Who invented the 'triathlete's' handlebars?

[chickasmith]

Does anyone have a specific an exact answer for this?

I was watching a copy of ABC's (USA) Wide World of Sports programming of the Race Across AMerica (RAAM) from 1986 and they showed the winner of the race, Pete Penseyres using a 'prototype' triathlete's handlebar.

Then I watched a copy of the 1986 Hawaii Ironman with Dave Scott winning over Mark Allen - none of these riders were using the tri bar then.

The RAAM was competed in during June/July, whilst the ironman was completed in October ...

I never realised until recently that the "Scott" handlebars, were named after the 'ultimate' ironman Dave Scott ...

I guess the tri bars were popularised due to Greg lemond using them, and argulably winning the Tour due to the handlebars, but he was not the first to use them in professional cycling. Apparently it was the 7-Eleven team in the Tour De Trump of the 1989 season who used them first and Lemond must have liked what he saw and brought them out in the first time trial (not the prologue) in the Tour. Like I have read, Lemond was a good 'copycat' not innovator ...?

Anyone that can help me confirm / deny the above?

Enjoy the road ...

 

[Provence1971]

Does anyone have a specific an exact answer for this?

I was watching a copy of ABC's (USA) Wide World of Sports programming of the Race Across AMerica (RAAM) from 1986 and they showed the winner of the race, Pete Penseyres using a 'prototype' triathlete's handlebar.

Then I watched a copy of the 1986 Hawaii Ironman with Dave Scott winning over Mark Allen - none of these riders were using the tri bar then.

The RAAM was competed in during June/July, whilst the ironman was completed in October ...

I never realised until recently that the "Scott" handlebars, were named after the 'ultimate' ironman Dave Scott ...

I guess the tri bars were popularised due to Greg lemond using them, and argulably winning the Tour due to the handlebars, but he was not the first to use them in professional cycling. Apparently it was the 7-Eleven team in the Tour De Trump of the 1989 season who used them first and Lemond must have liked what he saw and brought them out in the first time trial (not the prologue) in the Tour. Like I have read, Lemond was a good 'copycat' not innovator ...?

Anyone that can help me confirm / deny the above?

Enjoy the road ...

According to a quick search i've just done tri bars were invented by a bloke called Boone Lennon in 1987.
Take a look at these sites :
http://www.bikesportmichigan.com/reviews/azoto.shtml
http://www.slowtwitch.com/mainheadings/features/superform.html

 

[chickasmith]

Thank you for that Provence. This article will explain it better from the same site:

http://www.slowtwitch.com/mainheadings/techctr/oldclips.html

 

[Gonzo Bob]

I never realised until recently that the "Scott" handlebars, were named after the 'ultimate' ironman Dave Scott ...

They were not named after Dave Scott. Scott is name of the sporting goods manufacturer that made them with the help of Boone Lennon. See www.scottusa.com

Yes, the first year they were used at the Hawaii Ironman was 1987. They weren't available to the consumer for the 1986 race. Pete Penseyres used a homemade setup for RAAM in 1986.

The first clip-on models were introduced in 1988 but they didn't have arm rests so they weren't very popular. In 1989, Scott added arm rests and I bought a pair of these as did Gred LeMond