Always on the cutting edge, Boardman raced the ‘Superman’ position created by the mercurial Scotsman, Greame Obree, to set a blistering hour record of 56.375 kilometers in 1996. In old country coinage that’s just over 35 mph for an entire hour. While that position has now been outlawed that record still stands as the “Best Human Effort” or “Absolute” hour record.

Following his successfully racing career Boardman joined the ranks of the ascendant British Cycling Federation’s program as director of research and development. What he created became know as the “Secret Squirrel Club”, a top-secret mission to produce the most cutting edge frames and components on the planet, within the UCI rules. The result, 8 gold medals in Beijing and 14 total. The Brit’s flat out dominated the competition on the track. Boardman has taken what he has learned over the years as an athlete and director of research and development and applied it to his own brand, Boardman Bikes. The 2012 line of Boardman TT bikes, the Elite Series:AiR/TT, was recently announced and one of the most surprising aspects was the rather traditional look of the bikes. Boardman has a very simple reason for this. The shortest path between two points is a straight line. No Boardman bike will have a curved tube for any reason other than improved performance.

This isn’t to say the bikes aren’t chocked full oftechnology. Upon close inspection these are slippery bikes, indeed. The brakes are hidden from the wind, under the BB30 and integrated into the front fork. The airfoil shapes of the tubes have been sculpted for speed at real world angles, not just wind tunnel performance. Fork blades and seat stays have been designed to smooth airflow around the wheels and maximize the benefits of deep-dish rims. The BB and tall box section stays are born from a single mold to ensure no joints get in the way of power transfer.

The geometry has been tuned by Boardman’s years as a pro to create a stable platform to deliver power in any and all race situations. A nice touch is the tapered fork steer tube. While still quite a slender headtube, nothing robs a bike of good handling worse than a laterally flexible front end, and the tapered steer tube should be stiff and confidence inspiring. The bikes also get a reversible seat post to provide a full range of seat tube angles, as well as clean integrated cable routing.

The AiR/TT range consists of 4 bikes, the 9.0, 9.2, 9.4, and the top of the line 9.8. Peloton Magazine will be doing our best to get one of these TT bikes in for long term test. Stay Tuned.

The AiR/TT 9.8 is also available as a frame set only. Specs and suggested pricing below.For more information visit: www.boardmanbikes.com

AiR/TT/9.2 $4,300.00 SRP