tube.

Current owner Dave Marsh, of the Universal Cycle Centre, Rotherham, takes up the story. “I bought it from Arthur Gamble, Scott Gamble’s [a former British pro] father,” said Marsh, “thinking it would make an interesting display feature for the shop. Other frames may exist, but ex-Raleigh product manager Terry Blackwood told me that the only other team bike was stripped for its Delta brakes and other Campy components.”

Raleigh Banana time trial bike — A bonded frame and Campag Delta brakes on this classic machine

Legendary Raleigh builder Gerald O'Donovan likely had a hand in the bike’s design.

“The tubing is Reynolds 753,” confirms Marsh, “but it’s bonded into alloy lugs with adhesive. Apparently, O’Donovan sent some of his team off to night school to learn all about bonding different materials.”

What about the banana-shaped top tube? Does the shape serve a purpose? “Knowing Gerald, it was probably for marketing purposes,” laughs Marsh. It wasn't however the only TT bike from this period designed this way with the aim of getting the rider as low as possible.

The current wheels – Mavic Mach 2 CD Sprints – are training hoops, it would have been raced on a 700c disc wheel at the back with a deep-section 650c at the front. The groupset is Campagnolo C-Record with 53/39t chainrings and seven-speeds at the rear – 12t, 13t, 14t, 15t, 16t, 17t and18t. The saddle is a Selle Italia Turbo, and the handlebars and stem are ITM, wound with yellow Benotto tape.

This bike, which is a medium to large frame, was shared among the taller riders in the team, while the second bike, which was a small to medium, was raced by the shorter riders. “Two mechanics were on hand to hurriedly adjust the bikes between runs,” reminisces Marsh. How pro racing has changed…

Simon spent his childhood living just a stone’s throw from the foot of Box Hill, so it’s no surprise he acquired a passion for cycling from an early age. He’s still drawn to hilly places, having cycled, climbed or skied his way across the Alps, Pyrenees, Andes, Atlas Mountains and the Watkins range in the Arctic.

Simon now writes for Cycling Weekly as a freelancer, having previously served as Tech Editor. He’s also an advanced (RYT 500) yoga teacher, which further fuels his fascination for the relationship between performance and recovery.

He lives with Jo, his yoga teacher wife, in the heart of the Cotswolds, with two rescue cats, five bikes and way too many yoga mats. He still believes he could have been a contender if only chocolate weren’t so moreish.